See article online - by communications/socal media strategist and former sports information director Chris Syme. In conjunction with CoSIDA staff, Syme authored and analyzed the last two CoSIDA social media/social media education surveys that the membership participated in.
Here is part one of this Twitter analytics piece.
Follow Syme via her blog and Twitter.
by Chris Syme, cksyme.com
When it comes to analytics, there are three basic types of services or dashboards: basic, advanced, and enterprise. Twitter’s free analytics dashboard fits in the first category. It shows basic demographic info in addition to reports on the engagement actions taken on individual tweets in chronological order. Features such as tracking individual campaign links, sorting tweets by features (click-throughs, images, videos, etc), or sorting by engagement rates or impressions are not available. These you can find on more advanced, but affordable services like Buffer or Sprout Social. Even though Twitter’s analytics are a great start, I wouldn’t want them to be the only data I access. But let’s see what they can do.
Engagement Data
One of the best basic tools you have for increasing engagement with your Twitter fan base is to look at how your tweets perform over time, and find patterns. Twitter’s dashboard offers analytics for users in two basic categories: tweets and followers. If you use Twitter cards, there is also a section of data for them as well. You can check specific date ranges on their pull-down calendar, which is a plus.
In part one of how to decipher your Twitter analytics, we looked at the four types of content metrics that Twitter’s dashboard can help you with: traction, best days and times, content types, and fails. First, let’s look at the “Tweets” page.
This page defaults to the last 28 days of tweets. There is a nice quick look at organic impression numbers on the top—one week at a time on a line chart. If you keep track of this over time, you can start to see patterns in best days to tweet. Also look for content connections—my impressions are highest on days when I publish on my blog.
When I look down the tweets, there are three report metrics for each: impressions, engagements, and engagement rate. Twitter counts the following as engagement actions: clicks, retweets, favorites, and replies. The total number of actions divided by the number of impressions (“times a user is served a tweet in timeline or search results”) will be your engagement rate. The fuzzy definition here of impressions is worrisome to me but not a reason to disregard the data.
Just a note: In my experience, my engagement rate has gone up considerably after I installed Twitter summary cards. If you publish news stories or blog pieces, I would suggest using them. They are easy to install and command more real estate in Twitter. Any tweet I send out with a Twitter card attached gets more engagement.
Look for patterns in engagement. Which types of tweets command retweets and replies? What is their content? Also look for #fails. Take note of all your tweets with 0% engagement and ask if there is a pattern there. You’ll want to make a decision if those zero engagement tweets are really that important to your audience. Tweets without links or click-throughs can only show engagement if they are shared. Make sure your tweets have a basic call to action so they offer a chance to engage besides retweeting.
Followers
The information on your followers tab can also inform the content process.
You get basic information on the gender make-up of your audience and where they are located. But the helpful information on this page has to do with topics. Twitter shows you what your fans are interested in on their top interest lists. Again, these areas should inform your tweeting if you are looking for deeper engagement.
What To Do With All That Data?
Just because the data is there doesn’t mean it is helpful. Always arm yourself with your goals when you look at data. The data is certainly handy, but if you don’t use it to inform your strategy, it’s really meaningless.
I would start with basic engagement data on your Tweets page. Keep track of what works and what doesn’t. Think about tweeting less about what gets poor engagement, or think through how you can frame that content differently so it gets better engagement. Maybe you aren’t making the best use of links, images, or video.
Analytics dashboards are sort of like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears—some are too hot (too much data), some are too cold (don’t have enough), and some are just right. You have to find the service that works the best for your needs. If you are just starting out using analytics to find engagement patterns or best days to tweet, this dashboard can be very helpful. For a more extensive look at how to use the dashboard, Twitter has put together a tutorial that you can access here.