UNIT-I

Introduction & Why Social Media Analytics Matter, Social Media Metrics
Refresher, Setting Goals, Objectives and Benchmarks, Measurement and
Attribution Across the Customer Journey, Using Excel to Analyze Data

Introduction and why social media analytics matter:

Introduction to Social Media Analytics:

Social media analytics refers to the process of collecting and analyzing data from
social media platforms to gain insights into user behavior, engagement, and overall
effectiveness of social media marketing efforts. It involves tracking various metrics
like likes, shares, comments, followers, and reach, among others, to evaluate how
well a social media campaign is performing.

Why Social Media Analytics Matter:

1. Measure Performance: Social media analytics provide a clear picture of

how well your content or campaigns are performing. By analyzing metrics
like engagement rates, impressions, and click-through rates, businesses can
identify what works and what doesn't.
2. Understand Audience: Analytics help businesses understand their audience
better. Demographic data such as age, location, gender, and interests allow
companies to create more targeted content and engage with followers more
effectively.
3. Optimize Strategy: By tracking social media performance over time,
companies can tweak their strategies. They can learn which type of content
 (videos, images, blog posts) resonates the most and adjust their approach for
maximum impact.
4. Increase ROI: Social media analytics help optimize marketing budgets by
directing efforts toward strategies and platforms that yield the best results.
This ensures a better return on investment (ROI) for social media marketing
campaigns.
5. Competitor Analysis: By monitoring competitors' social media
performance, businesses can benchmark their own efforts and spot
opportunities to improve or differentiate their content.
6. Content Improvement: Data-driven insights help identify trends in content
preferences. Marketers can use this information to create more engaging
posts, videos, or ads that are likely to attract more followers or increase
engagement.

Social Media Metrics Refresher:

Here’s a quick refresher on the key social media metrics that businesses and
marketers use to evaluate their performance on various social media platforms:

1. Engagement Metrics:
o Likes/Reactions: The number of times people have liked, reacted, or
interacted with a post. It shows basic approval or interest in the
content.
o Shares/Retweets: The number of times users have shared a post with
their followers. Shares indicate high value or relevance, as users feel
the content is worth spreading.
 o Comments: The number of comments a post receives. Comments
suggest a deeper level of engagement and offer insight into what your
audience thinks or feels about the content.
o Mentions: The number of times your brand is mentioned in posts or
comments. Mentions can help assess brand awareness and reputation.
2. Reach and Impressions:
o Reach: The total number of unique users who have seen your content.
This metric helps gauge how far your content is spreading.
o Impressions: The total number of times your content is displayed,
whether clicked on or not. Impressions show how often your content
is being shown to users but do not account for how many unique users
saw it.
3. Followers and Audience Metrics:
o Follower Growth: The increase or decrease in the number of
followers over a given period. Steady growth indicates good content,
while a drop may signal a need for content improvement.
o Audience Demographics: Information about the age, gender,
location, and interests of your audience. Understanding your audience
helps tailor content to their preferences and needs.
4. Traffic Metrics:
o Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of users who click on a
link in your post, such as a website link or a call-to-action (CTA). A
higher CTR means your content is compelling enough to drive action.
o Referral Traffic: The amount of traffic directed to your website or
landing page from social media platforms. It indicates how effective
social media is at driving visitors to other content.
5. Conversion Metrics:
 o Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who take a desired action,
such as filling out a form, making a purchase, or signing up for a
newsletter, after clicking on a post or ad.
o Cost Per Conversion: The cost incurred for each conversion or goal
achieved from a social media campaign. This helps evaluate the
efficiency of ad spending.
6. Customer Satisfaction and Sentiment:
o Sentiment Analysis: Measures the overall tone of the conversations
happening around your brand (positive, negative, neutral). This can be
done using tools that analyze comments and mentions.
o Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): A metric used to evaluate
how satisfied customers are with your product, service, or social
media experience.
7. Video Metrics (if applicable):
o View Count: The total number of times a video has been viewed.
This metric gives you a sense of how much interest a video is
generating.
o Watch Time: The total time viewers have spent watching your video.
Longer watch times indicate that users are engaging deeply with your
video content.
o Video Completion Rate: The percentage of viewers who watch your
video all the way to the end. Higher completion rates show that your
content is engaging and keeping viewers interested.
8. Hashtag Performance:
o Hashtag Reach: How many people are interacting with or seeing
posts related to a specific hashtag.
 o Hashtag Engagement: The number of likes, comments, and shares
on posts that use the hashtag, reflecting its popularity and relevance.

