Elevate Your Social Content with Data, Analytics, & Insights

By: Kelly Burns, Geronimo Trail Guest Ranch

Have you ever asked yourself: “What is the point of social media? What should I even be posting?” Do you ever say: “I barely get any likes. I don’t have enough followers to make it worth it!” Social media data and analytics are crucial tools to inform your social content strategy. By leveraging your social media platforms correctly, they can be one of the most helpful tools for customer engagement, boosting quality traffic to your website, and, eventually, driving conversions (leads, sales, etc.).

You can’t expect to have an active and thriving social media presence when you post links and photos occasionally. And you can no longer measure your social media success by vanity metrics such as likes and follows. Nowadays, it is how people engage with your content that matters. After all, what’s the point of devoting your time and money to publishing content if no one engages with it?

At the 2019 AO Conference, I did a presentation focused on how to use your current available resources in Facebook and Instagram to identify not only who your audience is but also what social content resonates with them. 

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• When it comes to understanding the data available to you via in-platform analytics, the most helpful metrics that will help you plan your content is knowing when your fans are online and how they engage with your content (though comments, like, shares, and reactions. etc.)

  • This information can be accessed in Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/analytics/ or https://business.facebook.com/[YOUR BRAND]/insights/) and Instagram (under the Insights tab) 

  • Facebook and Instagram provide you with a lot of data, but it's up to you to determine what is “nice to know” and what is “need to know”. 

• Crafting social media pages, profiles, and posts that effectively connect with your audience stems from this data and analysis. Knowing when and what to post is half the battle on social media. Keep in mind that your profiles must be optimized and shared with the world. 

  • When you put in the time to grow your social media presence, you need to let the world know about it. When someone sees your brand, they should always have a way to connect with your social accounts (website footer, feeds on your website, email signature icons, etc.)

• Using content to reach and nurture an audience that will engage with it boils down to several core tenets.

  • Be human: showcase your personality and the human side of your brand.

  • Be helpful: offer solutions (just not products and services)

  • Be true: ensure your photos and content reflect on your company’s culture

  • Be competitive: monitor your competitor’s feeds to get inspiration for your own content

  • Be visual: humans are visual creatures so videos and images should be an essential part of your social feeds

  • Be social: social media is not a one way street and socializing with your followers is a must to keep them engaged

• Finally, strategically and sustainably building a presence on social media that resonates with customers comes down to setting goals, selecting the right platform (based on your audience), creating a content calendar, and staying active through both content and engagement.

At the end of the day, you need to be familiar with your data. That way you are able to know your audience, what content they like, and which strategy you should use to build a relationship with them.

About the Author:

Kelly started her job at Yellowstone in 2018, but has been in the marketing world for over 10 years. For the past four years she has been able to combine her love of the outdoors while doing her job in hospitality/tourism marketing. Before moving out West, Kelly was a Project Manager for a market research company in New York. She is an avid National Park enthusiast and has visited two-thirds of the more than 400 units of the National Park Service.