Once your social media sites are set up, it's time to dive into the numbers behind them. Social analytics are key to understanding your fans, visitors, and customers online. This whitepaper gives you everything you need to turn social fans into social customers.

1. Measuring and
Making Sense of
Your Social Analytics
Measuring and
Making Sense of
Your Social Analytics

2. Most
businesses,
by
now,
understand
that
social
media
is
here
to
stay
and
that
maximizing
the
effectiveness
of
these
online
tools
is
key
to
the
success
of
every
business’
marketing
efforts.
For
the
most
part,
building
the
social
media
presence
and
connecting
these
profiles
with
each
other
is
the
easy
part.
The
tough
part
is
making
sure
social
media
is
delivering
the
right
results.
The
only
way
to
do
that
is
through
social
analytics,
through
Facebook
reporting
and
other
tracking
tools
to
provide
the
hard
numbers
on
a
type
of
marketing
that's
still
very
new.
What
are
Social
Analytics?
Social
analytics
are
the
measurements
that
gauge
your
social
impact,
or
the
results
of
your
social-­‐media
marketing.
They
go
beyond
numbers
such
as
Facebook
fans,
Twitter
followers,
retweets,
likes,
etc.
Those
numbers
actually
don't
mean
much,
because
they
don't
reflect
the
return
on
investment
for
your
social
media
efforts.
You
got
a
like,
which
is
great,
but
you
don't
know
how
you
got
that
like
or
what
you
will
get
from
that
like
in
the
long
run.
Social
analytics
serve
as
the
ROI
calculator
for
your
social-­‐media
marketing.
It's
the
way
to
determining
what
all
your
hard
work
has
delivered
to
the
company.
With
social
analytics,
you
can
get
an
idea
of
what
your
potential
customers
are
doing
on
social
media,
what
types
of
content
they
are
engaging
with,
and
figure
out
how
to
use
that
information
to
get
these
potential
customers
to
become
actual
customers.
It's
more
than
gathering
data.
Social
analytics
is
about
gathering
the
right
data
and
then
having
the
right
insights
to
use
in
making
sound
planning
decisions.
8
Statistics
to
Measure
with
Analytics
If
Facebook
fans,
Twitter
followers
and
other
social-­‐media
markers
don't
reflect
social
impact,
what
does?
What
should
social
analytics
actually
measure?
What
sort
of
data
should
be
gathered
and
what
can
be
learned?
Here
are
eight
things
that
social
analytics
measures:
1. Total
Size
of
Community
-­‐
This
is
one
you
could
probably
figure
out
on
your
own
if
you
took
the
time,
but
the
data
is
much
easier
to
track
with
social
analytics.
The
total
size
of
your
community
is
the
total
number
of
followers,
fans,
subscribers,
etc.,
across
all
your
social-­‐media
profiles.
This
holistic
picture
shows
if
you
are
adding
value
through
your
social-­‐media
marketing.
2. Bounce
Rate
-­‐
The
bounce
rate
is
the
percentage
of
visitors
who
leave,
or
bounce
from,
a
page,
without
visiting
a
second
page.
What's
considered
a
good
bounce
rate
depends
on
what
kind
of
page
it
is.
This
may
be
hard
to
gauge
for
a
social
media
profile,
but
can
be
gauged
for
sites
that
a
social-­‐media
update
or
link
might
lead
to,
such
as
a
blog
post
or
a
landing
page.
For
these
types
of

