5 data-driven questions you should be asking your social media team

What is reach? How many followers will we gain this year? What’s the best time of day to post? What’s the best day of the week to post? Is this a good result? 

It has never been more important for business leaders and marketers to understand how their social media strategy is impacting the bottom line. But so often, the questions social experts get asked focus on the what, rather than the why and how behind the results.  

Asking why or how questions are the type of smart questions that guide strategy, determine what content or channels are driving impact and help assess whether a pivot is needed. We are encouraged to see more clients, partners and coworkers asking these smart questions, rather than accepting results as gospel.  

For over three decades, Prosek has leveraged data and insights to help clients build, protect and drive measurable business impact for their brands. To do the same, here are five data-driven questions any business leader should feel comfortable asking their social media team, and any social media team lead should be able to answer.

1. What is our reason for being on social media? How does that reason support our business objectives? 

Any good social media strategy has a reason for existence (and often more than one). It could be building brand awareness, driving qualified leads, elevating the voice and profile of a new or emerging corporate leader–the reasons are numerous. Whatever the social media strategy, it must ladder back to larger business objectives, and ideally, a bigger multi-channel marketing plan.  

There’s a perennial “why” that must be asked time and again. “Why are we on this platform vs. another?” “Why do we want to gain followers, to what end?” “Why is this corporate leader the right person to elevate in this space at this time?”

Business objectives are constantly changing as the world around us evolves. Your social media strategy should be keeping pace. What worked last quarter or last year might still work in the current environment, but it’s worth asking the “why” on a regular basis to ensure that’s the case. 

2. What are our goals, and what specific KPIs should we track to measure progress against those goals? 

Once you understand the “why” behind your social media strategy, it’s time to formulate some goals to set the foundation of your measurement framework. The metrics you measure and KPIs you set to determine success will then ladder into those goals to clearly delineate how you are moving the needle. 

For example, if the primary reason for your social media strategy is to drive brand awareness, you are likely aiming to reach as many people as possible within a given audience base. In which case follower growth, rate of retention, reach and volume of mentions (social handle tags) are key metrics to measure and set KPIs against.  

The metrics you can measure will also be dependent upon the platform you are on and how they define their metrics. For example, Instagram defines engagement by calculating the total of likes, comments, shares and saves of a post whereas Twitter counts retweets, replies, and likes. 

It is also important to set your KPIs based on the industry and brand context you’re operating within. Wherever possible, ask your team how to best benchmark performance to set achievable KPIs. 

Lastly, consider how to capture business conversions from social media. One option is to work with your leads to develop unique tracking parameters that can be tacked onto any links you’re including in social posts. This will enable you to see what content and channels are driving people to your site, products, or services.

3. Who are we currently reaching with social media content? How does that compare to our target audience? 

Follower growth, in some way, is likely to be a goal of yours. But too often we hear the question “how many followers can we add this year?” when the more important question is “who are we trying to reach?” Again, this conversation about audience, user acquisition, and growth goals must ladder back to your bigger business objectives and the “why” behind your social media strategy.  

Depending on your existing social reach, as well as the technology and tools available to your social team, your team should be able to understand exactly who currently follows and engages with your content across social platforms (incl. demographics, media preferences, interests, etc.). Once you have an idea of who you’re reaching and resonating with, you can compare it to your target audience and begin to optimize social strategy to better intersect with your audience’s daily routine – essentially connecting with them in the exact moments when they are consuming news and content. 

Getting a better idea of who you’re reaching and tailoring your strategy accordingly, then delivers greater impact on awareness, engagement, and reputation objectives down the funnel. 

4. How frequently should we be evaluating social media impact?  

Great question! This largely depends on your existing social strategy, corresponding goals and posting cadence. However, more frequent reporting also allows for more real-time optimizations and pivots in content and strategy. Discuss your execution approach with your team and determine if monthly and/or quarterly reports work best for you and your strategy. Regardless of cadence, be sure to benchmark metrics at the outset to then determine the resulting impact. 

5. What is working across our social media strategy? Why? Where do we need to change our approach?

Change is the only constant when it comes to social media (and life in general). Ultimately, your strategy and social media team must be adaptable and willing to pivot as the platforms make algorithmic adjustments, user behavior changes, the news cycle evolves, and new trends emerge. In some ways, looking at what’s working (your successes!) is the most rewarding part of social media management. Celebrating that post that got record engagement or clicks always feels good. But it’s important to look carefully at the stinkers too. 

What patterns can you begin to observe over time between the top performing and bottom performing posts? How can those patterns and lessons inform your copy writing, graphic design, paid strategy, targeting, and overall strategy?

A good social media manager is never afraid of data, is never afraid to say, “this isn’t working, we need to pivot,” and ultimately understands social media management is a grand experiment, always shifting and evolving, and never still. A good social media manager should be obsessed with understanding what’s working and why and how to pivot and evolve their work. And a GREAT social media manager should be coming to you with these “whys,” asking for updates on the business’s goals and objectives, presenting recommendations on goals, how to measure them, and how to get there together.