I have been asked a lot about what is the difference between social media analytics and social media statistics. While, the definitions might be pretty much similar, there are key differences that ought to be mentioned.
In this article, I’ve tried to cover the distinctive types of social media analytics and example statistics and explore their benefits and limitations as to which should be preferred and why? I’ve listed out some factors that can help you make a decision on which one suits you the best!
Descriptive analytics
Descriptive SMA tackles the questions of “what happened and/or what is happening?” Descriptive analytics gather and describe social media data in the form of reports, visualizations, and clustering to understand a well-defined business problem or opportunity. Social media user comments analysis, for instance, falls into the descriptive analytics category. Comment analysis can be used to understand users’ sentiments or identify emerging trends by clustering themes and topics. Currently, descriptive analytics accounts for the majority of social media analytics landscape.
Descriptive analytics answer the question “what is happening”? “What happened”? These types of analytics cluster similar types of data together in order to produce a cohesive view. Comments and posts can be grouped together, for instance, for the purpose of sentiment analysis (as offered, for instance, by our very own SentiOne platform). Any time you gather a lot of similar data points in order to analyse them looking for patterns, sentiments, and/or trends, you’re dealing with descriptive analytics.
Diagnostic analysis
Diagnostic analysis focuses on the numbers: like counts, follower numbers, pageviews, reviews, shares, what have you. This type of analytics focuses on the performance of posts and campaigns and attempts to discern what made them successful. By comparing the performance of different campaigns, trends and consumer preferences can be discerned. Both diagnostic and descriptive analytics are reactive – that is, they are concerned with events that have already happened.
Diagnostic SMA analytics looks into the questions of “why something happened?” For example, while descriptive analytics can provide an overview of your social media marketing campaign’s performances (posts, mentions, followers, fans, page views, reviews, pins, etc); diagnostic analytics can distill this data into a single view to see what worked in your past campaigns and what didn’t. Enablers of diagnostics analytics include inferential statistics, behavioural analytics, correlations & retrospective analysis and outcome being cause and effect analysis of a business issues.
Predictive analysis
In contrast, both predictive and prescriptive analytics are proactive – as in, they attempt to predict trends, events, and shifts based on existing data. It can range from simple things, like predicting possible visits to a location based upon posts expressing that intention, to forecasting entire trends and phenomena based upon mentions. Social listening tools can help identify upcoming trends and shifts in consumer behaviour by analysing large volumes of social media data and indicating the shifting popularity of keywords.
Predictive analytics involves analyzing large amounts of accumulated social media data to predict a future event. Thus, it deals with the question of “what will happen and/or why will it happen?” For example, an intention expressed over social media (such as buy, sell, recommend, quit, desire, or wish) can be mined to predict a future event (such as a purchase). Alternatively, businesses can predict sales figures based on historical visits (or in-links) to a corporate website.
Prescriptive analysis
Finally, prescriptive analysis is the analysis of data with the intention of providing the best way to proceed at any given moment. This can be applied to situations ranging from handling social media crises and incidents (“how well does this type of apology track with our target audience?”) to purchase preferences (“we’ve identified this group of customers – how do we optimise our sales process to their habits?”). Although it’s an incredibly useful form of analysis, it requires a lot of data in order to truly show its potential.
While predictive analytics help to predict the future, prescriptive analytics suggest the best action to take when handling a scenario (Lustig, Dietrich, et al. 2010). For example, if you have groups of social media users that display certain patterns of buying behavior, how can you optimize your offering to each group? Like predictive analytics, prescriptive analytics has not yet found its way into social media data. The main enablers of prescriptive analytics include optimization and simulation modeling, multi-criteria decision modeling, expert systems, and group support systems.
Social Media Report Templates For YouTube
YouTube is a social network focused on videos. We have seen numerous cases where videos go viral, hence, this network shouldn’t be disregarded that easily. In fact, YouTube leads the way in regards to video platforms in the world, but also as the second largest search engine right after Google. The potential is indisputable. We will start with an example of a monthly social media report for video performance.
a) YouTube Video Performance Dashboard
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YouTube is the top video platform in the world, and that’s a fact. With more than 1.9 billion logged in monthly users, you can navigate the platform in a total of 80 different languages, over 91 countries, and reach more 18-49 year-olds than on any broadcast or Cable TV network. These astonishing facts put YouTube also as the second largest search engine and the third most visited site after Google and Facebook. That being said, the monitoring and reporting of this network are invaluable for any video marketing strategy.
One of our social media report templates of the video variety, the YouTube video performance dashboard will help you improve your video-based marketing efforts.