3. pages,
a
bounce
rate
above
90
percent
means
that
something
needs
to
happen
on
these
pages
get
visitors
to
fill
out
a
form
or
to
click
elsewhere
on
your
site.
3. Visit-­‐to-­‐Lead
Conversion
Rate
-­‐
Two
types
of
conversion
rates
matter,
and
the
first
is
the
visit
to
lead
conversion
rate.
One
of
the
main
reasons
companies
use
social
media
is
to
generate
leads,
and
it's
tough
to
know
if
you
are
doing
that
without
social
analytics.
This
conversation
rate
can
measure
all
leads
generated
from
social
media
or
it
could
be
segmented
for
each
social-­‐media
profile.
Most
companies
won't
have
a
visit-­‐to-­‐lead
conversion
rate
if
they
aren’t
tweeting
or
posting
opportunities
to
convert,
i.e.,
registering
for
a
webinar
or
downloading
a
coupon.
4. Lead-­‐to-­‐Customer
Conversion
Rate
-­‐
This
conversion
rate
may
not
take
place
on
social
media,
but
it’s
still
crucial
to
social-­‐media
analytics
and
it
tells
you
if
social
media
is
bringing
in
customers.
Your
profiles
and
status
updates
may
have
a
ton
of
engagement,
but
that’s
not
the
same
as
generating
leads
from
your
social-­‐
media
marketing.
Turning
those
social-­‐media
leads
into
customers
is
something
else
completely,
and
the
lead-­‐to-­‐customer
conversion
rate
may
be
one
of
the
few
numbers
your
boss
cares
about
when
it
comes
to
the
Facebook
reporting,
dashboard,
social-­‐media
mumbo-­‐jumbo.
5. Sentiment
-­‐
Having
a
ton
of
mentions
on
social
media
is
great,
unless
a
majority
of
them
are
negative.
Your
social-­‐analytics
reporting
ought
to
include
a
reading
on
sentiment,
or
whether
or
not
the
engagement
on
social
media
is
positive,
negative,
or
neutral.
Of
course,
you
want
positive
mentions
to
increase
perpetually,
but
knowing
your
sentiment
measure
allows
your
business
to
respond
properly
to
negative
sentiment
or
thank
someone
for
a
positive
comment.
6. Who
are
Your
Social
Media
Fans/Followers?
-­‐
This
goes
beyond
recognizing
names,
profile
pictures,
and
Twitter
handles.
Social
analytics
needs
to
measure
the
qualitative
data
that
defines
who
these
social-­‐media
people
are
so
you
can
use
that
information
for
better
social-­‐media
marketing
and,
ultimately,
better
all-­‐around
marketing.
For
example,
social
analytics
can
tell
you
the
time
zone
in
which
followers
or
those
who
check
out
your
site
are
located
(which
makes
it
easier
to
time
your
updates)
or
if
the
bulk
of
your
followers
are
in
your
industry
or
like
your
product/service.
7. Where
Did
the
Lead
Come
From?
-­‐
It's
critical
to
know
which
social
networks
or
which
social-­‐media
marketing
tactics
are
driving
the
most
leads.
This
metric
is
better
known
as
referring
traffic,
or
referring
sites.
Obviously,
if
a
lot
of
people
on
Facebook
were
converting
into
leads,
then
you
would
want
to
continue
your
work
there
with
regular
page
updates
and
Facebook
ads
and
other
methods.
If
Facebook
isn't
bringing
in
the
results
you
were
hoping
to
see,
the
next
step
is
to
figure
out
what's
wrong,
or
if
you
are
better
off
devoting
time
and
energy
elsewhere.
8. How
did
Someone
Engage
with
Your
Brand?
-­‐
It's
important
to
know
if
someone
simply
follows
your
brand,
followed
your
brand
after
downloading
something
or
attended
a
webinar,
or
perhaps
connected
with
you
on
social
media
after
first

4. visiting
your
website.
Each
example
is
at
a
different
stage
of
the
buying
process,
has
different
needs,
and
a
different
level
of
interest
in
your
brand.
Knowing
the
differences
among
them
can
help
refine
your
social
media
marketing.
Why
Have
Analytics
at
All?
Analytics
essentially
help
you
gauge
the
success
of
your
current
social-­‐media
marketing
efforts,
i.e.,
if
you
are
reaching
company
goals.
If
your
company
goal
is
to
generate
leads
through
social
media,
knowing
which
platforms
have
the
highest
levels
of
engagement
and
which
links
are
bringing
traffic
to
your
website
is
incredibly
important.
Having
social
analytics
also
means
you
have
that
much
more
data
to
work
with,
making
it
easier
for
your
brand
to
determine
what
to
do
next,
with
whom,
and
when.
Besides,
where
would
you
or
any
company
be
without
social
analytics?
You’d
be
simply
guessing
at
what
are
working
and
what's
not,
and
using
arbitrary
numbers
and
measurements
to
gauge
success.
Without
social
analytics,
a
company
has
little
way
of
knowing
which
referring
sites
are
driving
the
most
traffic
or
the
most
engaged
visitors,
or
even
what
kind
of
impact
(if
any)
their
social
media
actions
are
having.
Without
social
analytics,
a
company
could
easily
be
throwing
money
away
and
eventually
giving
up
on
social
media
marketing
because
it's
not
accomplishing
company
goals.
Tips
and
Tricks
in
Social
Analytics
Segmentation
If
the
leads
coming
through
Facebook
are
distinctly
different
from
those
coming
from
LinkedIn,
and
different
still
from
those
coming
from
Pinterest,
you
may
want
to
segment
those
leads
according
to
those
sources.
Through
segmentation,
your
lead
nurturing
can
be
much
more
logical
and
targeted
toward
what
drove
the
lead
to
convert
in
the
first
place.
Segmentation
can
also
help
with
finding
characteristics
to
help
build
marketing
personas,
which
can
go
back
to
social
media
in
determining
what
content
you
post
where
and
who
is
supposed
to
benefit
from
said
content.
Don't
Ignore
Search
Search
engines
are
now
emphasizing
profiles
and
evidence
of
"social
proof"
in
results,
(especially
with
the
introduction
of
Google+)
meaning
that
social
media
is
no
longer
separate
from
SEO
and
other
search
marketing
tactics.
A
good
example
of
this
is
Google
Authorship,
which
attaches
a
picture
and
a
profile
of
the
author's
article
to
the
search
results.
Statistics
have
shown
that
articles
with
that
picture
and
profile
get
a
lot
more
clicks
than
those
that
don't.
Bing
is
also
emphasizing
social
proof,
showing
you
which

