Before social media came along, we had just...well - media, like newspapers, radio, TV, and movies. They all have one thing in common: all their content is owner-created. Whether it's a producer, editor, or director, someone calls the shots on how everything should look, hear, and feel.

In between all this content was a marketing campaign designed to convince you to buy something, sometimes subtly but quite frequently blatantly.

The Advent of Social Media

Enter social media, where the user is now in charge. The content is theirs, and they create the ideas (though, at times, they are inspired by popular culture). Businesses and organizations have come to terms with user-generated content; the term 'influencer' is second nature today, and there are more individuals with marketing teams than ever in advertising history.

Data from Forrester Research* shows that 37% of people surveyed have purchased a product because they saw it on social media. Of those surveyed, only 24% completed a purchase within a social media network.

From the above, we understand that social media marketing plays a small role in helping people decide to purchase. How do you, as a CMO or an entrepreneur, determine which data can help you maximize sales via social media?

Better Data, Better Strategies

Here are some strategies for social media marketing based on data analysis and which actionable metrics will help you gain better insights to drive your decisions.

Content is King

Yes, the 'ol adage still works. Through data analysis, marketers can identify the types of content that resonate most with their audience. Understanding this would include analyzing the performance of different content formats (text, images, videos), hashtags, keywords, and captions.

Metrics that help you determine what type of content is having an effect are:

• Click-Through Rate - If you run text ads, see which ad groups with targeted keywords get a higher CTR than those without. By organizing the ads garnering more clicks, you'll understand what textual context the user views as being a partner to your brand.
• Keywords and CPC - This is two for the price of one; your cost-per-click will determine which keywords resonate with your audience. If your CPC is higher but the ad position is lower, your audience has not connected with your keyword targeting. This information can help you choose suitable topics and keywords to target your ads. You want to be in a position where your CPC goes lower as your ad position goes higher; that tells you there is a keyword connection with your audience.

Know your KPIs

Optimizing social media advertising involves tracking and analyzing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that provide insights into the effectiveness of your campaigns.

• Click-Through Attribution: Various social media platforms offer attribution models, such as first-click, last-click, or multi-touch attribution. Brands use click attribution to track whether paying customers come from a specific site, email, ad, or other sources. Clicks originating from interactive content are a compelling indicator of intent and interest.
• Ad Placement: Evaluate how your ads perform in different placements (e.g., news feed, stories, sidebars). Allocating the budget accordingly to high-converting positions will continue to improve your results.

Predictive and Trend Analytics

Employ predictive analytics to anticipate emerging trends and capitalize on them before competitors. For instance, it could involve predicting industry shifts or even viral content.

• Audience Segmentation: Predictive analytics can help segment the audience into groups with similar characteristics and interests by analyzing user behavior and preferences; this enables highly targeted content delivery.
• Seasonal Campaigns: For businesses with seasonal products or services, trend analytics can aid in planning and executing timely marketing campaigns that align with seasonal trends and consumer behavior.

Time and Frequency

Just as you have a time of day when you review all your social updates, so do your followers. Data analytics can lead you to discover when your audience is the most active.

• Higher Engagement: Your traffic stats will tell you when your audience is the most active. Scheduling your content to be visible at that time helps you get the most engagement.
• Frequency: Using the same data, you can also decide how frequently you want to send out social updates. This way, your follower base won't feel overwhelmed or underwhelmed with your content.

Competitor Analysis

If your competition already has a presence on social media, going through their profile will give you an example of how they engage with their audience, among other metrics.

• Content Strategy: Posting on social media can draw a blank at times. You should find out if posting something specific will backfire. By analyzing your competitor's social profiles, you can understand how audiences in your niche interact and engage with content.
• Strengths and Weaknesses: Your product would have unique benefits, and promoting them would showcase it as having a distinct advantage over your competitor. Similarly, you can analyze their content to recognize what they have not showcased - which would be their weakness. Something that you can capitalize on immediately.

In conclusion, integrating data analysis into social media marketing strategies has evolved beyond mere hindsight evaluation.

Innovative social media marketing strategies leverage data analysis for retrospective insights alongside predictive and real-time optimization, leading to more effective and efficient campaigns.

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