In today’s competitive market, simply having a large number of followers on social media platforms is not enough for entrepreneurs to stand out. It is crucial to measure the impact and effectiveness of these followers on your real business. Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have not only bridged the gap between businesses and their target audience but have also provided an opportunity for entrepreneurs to connect with a real and engaged audience. Social media is not just a platform for marketing your brand; it is a game changer for your online business.
If you look around, you will find many successful entrepreneurs who have built a huge audience and run a thriving business through social media. By following the tips and strategies of these successful individuals, you can learn valuable insights and utilize social media to drive your own online business. This article aims to help entrepreneurs understand the behavior of social media traffic and measure the success of their social media campaigns through Google Analytics.
Getting Started With Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a powerful and free traffic analysis tool that is widely used by millions of website owners to segment and analyze user behavior. To get started with Google Analytics, follow these simple steps:
1. Create a Google account.
2. Sign in to Google Analytics.
3. Fill in your website information.
4. Get the analytics tracking code.
5. Paste the code on your website.
6. Verify the setup.
Once you have completed these steps, you will be able to see the real traffic coming to your website.
Why Every Website Owner Should Use Google Analytics
There are several important reasons why every website owner should utilize Google Analytics:
1. Measure website objectives by defining goals.
2. Track specific actions on your website, such as PDF downloads or video plays.
3. User-friendly interface for easy navigation between different reports.
4. Track ecommerce transactions.
5. Track the success of your social media campaigns and identify the most engaging social channels.
6. Measure how users interact with your site content.
7. Identify the geographic location of your audience.
8. Create customizable reports.
9. Utilize Google Analytics data for remarketing in AdWords.
These are just a few of the many features and capabilities of Google Analytics that can benefit your online business. Depending on the type of your business, you can explore and utilize different metrics and dimensions to gain deeper insights.
Tracking Social Media Campaigns with Google Analytics
Social media campaigns play a vital role in driving valuable customers to your business. It is important to figure out which social media campaigns are performing exceptionally well and which ones are not. Tracking social media campaigns in Google Analytics is a painless and straightforward process, as long as you are already tracking your website traffic with Google Analytics.
UTM tags in Google Analytics are a useful tool for tracking custom campaigns. These tags consist of three important parameters that send visitor information to Google Analytics. When tracking your custom campaigns, it is recommended to use a URL builder tool like utm.io. This tool not only embeds UTM tags but also shortens long customized URLs.
Once you have started your social media campaigns, you can view campaign reports in Google Analytics by navigating to Acquisition >> Campaigns >> All Campaigns.
Understanding Analytics Reports for Social Media Marketers
As a social media marketer, it is important to be able to understand the reports generated by Google Analytics. These reports contain data related to traffic coming from all social media channels and how different social media channels contribute to conversions.
Here are a few tips to help you understand and utilize the social media reports in Google Analytics:
Segment Social Media Traffic
The social media reports are already included within the channel reports (Acquisition >> All Traffic >> Channels). However, to gain a better understanding of your social traffic, you can create a segment to isolate all the traffic originating from social sites.
Identify Top Social Media Channels
Determining the top social media channels that drive more conversions can be a challenge. The social media reports feature in Google Analytics is useful in determining which social channels to focus on and which ones to prioritize. Analyze metrics like average session duration and pages per session to identify the channels that have higher user engagement.
Understand the Behavior of Social Media Visitors
Driving traffic from social media channels is one thing, but understanding what these visitors do on your website is crucial. The user flow report in Google Analytics displays the journey of social media traffic on your website, including the landing page, subsequent pages visited, and exit page. This report can help you identify which channels are driving the most valuable traffic and which ones may not be as effective.
To access user flow reports, navigate to Acquisition >> Social >> Users Flow. You can also change the dimension to set “Campaigns” and see which campaign is the most engaging.
By utilizing these analytics reports, you can determine which social media channels are working best for your business and make informed decisions to drive more traffic and conversions.
In conclusion, measuring the impact of social media on your business is essential for entrepreneurs looking to stand out in a crowded market. Google Analytics is a powerful tool that can provide valuable insights into the behavior of your website visitors and the effectiveness of your social media campaigns. By utilizing the various features and reports in Google Analytics, you can optimize your social media strategies, drive targeted traffic, and ultimately achieve success in your online business.