These metrics are essential for evaluating the effectiveness of social media
campaigns, understanding user behavior, and refining strategies for better
engagement and results. They can be tracked using built-in platform tools (like
Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, etc.) or third-party analytics tools.

Goals, Objectives, and Benchmarks of Social Media Analytics

In social media analytics, it's important to clearly define goals, set specific
objectives, and establish benchmarks to measure success. Here's a breakdown:

1. Goals of Social Media Analytics:

Social media goals are broad, long-term aims that align with your overall
marketing and business strategy. These goals should be specific, measurable,
achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Here are some common social
media goals:

 Increase Brand Awareness: Expand the reach of your content and make
more people aware of your brand.
 Improve Engagement: Enhance interactions with your audience to build a
community and increase loyalty.
 Drive Website Traffic: Use social media to bring visitors to your website or
landing pages.
 Generate Leads or Sales: Encourage users to take specific actions, such as
signing up, purchasing, or downloading content.
  Enhance Customer Service: Provide prompt and helpful responses to
customer inquiries on social platforms.
 Build Reputation & Trust: Foster positive sentiment around your brand
through quality content, customer service, and community engagement.
 Content Awareness: Increase visibility and interaction with your specific
content (e.g., blog posts, videos, etc.).

2. Objectives of Social Media Analytics:

Objectives are specific, actionable steps that help achieve broader goals. They
provide direction for your strategy and allow you to measure success. Objectives
are typically more granular than goals and should be SMART as well. Here are
examples tied to common goals:

 For Increasing Brand Awareness:

o Achieve a 20% increase in follower count over the next three months.
o Reach 50,000 unique users with social media content over the next
quarter.
 For Improving Engagement:
o Increase social media post engagement (likes, comments, shares) by
15% in the next month.
o Boost average comment count per post by 30% by the end of the
quarter.
 For Driving Website Traffic:
o Increase social media referral traffic to the website by 25% within six
months.
o Generate 1,000 clicks to a specific landing page through social media
promotions.
  For Generating Leads or Sales:
o Convert 10% of social media followers into email subscribers within
the next three months.
o Achieve 200 completed transactions through a special social media
campaign.
 For Enhancing Customer Service:
o Respond to 95% of customer inquiries within 2 hours on social media
platforms.
o Achieve a customer satisfaction rate of 90% in social media
interactions.

3. Benchmarks of Social Media Analytics:

Benchmarks are the standard against which you compare your social media
performance. They help determine whether you’re meeting your goals and
objectives. Benchmarks can be set based on historical performance, industry
standards, or competitor data. Here are types of benchmarks:

 Historical Benchmarks:
o Compare current metrics with previous periods (e.g., comparing
engagement rates this month to the previous month or last year).
o Example: If your average engagement rate last month was 2%, aim to
increase it to 2.5% this month.
 Industry Benchmarks:
o Compare your social media performance with industry standards or
competitors. Many analytics platforms offer industry averages for
metrics like engagement rates, follower growth, and content reach.
 o Example: If the average engagement rate in your industry is 1.5%, set
a goal to exceed this benchmark by achieving 2% engagement rate.
 Competitor Benchmarks:
o Assess the performance of competitors’ social media accounts.
Identify their strengths and weaknesses and set your own performance
goals based on their successes.
o Example: If a competitor posts three times a week and gains 100 new
followers each week, aim to post five times a week and target gaining
150 new followers per week.

Key Metrics for Benchmarks:

 Engagement Rate: The percentage of interactions (likes, shares, comments)

compared to your total followers.
 Reach and Impressions: The number of people who have seen your content
and the total number of times it has been displayed.
 Follower Growth: The increase or decrease in the number of followers over
a certain period.
 Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on a link
in your social media post compared to how many saw the post.
 Conversion Rate: The percentage of social media visitors who take a
desired action, such as purchasing a product or filling out a form.
 Customer Sentiment: The positive, negative, or neutral tone of comments,
mentions, and reviews.

Measurement and Attribution Across the Customer Journey

The customer journey refers to the process that potential customers go through
when interacting with a brand, from becoming aware of the product or service to
making a purchase and beyond. Measurement and attribution across this journey
are essential for understanding how marketing efforts contribute to each stage and
for optimizing your strategy.

Here’s an explanation of both measurement and attribution within the context of

the customer journey:

1. Measurement Across the Customer Journey

Measurement involves tracking and analyzing key metrics at various touchpoints

across the customer journey. These touchpoints can be thought of as stages where
potential customers interact with your brand.