Offering key metrics on viewer engagement as well as retention, this social media analytics report template will allow you to improve the visual content you produce as well as tailor it to the needs, preferences, and interests of your target audience.
Plus, KPIs like total watch time and video views will help you understand what is and isn’t working, allowing you to make essential tweaks to your YouTube strategy over time. A report example that every business should explore, regardless of industry or sector.
Primary KPIs:
- Total Watch Time
- Total Number of Video Views
- Viewer Retention
- Video Engagement
To find out more about this reporting template and others like it, explore our mix of YouTube dashboard examples & templates.
b) YouTube Channel Performance Dashboard
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While monitoring your video performance is essential, your channel performance is another important element in your social strategy and we will now explain why, and how you can use these notions to your own advantage.
This social media marketing report template focuses on the analytics part of your channel production. You need to deliver results in order to be successful on YouTube and producing videos only will not suffice. The data behind the channel will tell you if your audience resonates with your message or you need further adjustments. An operational dashboard focused on your channel performance will answer all questions related to your subscribers and traffic.
Examples of Social Media Analytics
Social Media Marketing Report Example
Before diving into the specific examples of each platform, we want to go deeper into the benefits of displaying all your data in one place with this powerful KPI scorecard dashboard showcasing relevant metrics on four platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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In the example above we see charts tracking a set of relevant metrics for each platform such as followers, views/impressions, interactions, and engagement. Every single one of these metrics performs against a target and a comparison with the previous period. At the bottom of each chart, you also have a graph showcasing CTR fluctuations for a 6 months period. By looking at these numbers you can see if specific strategies that you implemented are working to achieve your goals, for example, we see that Twitter has problems with the numbers of clicks, here you can investigate deeper and see if the content wasn’t interesting for your audience or if maybe it would work better in another type of channel.
This dashboard can be useful for several scenarios in social media reporting. First, it can serve as a tool to present to clients or managers that want to have access to the live performance of their social media, for this purpose, the simple visuals in red and green can provide insights immediately about positive or negative goals achievements. Second, as we mentioned before, having an overview of all these platforms’ performance together in one place will save you time that you can invest in deeper analysis to improve your strategies. Finally, this KPI scorecard can also be useful for SMM departments that hold meetings to track the progress of their strategy, since the dashboard gives them a quick summary of metrics to support their discussions.
Social Media Reports For Facebook
Facebook is the most wide-spread social channel in the world. With billions of users across the world, tracking and analyzing social activities on this platform is essential. Here we deliver a sample social media report for your Facebook page and another one for Facebook post management.
a) Facebook Page Dashboard
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This report template is dedicated to the world’s largest social network – Facebook. With 1.47 billion people that log in daily, this network is still on top of search engines with 78% of American consumers that have discovered retail products to buy just on this network. This is an astonishing potential that, if used wisely, can ensure sustainable business development. For this reason, the reporting practice becomes even more important since it can provide the exact numbers on how your company is developing on this social network.
As Facebook has its own set of rules, practices, and metrics, this invaluable report template offers a real insight into page views, behaviors, interactions, priceless follow demographics, likes, engagements, and a host of other essential information that will help you refine your Facebook marketing strategy.
Primary KPIs:
- Number of Fans
- Follower Demographics
- Page Views by Sources
- Actions on Page
To find out more about this social media report template, explore our Facebook dashboards in greater detail.
b) Facebook Post Dashboard
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Our rundown of social media reporting dashboards wouldn’t be complete without taking a closer look at the post level of this social network. While monitoring the big picture of the overall Facebook page is essential, analyzing posts will deliver even more value to your social strategies.
Our dashboard begins with a simple overview of the number of impressions, and the average values of metrics such as reach per post, engagement rate, and CTR. That way you can get an overview of how your posts are performing but you might want to follow up with more details. That’s why, in this dashboard, you can see additional Facebook KPIs visualized in a clean and straightforward way: the average amount of impressions per post, post reactions, top 3 posts by CTR, and average engagement per post. These metrics can tell you a number of things: what type of posts work best, what kind of reactions do you generate from your audience, and how many people see your posts, among other important elements to create a comprehensive social data story.
