In the age where internet continues to take over and become more and more of a phenomenon, companies have to become more tech savvy in order to stay ahead of their competitors. While the online medium made it hard for some to keep up, it also allowed small businesses to compete with large companies. Having the right social media reporting tools is becoming a necessity, as it helps companies understand consumer sentiment and what need to be done in order to improve certain areas of the business strategy.
Why is it important?
Having the right social media reporting tools will allow a company to collect information regarding the performance of the content that is being shared online, gain an understanding of the opinions people have about their brand or product, and gain actionable insight as a result of collecting that data. With the right social media reporting engine, companies are able to measure social engagement, and turn their online campaigns into actual results.
In order for the data uncovered to make sense, it’s important for businesses to set out goals, which in turn will give purpose to the information put together. Goals can vary, from setting out to increase website traffic to improving customer sentiment. When analyzing the information gained, the company should have social key performance indicators, which are basically metrics that will indicate success or failure of a particular strategy. These indicators can include sentiment, conversion, engagement, etc.
These key performance indicators should be analyzed over set periods of times (for example, every week and every month). Having monthly reports is important, as they provide a bigger picture, and they allow for comparison over longer periods of time. Monthly reports also show whether or not any changes that occurred are isolated incidents or actual trends, which is important when it comes to business strategies. A monthly report could include performance compared to the previous month, but also compared to a previous point further back in time, in order to understand the upwards or downwards trajectory.
Which tools to use?
There is a long list of options available, which means that finding the right fit comes down to a number of factors – from expertise to goals and budget. The options available range from built-in dashboards to premium third-party tools. Generally, the built-in dashboards that are offered by major social media platforms are good starting points when it comes to understanding how things work and learning more about the brand’s audience.
The free third-party options are the next level, and they are used for a variety of reasons. The built-in dashboard might not offer enough options, the brand might be present on more than one platform (which means that putting the numbers together manually is time consuming), or they might not even be an option, given that some social media channels don’t offer that type of data.
Free social media reporting tools can be very useful, but depending on the goals that a company is trying to reach, they might not have all the options necessary. Opting for a paid tool can be an investment that will pay off in the long run, as gaining access to useful information and saving time and effort on analyzing data can be worth it.
What does NetBase have to offer?
The real-time monitoring that NetBase offers is layered with Voice of the Customer analytics and with image analytics, being able to alert brands when it comes to reputational threats. The award-winning platform focuses on consumer sentiment, and by using Natural Language Processing it is able to decipher online slang, emojis, and multiple languages. The platform is processing every day millions of social media posts in order to provide actionable insights for customer service, PR, sales, product innovation, and marketing research.