Creating a social media report is probably not the most fascinating aspect of a social media manager’s job. But it is undeniably important.
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Anything worth accomplishing in social media marketing is worth reporting about. After all, the only way to really comprehend what you’re doing via your social activities is to measure and analyze your performance.
It’s also the only method to show your team and employer the worth of your social marketing efforts. From employee morale to higher budgets to team expansion, having data that demonstrates the value of your work to the corporation is vital.
Social media reporting can help you learn from your mistakes and get things back on track when things aren’t going so well. To make this process even smoother, you can use Google Slides templates to save your valuable time and effort!
What is a Social Media Report?
A social media report is a document used for internal reporting that shows and monitors statistics about your social media activity.
It can range from a basic spreadsheet of statistics to a slick slide presentation jam-packed with insight. It all depends on the objective of your report and who will be reading it.
You may need various reports to accommodate different audiences or aims.
What Should You Include in Your Social Media Report?
The simple answer is that your social media marketing report should contain just the facts and analysis that your audience needs to understand your social media performance – nothing more, nothing less. Your target audience could be your employer, your team, or even yourself.
Of course, your team needs a lot more detailed report than your boss. And you’ll almost certainly want a more thorough one for your own records.
Your social media report should also be visually appealing and simple to read. There’s no need to go overboard with formatting or provide extraneous information. It is preferable to let your facts tell the tale.
Feel free to mix and combine the components to develop a unique social media reporting solution that meets your specific audience and reporting requirements.
7 Steps to Build an Impactful Social Media Report
Whether you’re developing a social media report for your own business or for a customer, merely going through a stack of data without a clear aim in mind isn’t enough.
All social media reports must adhere to a strategy that focuses on how to get the most out of the information you uncover, how to choose the proper information, and how to extract insights from all those figures.
After all, that’s how you tell your customers a narrative.
But don’t worry; we’ve put up a checklist to help you get through it.
1. Define Your Social Media KPIs
What information do you require from this social media report?
This is the most basic question concerning social media reporting. Before you begin collecting data, consider why these statistics should be included in your social media report.
Regardless of the social media report type you pick, don’t only concentrate on data management. You should extract insights and patterns that can be used to generate results for your customers or management.
Simply said, restrict the information in the report to your KPIs and evaluate the data using your skills and understanding of the social media ecosystem.
Determine which social media analytics are relevant to your objectives and larger company plans.
Most wise company organizations insist on employing KPIs in order to maximize the potential acquisition and retention value that social media delivers to their firm.
2. Set a Timeframe for Your Social Media Reports
How far back should you go when performing social media reporting?
This is directly connected to your objectives.
Are you preparing an annual social media report, or do you just believe the previous month might have yielded greater results?
Perhaps you’re just concerned with the success of your campaign.
3. Get Cross-platform Insights
To properly comprehend how your business is doing on social media, you must explore all social networks.
However, rather than developing distinct social media reports for each platform, it is preferable to collect cross-platform insights side by side.
This will provide you with an overview of your audience and indicate if you’ve properly split your content efforts among social networks.
4. Define the Most Relevant Information
Social media marketers now have a wealth of data and insights at their disposal. So, while performing social media reporting, it’s crucial to resist the urge to add information about any and all numbers that showed a modest rise.
Not all of them are important.
Consider your social media analytics report as a whole, made up of a number of mini-reports that fit together like a jigsaw. The statistics you choose to provide must be linked and portray a consistent image.
5. Analyze Your Competitors on Social Media
When completing social media reporting, keep a watch on your competitors’ behaviors to enhance the performance of your social media.
Benchmarking enables you to compare your performance to that of your competitors or the general performance of the industry.
6. Use Data to Share a Story
Gather all of your statistics and stitch them together to tell the story of your social media performance.
While the concept may not be a game-changer in the business’s strategic management process, it will guarantee that you can paint clear images of what is actually working and what is not on your marketing initiatives.
7. Create an Effective Plan to Work on Your Report Insights
As a social media manager, reporting social media data entails providing actionable insights to your clients based on both your data and the outcomes of competitor research.
Make a list of actionable findings for your sector before submitting your monthly social media reports.
Once you’ve gathered all of the data and disclosed the narrative behind it, you must make clear conclusions and actionable steps to enhance your customers’ content performance.
Wrapping It Up
Thorough social media reports include adequate details to help you decide what to do next. Too often, professionals write reports that are a waste of time for everyone included, particularly the one who went to the work of obtaining the data.
Instead, spend time evaluating the environment of each social media platform, analyzing how the plan was implemented, and suggesting modifications and improvements for the future. Remember to display your data in an entertaining manner so that your audience pays attention to your key findings.