Stages of the Customer Journey:

 Awareness Stage:
o At this stage, the customer first becomes aware of your brand or
product. They might see your ad, hear about your company, or
discover you through social media, content marketing, or word-of-
mouth.
o Key Metrics to Measure:
 Reach: How many people saw your content or ad.
 Impressions: How many times your content or ad was
displayed.
 Engagement: Likes, shares, comments, and other interactions
on posts.
  Click-Through Rate (CTR): How many people clicked on
links to learn more.
 Consideration Stage:
o At this point, the potential customer is considering your product
among others. They may visit your website, read reviews, download
brochures, or engage with your content to learn more.
o Key Metrics to Measure:
 Website Traffic: Visits to specific pages, like product pages or
blog posts.
 Time on Site: How long users spend on key pages, indicating
their interest level.
 Bounce Rate: How many users leave your site after viewing
one page (a lower bounce rate is good).
 Lead Generation: Form submissions, email signups, or
download activity.
 Social Media Mentions: How often your brand is mentioned or
discussed.
 Decision Stage:
o The customer is now ready to make a decision. They may be
comparing options, reading customer testimonials, or looking for
discounts. They need the final push to convert.
o Key Metrics to Measure:
 Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who take a desired
action (e.g., make a purchase, complete a form, etc.).
 Add to Cart Rate: How many users add products to their
shopping carts.
  Cart Abandonment Rate: How many users add products to
their cart but don’t complete the purchase.
 Post-Purchase Stage (Loyalty & Advocacy):
o After purchasing, customers may leave reviews, share their experience
on social media, or become repeat buyers.
o Key Metrics to Measure:
 Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Feedback on how happy
customers are with their purchase.
 Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total revenue generated
from a customer throughout their relationship with the brand.
 Referral Rate: How many customers refer your brand to
others.
 Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures customer loyalty and
the likelihood of recommending your brand.

2. Attribution Across the Customer Journey

Attribution refers to assigning credit for conversions or customer actions to the

various marketing touchpoints that influenced the decision-making process. In the
customer journey, multiple touchpoints (ads, emails, social media posts, etc.)
contribute to the final decision. Attribution helps determine which channels and
strategies are most effective in driving desired outcomes.

Types of Attribution Models:

 First-Touch Attribution:
o Focus: The first touchpoint that introduces the customer to your brand
(e.g., first social media interaction, first ad view).
 o Application: This model gives full credit to the first interaction. It is
ideal for measuring awareness-building efforts.
 Last-Touch Attribution:
o Focus: The final touchpoint just before the conversion (e.g., the last
click on an email link or final website visit before purchase).
o Application: This model assigns all credit to the last interaction. It
works well for measuring direct response tactics.
 Linear Attribution:
o Focus: All touchpoints in the customer journey are given equal credit.
o Application: This model works well when you want to understand
how all interactions contribute to a conversion.
 Time-Decay Attribution:
o Focus: Gives more credit to the touchpoints closer to the conversion
and less to the ones that happened earlier.
o Application: Best for longer sales cycles where touchpoints closer to
the decision have more influence.
 U-Shaped (Position-Based) Attribution:
o Focus: The first and last touchpoints are given the most credit (e.g.,
40% for the first and last touchpoint), with the remaining 20%
distributed equally among the middle touchpoints.
o Application: This model is ideal for recognizing both the awareness
and decision-making phases of the journey.
 W-Shaped Attribution:
o Focus: The first touchpoint, the lead conversion, and the final
conversion touchpoint are all given significant credit (e.g., 30% each),
with the remaining 10% spread across other interactions.
 o Application: Useful when you want to measure the value of lead
generation as well as final conversions.
 Custom Attribution:
o Focus: Allows you to assign weights based on your unique business
model and customer journey.
o Application: Tailored to the specific customer behavior and
marketing strategies of a brand.

Using Excel to Analyze Data

Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool for data analysis, offering a wide range of
functions and features to manipulate, visualize, and draw insights from data. Here's
a guide on how to use Excel to analyze data effectively:

1. Organizing Your Data

Before analyzing data in Excel, it’s essential to organize it properly. Here are some
key steps:

 Tabular Format: Ensure your data is arranged in rows and columns with
each column representing a variable (e.g., sales, dates, products) and each
row representing a record or observation (e.g., individual transactions).
 Headers: Use clear, descriptive column headers to label your data (e.g.,
"Date", "Product", "Quantity", "Sales").
 Remove Duplicates: Clean your data by removing duplicates using the
Remove Duplicates tool (under the Data tab).
 Data Validation: Use data validation to ensure that data entered into the
cells is consistent and error-free (found under the Data tab).
2. Basic Excel Functions for Data Analysis

Here are some essential functions you can use to analyze your data:

