What is social media data and why should I care?

15 June 2021By Ayleesha

What is social media data and why should I care?

To make your social media a success, you need to put a lot of time and effort into creating popular content. But there is more to it than just that. You need to be able to track and monitor what’s traffic, see what is doing well and what isn’t. That’s where social media data comes in, and ignore it at your peril. The good news is that most social media users allow companies to see their activity, making it an absolute goldmine of information. For example, if you’re selling clothing, you’ll be able to see what they have looked at recently and model your current trends to suit their needs.

That sounds a bit complicated to be honest.

Ok, fair point, but it’s actually really simple once you know what you’re doing. Think of it like baking a cake – you’ve weighed out all the ingredients, mixed them together and popped it in the oven. Any good cook will keep a close on it to make sure it is cooking evenly, and not burning! It’s the same with social media data, by checking it regularly you are getting an insight into what’s hot and what’s not.

Ok, I get it. Tell me more!

Firstly you need to get familiar with a data management platform. Google Analytics is a good place to start. This will give you a good overview of what’s going on with your social media. Which of your posts are most popular? How many clicks does each post receive? What sort of revenue is being generated? All of this is available at your fingertips. Play around with it and get used to looking for trends. Of course, this is something we can advise you on if you need us.

How does this help me though?

Once you know what you’re looking at, you can start focussing on posts that are successful, to make them even more popular. This invaluable insight means you can maximise the potential of each piece of content. For the less viewed content, you can start to think about how to make it more popular and get more views and shares. Use the data to shape your offering over social media and you’ll soon see the improvements.

Ahhh, I see. I’m not sure I’ve got time for all this though.

We won’t lie, it does take a bit of time and effort to manage your social media platforms in this way, but you’ll soon see results. Here at LeadSocial we specialise in managing social media platforms so you don’t have to. Why not say helloand find out more about what we can do for you?

I’d love to give it a go. Anything I need to be careful of?

Bravo! You do need to be aware of certain limitations in using social media data. Not all users share their data completely, and so analysis can sometimes lead you up the garden path a bit. To avoid this, stick to looking at general trends and focus on what looks certain. For more advice on this, give us a shout and we can have a chat.