Tracking Your Social Media Analytics

One question I get asked quite a lot about is whether there is any way to track your Social Media Marketing success. The short answer is Yes! although in the next breath I have to explain that it is done in a different way to your ‘other’ marketing. Would you like to know how?

* Google Analytics: First of all, let’s not forget Google Analytics, this wonderful free tool by Google still has it’s place. by setting up some pages to be tracked and then only using those for your Social Media you can see what is working and what is not – yes you really can split test your social media. Try this and see: set up two pages with similar, but not the same content or even (of you have the ability two smaller sites), now set those pages or sites up in Google Analytics and use different types of social media – for instance only Twitter for one and Facebook for the other, or try different types of marketing content and posts to market those sites. Easy!

* Twitter Stats: Other than site stats try these Twitter trackers Twitalyzer, TweetStats, Twinfluence, Twitter Analyzer, Tweet Effect, and BackTweets. All of these work a little differently and give you different types of results, but the effect is an all round picture of your social marketing on Twitter. there is a new site called Klout.com which is also very useful for figuring out your reach and influence on Twitter, it is in open Beta right now, so give this one a go.
* Facebook Stats: If you market on Facebook and haven’t got a Facebook Fan Page you are missing out on your Facebook Insights which comes with every business profile/page. These have several views and some very noteworthy information for Admins, including how many people are interacting with your page, whether there are more male or females, how many people clicked your links and more..

* URL Shorteners: many of the better URL shorteners are now incorporating tracking your link stats for free when you sign up for an account. Most noteable are: bit.ly, budurl,and  ow.ly from HootSuite. Not only will these shorten your links to a more managable size they will provide link tracking stats which are invaluable to check what kind of posts people are clicking on most. You can then change your comment and post strategy to take advantage of your insights. Personally I use bit.ly and ow.ly more often than not, as I like using HootSuite and bit.ly is available on Seesmic my Twitter App of choice. I have a new one I am testing out from Stumbleupon called su.pr and it seems to be working out as well and best of all there is a Worpress Plugin for it too.

Whatever you use, and I suggest for a complete picture you take a look at most of these, one way to track your social media influence and success is the conversations people are having with you. How much interaction there is, how many people comment on your links, or ask questions of your as the expert in your niche. Don’t forget that social media is social and understanding that this is a key component of your social media tracking and insights.

Have fun!

The Zen Bull

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