 SUM(): Adds up values in a range.

o Example: =SUM(B2:B10) adds all values in cells B2 through B10.
 AVERAGE(): Calculates the average of a range of numbers.
o Example: =AVERAGE(B2:B10) calculates the average of values in
cells B2 through B10.
 COUNT(): Counts the number of cells that contain numbers.
o Example: =COUNT(B2:B10) counts the number of numeric values in
cells B2 through B10.
 COUNTA(): Counts the number of cells that are not empty.
o Example: =COUNTA(A2:A10) counts non-empty cells in the range
A2 to A10.
 MIN() / MAX(): Returns the minimum or maximum value in a range.
o Example: =MIN(B2:B10) finds the smallest number, and
=MAX(B2:B10) finds the largest.
 IF(): Performs a conditional test.
o Example: =IF(B2>100, "Above Target", "Below Target") checks if
the value in B2 is greater than 100 and returns "Above Target" if true,
otherwise "Below Target".
 VLOOKUP(): Looks up a value in a table and returns a corresponding value
from a specified column.
o Example: =VLOOKUP(A2, D2:E10, 2, FALSE) looks up the value in
cell A2, searches for it in the first column of the range D2:E10, and
returns the corresponding value from the second column.
  SUMIF() / COUNTIF(): Adds or counts cells based on a specified
condition.
o Example: =SUMIF(B2:B10, ">100") adds all values in B2:B10 that
are greater than 100.
 CONCATENATE() or &: Combines text from multiple cells into one.
o Example: =A2 & " " & B2 combines the values in cells A2 and B2
with a space between them.

3. Filtering and Sorting Data

 Sorting: You can sort data by a single column or multiple columns to

arrange it in ascending or descending order. Go to the Data tab and use the
Sort button.
o Example: Sort data by "Sales" from largest to smallest to identify the
top-performing items.
 Filtering: Use the Filter feature to display only rows that meet specific
criteria. You can apply filters by clicking on the filter icon in the column
headers.
o Example: Filter data to show only products with sales greater than a
specific threshold.

4. Pivot Tables for Summarizing Data

Pivot tables are one of the most powerful tools for summarizing large datasets in
Excel. They allow you to quickly organize, analyze, and summarize data without
changing the original data structure.

 Creating a Pivot Table:

o Select your data and go to the Insert tab.
 o Click on PivotTable.
o In the dialog box, select the data range and choose where to place the
pivot table (new worksheet or existing).
 Using Pivot Tables:
o Rows and Columns: Drag fields (variables) into the Rows and
Columns sections to organize the data by categories.
o Values: Drag numerical fields into the Values area to perform
calculations (e.g., SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT).
o Filters: Use the Filter area to refine your results by categories, such
as filtering by region or time period.

Example: You can use a pivot table to summarize total sales by product and
region, or to count how many sales occurred for each product type.

5. Data Visualization (Charts and Graphs)

Creating visualizations helps you interpret data more easily. Excel offers various
types of charts for this purpose.

 Column and Bar Charts: Good for comparing data across categories.
o Example: Use a column chart to compare sales by product.
 Line Charts: Best for showing trends over time.
o Example: Use a line chart to show the growth of sales over several
months.
 Pie Charts: Ideal for showing proportions or parts of a whole.
o Example: Use a pie chart to display the percentage of total sales by
product category.
 Scatter Plots: Useful for showing the relationship between two variables.
 o Example: Use a scatter plot to analyze the correlation between
advertising spend and sales.

To create a chart:

1. Select the data you want to visualize.

2. Go to the Insert tab.
3. Choose the desired chart type from the Charts group.

6. Using Excel for Advanced Analysis

For more advanced data analysis, you can use features like:

 Data Analysis Toolpak: Provides statistical functions like regression,

ANOVA, and histograms.
o To enable: Go to File > Options > Add-ins, select Analysis Toolpak,
and click Go.
 Regression Analysis: Helps to understand relationships between variables
(e.g., predicting sales based on advertising spend).
o Example: Use regression analysis to predict future sales based on past
data.
 What-If Analysis: Useful for scenario planning and goal-seeking.
o Goal Seek: Used to find the input value needed to achieve a specific
goal (e.g., finding the sales number required to meet a profit target).
o Scenario Manager: Allows you to create and analyze different
scenarios based on input variables.

7. Automating and Enhancing with Excel Functions

 Macros: Use macros to automate repetitive tasks (record a sequence of
actions and replay them with one click).
 Conditional Formatting: Apply formatting rules to highlight specific data
points (e.g., highlight sales numbers above a target with a green color).