The internet has turned business into an increasingly global venture, which in turn makes things more competitive. In order to keep up with the recent developments, getting the most out of the social media analytics tools is necessary. One silver lining that is important to take note of is the fact that, while the internet has made business more competitive, by using the right tools it also allows smaller companies to fight with large corporations. In order to understand the necessary tools, one must understand the idea of social media analytics itself.
Understanding Social Media Analytics and The Role It Plays in Business
Defined as the gathering of data from social channels and online content, social media analytics tools play a role in guiding business decisions by providing actionable insights. There are three stages at the core of analytics.
The first stage is identifying primary business goals. This will help give purpose to analytics, whether we’re talking about increasing downloads, growing traffic for a page/website, or perhaps building a positive perception about the brand.
The second stage is setting up social key performance indicators, which are basically metrics that indicate success or failure. KPIs will differ depending on what goals were set up during the first stage. KPIs can relate to consumer engagement, sentiment (the way the audience feels about a brand or product), conversion (the impact of social strategies on sales and revenue), etc.
The third stage comes down to measuring and then analyzing data. This is done by using the “right” social media analytics tools, and helps assess the state of the business and what adjustments need to be made next.
Using the Right Tools
Deciding on certain tools depends on a number of factors. There are a lot of options on the internet designed to help with this endeavor, but which one is the right tool is up to business owner and the goals that were set up. Other factors that play a role when it comes to deciding on a tool are budget and expertise.
As far as expertise goes, using built-in dashboards is a good way to get started and to understand the audience. Most major social media platforms provide free analytics tools, and they can be useful if the business’ presence is limited to a handful of platforms. For those less experience, built-in dashboards can represent good starting points for understanding how analytics work. The built-in tools might not be enough however if the business has a social media presence on many platforms, as putting the numbers together manually can be time consuming.
In addition, not all platforms offer built-in tools, which means third party tools should be added to the mix. The internet has many third-party tools to offer – free or paid – making it easier to compare data from multiple channels and understanding the state of the brand across the web. While free tools can be very helpful and might get the job done, for businesses interested in gaining more actionable insight, investing into a paid tool seems like the way to go.
About Netbase and What It Has To Offer
Netbase is a paid option, focusing on the driving force behind social media posting – consumer sentiment. The platform offers a number of options designed to suit various needs and budgets. It uses natural language processing, which not only helps decipher multiple languages, but also deciphers online slang and emojis. The real-time monitoring is layered with image analytics and Voice of the Customer analytics, and is able to alert the brand when it comes to reputational threats, thus keeping the brand’s health at a maximum.
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