Primary KPIs:
- Reach by Post Type
- Post Engagement Rate
- Click-through-rate (CTR)
LinkedIn Social Media Report Samples
If you want your business to thrive in online social settings, you need to develop and manage a LinkedIn account. LinkedIn has numerous benefits and it’s considered as the number one platform for business-related social communication. To steer your success on this invaluable network, we have prepared 2 social media reporting templates that you can use for your potential online business influence.
a) LinkedIn Company Page Dashboard
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LinkedIn is undoubtedly the planet’s premier professional network, and the second of our social media report templates focuses solely on this ever-expanding platform. With more than 500 million members, of about 61 million users are senior-level influencers, the potential in the B2B environment increases each year. That’s just the tip of the iceberg on why tracking this social platform is of utmost importance. Let’s see how this can be done in our example.
A prime monthly social media report example (although it’s entirely possible to track metrics and interactions on a daily or weekly basis), our LinkedIn reporting dashboard offers comprehensive information on company update frequency. Follower demographics, engagement rates, and more – all geared towards remaining relevant, present, and growing those all-important professional relationships on a consistent basis.
Primary KPIs:
- Followers’ Demographics
- Number of Followers
- Impressions & Reach
- Engagement Rate
- Company Update Stats
To discover more about this particular report example, explore our LinkedIn dashboards & templates in more depth.
b) LinkedIn Individual Profile Dashboard
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Not just important for your company’s profile, but the individual as well, LinkedIn is one of the networks where you can easily find business influencers and connect with numerous peers across the globe. Individual profile users can benefit from such a dashboard since your business profile on LinkedIn can generate valuable results not just for your company, but your individual efforts as well.
This social media metrics report template is created with the help of a dashboard generator, where you can also find numerous other templates and easily start building your own dashboard or report. Metrics based on post and profile views monitored across specified weeks will immediately let you know how your published content performed over a course of time, how well is received, and do you need to adjust your strategies. This is not only crucial for companies but if you’re striving to brand your name and develop your personal presence, you need this dashboard in your life.
Another LinkedIn KPI, the 3 most recent updates will remind you what did you recently publish and if you see a spike, you might want to consider taking a closer look at those posts.
Primary KPIs:
- Viewer Information
- Contact & Network Growth
- Profile Views by Job Title
- Post Views & Engagements
Your Chance: Want to test a social media reporting software for free?
We offer a 14-day free trial. Benefit from great social media reports!
4. Twitter Social Media Monthly Report Templates
Twitter is another social platform that companies and individuals can use to their advantage, depending on the type of brand they want to build. The content aspect that Twitter established forced brands across the world to keep their message short and clear. This type of content revolutionized online communication and is still popular today. Twitter is a platform that, if used correctly, can benefit the business in no-time.
Let’s start by explaining in more detail a social media metrics report template focused on Twitter performance.
a) Tweet Performance Dashboard
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Twitter remains one of the most popular and relevant social networking platforms on the planet, and the third of our reporting examples drills down into what makes the platform tick – the tweets. There are more than 500 million tweets sent each day, that mixed with the fact that Twitter users are 38% more likely to post opinions about brands and products than other social media users, makes this platform perfect for reaching out to customers. Let’s take a look at our template to see what kind of reports we can extract.
This is a social media performance report template that is certain to enhance your Twitter marketing strategy. The Tweet performance dashboard tracks key activities over a 30-day period while offering a balanced mix of KPIs that will help you boost engagement and streamline your promotional strategy on a continual basis. This is a KPI report example that you should take note of, particularly if you’re looking to achieve total Twitter domination in your niche.
Primary KPIs:
- Average Number of Link Clicks
- Average Engagement Rate
- Average Number of Impressions
- Top 5 Tweets by Engagement
To discover more about this template and others like it, browse our Twitter dashboards & templates.
b) Twitter Ads Dashboard
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If you want to succeed in your marketing efforts, performing paid advertisements on Twitter is one of our suggestions you might want to look into. The potential of this network is undeniable, and by boosting your online social efforts, you can improve your company’s bottom line exponentially. Our Twitter Ads dashboard will show you how.
This dashboard, created with a social media reporting software, focuses on the most important metrics for managing successful advertising efforts: the total budget spent, the number of impressions, link clicks and the average values per day for the past month. Looking at a monthly level, you can gain a better understanding of your overall performance but don’t forget to generate the daily view of the funnel, just like on our dashboard. That way, you will have a more detailed overview of which days were more successful so you can adjust your strategies accordingly.
Primary KPIs:
- CPM of Twitter Ads
- Result Rate of Twitter Ads
- Cost per Result
Conclusion
We have looked briefly into the types of social media analytics, which are you suited for?
Social Media is becoming more popular every day. This is because social media sites are drawing in people from all over the world. No matter where you are, you will find something to share within these online destinations. You can use social media analytics to capture the true value of your site.