5. friends
like
what
you
just
searched
for
or
showing
you
which
people
on
social
media
have
an
interest
in
that
subject.
Conduct
a
Content
Review
Social
media
is
made
up
of
all
the
content
that
is
shared
and
posted.
Your
company
cannot
be
considered
active
on
social
media
unless
content
is
being
posted.
Thus,
it
is
important
to
review
the
content
that
you
post
on
social
media,
considering
quality
and
relevance.
Review
each
piece
of
content
by
monitoring
three
things:
unique
page
views,
time
on
page,
and
total
pages
viewed.
These
three
factors
assess
the
perceived
value
of
the
content
by
your
audience,
as
well
as
the
overall
reach
of
your
social
media
efforts.
Bring
this
Data
into
Other
Parts
of
the
Organization
If
the
awesome
data
you're
getting
from
social
analytics
simply
stays
in
marketing
or
with
your
social-­‐media
manager,
you're
losing
out
on
a
lot
of
potential.
Sales
can
definitely
use
the
social-­‐analytics
data
when
reaching
out
to
individual
leads,
or
even
in
offering
logical
next
steps
for
leads
that
aren't
ready
to
buy.
Customer
service
and
support
can
use
this
information
if
current
customers
continue
to
remain
active
on
social
media.
The
data
can
reflect
the
needs
of
current
customers
and
help
customer
service/support
meet
those
needs.
Social
Analytics
Tools
We
Recommend
There
are
tons,
TONS,
of
social
media
tools
out
there.
How
do
you
choose
among
the
tools,
even
when
it's
hard
enough
to
choose
among
the
social
networks?
Below
is
our
list
of
great
tools,
and
most
of
these
tools
will
work
with
most
social
networks.
Google
Analytics
-­‐
Google
Analytics
is
a
tool
that
most
small-­‐
and
medium-­‐sized
businesses
know.
However,
some
may
not
realize
that
Google
Analytics
offers
social
analytics
as
well
as
web
analytics.
Use
this
tool
to
find
the
conversion
rates
of
social
media,
find
out
which
profiles
drive
the
most
engaged
visitors,
and
where
your
most
popular
content
is
being
shared.
Tying
your
social
analytics
with
web
analytics,
Google's
tool
is
great
for
monitoring
bounce
rates
and
where
traffic
and
leads
are
coming
from.
Bit.ly
-­‐
Bit.ly
is
a
URL
shortening
and
tracking
tool,
and
is
useful
for
more
than
just
giving
you
more
room
in
your
tweet.
With
its
URL
tracking,
you
can
see
which
links
are
getting
the
most
clicks
and
extrapolate
from
there
why
certain
links
received
certain
clicks.
Was
it
the
topic?
The
teaser?
The
platform?
The
accompanying
picture?
Bit.ly
allows
you
to
shorten
a
link
multiple
times,
so
you
can
conduct
testing
to
find
out
which
social
media
marketing
methods
to
the
best
with
your
audience.

6.
Klout
-­‐
Looking
at
up
to
12
social
media
profiles,
Klout
measures
the
influence
of
your
social
media
profiles
and
gives
you
a
score
based
on
the
level
of
engagement
you
have
on
social
media.
This
involves
more
than
posting
regularly
or
simply
having
profile,
as
the
score
reflects
the
impact
your
social
media
activity
has
on
the
rest
of
the
network/world.
It
makes
it
easy
to
see
at
a
glance,
which
profiles
have
the
most
engagement
and
the
specific
updates
that
were
particularly
influential.
SimplyMeasured
-­‐
Although
SimplyMeasured
has
more
robust
reports
behind
a
paywall,
you
can
access
reports
that
analyze
your
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram,
Google+,
YouTube,
and
Klout
for
free
(Pinterest
and
LinkedIn
are
coming
soon).
In
exchange
for
a
post
to
social
media
about
SimplyMeasured,
you
get
the
free
report
about
your
Twitter
following,
your
YouTube
audience,
or
how
effective
you
are
using
a
certain
network.
What
makes
SimplyMeasured
different
from
the
other
social
analytics
tools
is
that
it
offers
reports
that
compare
your
social-­‐media
marketing
to
the
competition.
No
one
wants
to
be
outperformed
by
a
competitor!
WAS
THIS
HELPFUL?
SHARE
OR
CONNECT
WITH
US
ONLINE!
http://digitalsherpa.com/blog
http://facebook.com/digitalsherpas
http://twitter.com/digitalsherpas
http://linkedin.com/company/digital-­‐sherpa
http://youtube.com/digitalsherpas