If your business is on social media, you need a social media report

By: Noelle Cutler, Social Media Specialist, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

Let’s say your business uses social media, and you put in the time and effort to create content calendars, engaging posts and compelling graphics. But you’re missing one vital piece: a social media report. Skipping a social media report is like studying for a test, taking a test but then not bothering to have your test graded. If you’re not analyzing your social media success, what’s the point of trying to create successful posts? Here are three reasons why you need to conduct regular social media reports:

1. To determine the best content. If you have a good content calendar, then you know what kind of content you post each week; for instance, a Throwback Thursday or an employee spotlight each week. After a month or two of posting these, you should analyze how they’re performing. Are people sharing, liking and commenting on those posts? If the answer is yes, continue to post that kind of content. It’s pretty simple! 
2. To determine the best times/days. Here’s something you should be testing. If you’re posting similar content on Thursday at 8 a.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m., which post is reaching the most people and getting the most engagement? The answer can give you insight into when your audience is most likely to see your content. Facebook Insights actually shows you what days and times your followers are online. Compare this to the success of those two similar posts on different days and it should give you some additional insight. 
3. To determine what ISN’T working. If you have a great idea for a post, you should try it! Social media is a lot of trial and error to determine what your audience responds to. Don’t be scared to deviate from the normal routine, but don’t forget to look at the results of that new idea. With Facebook Insights, you can look at an individual post to see if you had anybody “hide” that post or unlike your page. That gives you some pretty good insight into what posts your followers don’t care to see.

A social media report doesn’t have to be extensive and super-detailed. You don’t need to see the results of every single thing you post. I recommend looking at the following on a monthly or quarterly basis: number of posts, likes and reach; time/date/content of top-performing posts; and follower demographics. After analyzing these areas, you can create posts for next month that are even better!