Social media managers should be able to show how social media activity is impacting marketing goals, and how social media can be used to increase web traffic and generate sales. Recent studies show that 45% of brands say they have trouble measuring ROI on social media, and 96% of brands that use Twitter as a marketing tool report that achieving specific goals is a challenge.
These challenges can be addressed by learning how to effectively track your social media efforts. If your goals for 2016 include increasing website traffic or blog traffic with the use of social media, you should consider using URL parameters and Google Analytics to see tangible link tracking results. The following steps will guide you through the process of setting up your website for success with Google Analytics, controlling your URL parameters, and preparing your Google Analytics report to demonstrate your social media efforts.
Step 1: Integrate Google Analytics to your website
The first step to effectively measuring social media traffic to your website is to ensure that Google Analytics is integrated into your website.
Step 2: Use URL parameters in your social media posts
Now that you have integrated your website with Google Analytics, the next thing you need to do is use URL parameters to properly track your links. If this term is unfamiliar to you, don’t worry; In reality, it is not as technical as it seems. These parameters are basically user-defined rules that determine how you can measure data. In Hootsuite, you can create custom URL parameters for each campaign, or if you’re posting outside of your company’s social networks, you can set it up so that each post has a parameter linked to it.
Here’s how to create custom URL parameters in Hootsuite:
But you might be wondering what all these different URL parameters mean. Here is a table showing when and why URL parameters are used. Keep in mind that you should always use the campaign medium, campaign name, and campaign source.
Step 3: Analyze your custom URL parameters in Google Analytics
After steps 1 and 2, you can start analyzing your social media traffic effectively within Google Analytics. You can do this by using the secondary dimension feature to measure which source is bringing traffic to certain pages on your website, or to your website in general. That’s why it’s important to make sure your URL parameters include the campaign source.
In your Hootsuite dashboard, you can track the performance of your social media efforts with our built-in Google Analytics report. There you will be able to see which source is bringing the most traffic. However, you can’t track individual URLs.
Here’s how you can set up Google Analytics in Hootsuite:
- Go to Analytics
- Under Templates, select the Google Analytics template
- Next, add your Google Analytics account
- Choose the name of the Twitter account you want to measure and click Create report
Step 4: Evaluate your performance with your Hootsuite Google Analytics report
In Hootsuite’s Google Analytics report, there are 5 analytics modules to evaluate the performance of your social media efforts in driving traffic to your site.
The site visitors They will allow you to measure the effectiveness of tactics on the front line and immediately see which messages resonate with your audience.
Sparklines displays a statistical overview to quickly see how campaign elements are performing, allowing you to prioritize the areas that need the most attention.
He regional traffic The site allows you to know which areas produce campaign results so you can geographically target your reach.
Measure the statistics of page views to determine what content attracts the most audience.
Determine what channels they provide traffic and see where social networks fall when it comes to driving traffic to your website.
Step 5: Analyze performance consistently
Whether you’re using a Google Analytics report built into Hootsuite or tracking links directly in the Google Analytics platform, make sure you’re always tracking. As a social media manager, it’s important to demonstrate the value of social media to the business, and one of the best ways to do this is to keep track of the results of your social media efforts. URL parameters are the key to link tracking, and are an essential tool for testing the effects of social media on marketing goals like website traffic, leads generated, and sales. To make sure you’re tracking every link on your social media accounts, go to the advanced URL parameters section of Hootsuite and check the box next to “Always apply when shortening links.” This will ensure that you don’t miss out on any opportunities.
Via: hootsuite
