Using Google Analytics to Track Social Media

track social mediaAnalytics is essential to ensuring ROI for your social media campaigns. To get clarity about what’s happening with your social traffic, you need to make sure that your analytics suite is set up the right way. Let’s look at the steps:

1) Set Measurable Social Media Goals for Your Business

No matter what stage your business is in, you need clear goals. Without goals that are actionable and measurable, using analytics to track social media may not help you move in a productive direction.

Recently, SMART Goals have become popular in digital marketing:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Relevant
  • Time-Based

Make sure your social goals meet these five criteria before going forward with them.

2) Ensure Google Analytics is Active and Working

Though there are many analytics suites, most enterprises use Google Analytics: it’s free, feature-rich, and supported by the biggest brand in search. Your GA account is associated with a specific Google account – either Gmail or G Suite.

Once your account is active, you need to add Google’s tracking code to every page of your site.

Yes, every one! Luckily, there are various ways to automate this. One way is through the Google Tag Manager. If your site uses a CMS, there is almost certainly a way to add the code to your pages with a software add-on.

3) Create Google Analytics Goals

Defining custom goals helps determine when social traffic ends in conversions. To capture conversions accurately, you must create goals matching the structure of your site – for example, specifying which pages, forms, and buttons are associated with a conversion.

“Create, edit, and share goals” walks you through the process.

track social media4) Get Familiar With Social Analytics Reports

Once everything is up and running, Google Analytics provides no less than eight social analytics reports. These include:

Overview

A summary of how much conversion value is generated through all social channels.

Network Referrals

A breakdown of engagement metrics for each individual social media network.

Data Hub Activity

Recent social shares from your website and what was said with each one.

Landing Pages

A breakdown of engagement metrics according to landing page and social network.

Trackbacks

A running total of which sites link to your content and in what context.

Conversions

A total summary of the number of conversions resulting from social traffic.

Plugins

Describes which pieces of Web content are being shared and on what network.

User Flow

Which pages users entered your site from and what additional pages they viewed.

Now that your social data is fully prepped, you can track social media analytics to stay ahead of the curve. Watch the latest social trends, leverage content users engage with, and take action on both positive and negative social buzz. Good luck!