Introduction

Data are simply numbers. You give them meaning. When you know how to interpret performance data, you can begin to see a narrative where both the social algorithms and your audience are telling you what to do. It will open doors and present strategies to you, but first you need to understand how to turn a mountain a data points into a story.

True Anthem’s Social Strategy and Insights team uses the same Reporting Dashboards within True Anthem that customers can see in order to analyze performance. This article will break down how we interpret the data to derive actionable insights.

Social Traffic Growth Formula

• Core Social Growth Metrics: Performance is directly tied to relationship with both the algorithm and your audience.
  • Average Impressions Per Post: This represents how the algorithm “feels” about the content being posted.
  • Click-though Rate (CTR): This represents how your audience “feels” about the content and the owner of content being posted.

Core Social Growth Metrics

Average Impressions Per Post

• Overview:

  • Definition: Impressions reflect the amount of distribution the algorithm is giving to your post.
  • Two Types of Impressions:
    • Fan Impressions: These impressions are the number of times content from your page is displayed to users who have liked or followed (become fans of) your page. Each time a fan sees one of your posts, whether in their feed, on your page, or as a result of a share, it counts as an impression.
    • Non-Fan Impressions: These are the impressions generated when users who do not like or follow your Page (non-fans) view your content. This can happen through shares, engagements from their friends, or “suggested for you” posts in the Facebook Feed. Non-fan impressions are particularly valuable for expanding your brand's visibility beyond your existing follower base.

• How to Address an Impressions Decline:

  • Analyze Your Post Cadence
    • Am I posting too much and too fast?
    • Time the posts for when audience is online and when you are publishing content 
  • Analyze Your Recirculation Frequency
    • Am I recirculating your content too soon? Am I holding back on my winners too much?
  • Analyze Your Post Types and Post Package
    • Am I offering a variety of media to please the algorithm?
  • Analyze Your Page Health
    • Has my page received any policy violations?

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

• Overview:

  • Definition: Click Thru Rate (CTR) is a metric that measures the effectiveness of a social media post, ad, or link in encouraging users to take a specific action, usually clicking on a link.
  • Formula: CTR = (Number of Clicks / Number of Impressions) x 100
  • Effectiveness Indicator: 
    • A higher CTR indicates that the content or ad is compelling and relevant to the audience, successfully prompting them to take action. 
    • Conversely, a lower CTR might suggest that the content is not resonating as well with the audience.

• How to Address a CTR Decline:

  • Analyze your post packaging for “thumb stop” appeal.
    • If I saw this post, would I stop and click it?
    • Optimize each element (headline, caption, image/video) to capture the user’s attention
  • Analyze your content selection
    • Am I posting content genres that historically perform?
    • Identify which topics are overperforming or underperforming to adjust content strategy based on ROI
  • Analyze the relevance of your content
    • Is the content relevant to the audience when it is being posted?
    • Not every topic makes sense on every social platform
  • Test out new things
    • Can I add a CTA? Can I ask an Engager in the copy? Can I tease the lede more?

Key Strategic Concepts

• “Averages” Tell You More than “Totals”:

  • Data does not lie, but it can be misinterpreted. When you look at totals, you’ll see optical illusions whereas averages give you a more accurate reflection of performance.
  • If you increase post volume significantly, it is likely your total traffic will go up. You will have the optical illusion of success. However, your average impressions will likely decline as a result, so over time - your higher posting volume will be generating the same amount of traffic that your previously lower posting volume is. You are doing more, but getting the same. Totals can be deceiving but averages tell you the truth.

• Virality Is Not a Strategy:

  • Oftentimes digital executives focus on viral posts, which are unpredictable and thus unreliable. Expecting posts to go viral or expecting a match the success of a timeframe that included a viral post is simply unrealistic.
  • Consistently posting effective content is the true key to success. 
  • Non-fan impressions are outside of your control. Expecting the same number of times to have a successful post every month is not going to happen. Some months are going to have multiple posts succeed for you and some months you're not going to have any viral hits. That is a natural ebb and flow of social.
  • We recommend focusing on the idea of “raising the floor” - when you increase the core social growth metrics (average impressions per post and CTR) then you will see that your “soft days” drive more traffic than your previous level of “soft days.”  

Frequently Asked Questions

• How much of a shift in performance signifies a reason to worry or celebrate?

  • In short: When the core social growth metrics (average impressions per post and CTR) increase by more than 10% - celebrate! When the core social growth metrics decline by more than 10% - it’s time to analyze. 
  • Social media performance has a natural ebb-and-flow. Your performance will not continuously increase even if you have the world’s greatest content. Changes in the core social metrics within the +/- 10% margin are not significant.

• How much data do you need to assess whether you have a trend?

  • In short: You ideally need to analyze the performance of at least 1K posts to determine whether you have a trend. Since 1K posts for smaller publishers can take a long time to accumulate, at least three weeks worth of data is the minimum rule of thumb.
  • Therefore, to add to the first question - A decrease in your core social metrics over the course of 1K posts of more than 10% is worth analyzing, and likewise an increase of your core social metrics over the course of 1K posts of more than 10% is worth celebrating.

• When should you consider increasing your post volume?

  • In short: When both your core social metrics (average impressions per post and CTR) are on a positive trajectory (increasing by more than 10% after 1K posts).
  • When your CTR is increasing, it represents that your content is resonating with your audience.
  • When your average impressions per post are increasing, it represents that how the algorithm is responding to your content.
  • Each platform has best practices when it comes to posting volume, so consider that in addition to whether you actually have enough content to warrant posting more often regardless of the data dynamics.