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Tracking Social Media Relationships

Posted by SMstudy® on August 05, 2016 | Digital Marketing (DM)

Keywords: Social Media, Digital Marketing, Social Media Metrics, Social Media Relationships

Tracking Social Media Relationships

A company must analyze the kind of relationships it is building with consumers across all of its social media platforms to ensure that they are aligned with the overall metrics and targets for social media performance as mentioned in the inputs section of this process. Each social media platform generally has its own analytics dashboard, which provides a variety of information to a company about its social media activities. As each of these dashboards displays different types of metrics depending on the platform, a company must have a thorough understanding of these metrics so that it can compare the effectiveness of the various platforms. Such a comparison can be done by using metrics that are easily understood and that can be derived from data provided by the dashboards, if the metrics are not already presented. Some important metrics are as follows:

  1. Number of Shares—This metric represents the number of times content provided by the company is shared by its customers or subscribers. Consumers share content they like or find useful; thus, a high number of shares indicates that a large number of customers or potential customers perceive the company as helpful and knowledgeable and, by extension, may be more likely to purchase the company’s products or services.

 

  1. Number of Replies and Comments—This metric represents the number of replies and comments that the company’s content has generated. These replies and comments may be directed to the company asking for more information or providing feedback; they may also be discussions among the target audience members who are inspired by the content that the company has shared. A high number of replies and comments generally indicate a strong engagement with the target audience. However, care must be taken to ensure that negative and irrelevant comments and replies are addressed promptly and appropriately.

 

  1. Number of Clicks—This metric represents the number of clicks on the links within content shared by the company. These links may take users to the company’s website, to a company page within a social media platform, or to a resource or asset shared by the company. Such clicks indicate that users considered the company’s updates interesting enough to click on links within those updates.

In addition to monitoring the above metrics on a quantitative basis, it is also important to watch for shared content or consumer responses that spread to an abnormally high number of users. This process is referred to as “going viral.” If such content or responses reflect a positive consumer perception, a sudden increase in leads and purchases for the company can be the result, and only if a company is tracking its social media activity closely would it know the reason for the sudden increase and respond accordingly. On the other hand, if such content and responses reflect a negative consumer perception, the company’s relationship with its customers and potential customers may suffer significant damage.

Visit www.smstudy.com to learn more about social media analysis and its metrics.

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