The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again even though it’s not working. Does this describe your social media efforts? You want your business or brand to succeed, but it won’t if you don’t monitor what you’re doing, when you’re doing it and, most importantly, why you’re doing it. Here are three easy ways you can track how, when and if your social media efforts are paying off.

 

1. Stress Deeper Engagement

 

Gone are the days when any business can look at its Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram pages and declare success merely by the number of likes or favorites their posts are receiving. Moving the needle requires true interaction from your fans (we should really be calling them your customers) on a day-to-day basis.

 

Customers who interact more than once on your social posts (especially on Facebook) are the ones you want to cultivate and keep around because they are the ones who are driving your brand’s future success. But it goes even deeper than that. Social media fans who interact two or more times on any piece of content will ultimately dictate how your page performs against the always evolving, and dare I say conniving, algorithms.

 

Example: if your page consists of a lot of one-and-done fans — they like a post, photo or video without further interaction — you’re in trouble. Social media forums have built-in algorithms that identify these posts as middle of the road at best and, therefore, prevent your posts from reaching the newsfeed. Essentially, your hard work goes to waste because few people see it.

To capitalize on your efforts, get down in the weeds and produce content that people both like and comment on. That extra interaction will drive substantially more traffic and maximize your page’s visibility without any extra work on your part.

 

2. Don’t Rely on Single-Source Engagement

 

Small businesses and brands continually make the mistake of posting social media content without trying to drive their fans to their own websites. Do not be fooled by thousands of post likes, shares and views if you’re not getting those people off of your social media page to take a closer look at your own website.

 

Nothing in this world is free, and that goes with social media. If you are not striving to cultivate your fan base outside of social media, you’re setting yourself up to fail. Inbound links are crucial to your success. Pageviews are OK, but capturing email addresses is way better because now you actually have something. With that direct link to the customer — not a second-hand connection via a social page — you are one step closer to direct marketing.

 

3. Always Analyze and Plot Your Next Steps

 

Google Analytics is still a fabulous tool for any business, brand or individual who is seeking to better understand what is actually successful and what is sucking wind.

Basic Google tools still allow free insights into everything you need to know to plot your marketing or brand awareness campaigns. Once in the program, go to the Acquisition tab on the left-hand side of the page, click “All Traffic,” then dissect the “New Users,” “Bounce Rate,” “Pages,” and “Duration” tabs.

Within minutes, you can dissect which web posts, social posts, videos, etc., are working overtime for you. Don’t fret over a high bounce rate, especially one that’s tied to anything that originated on one of your social pages. That’s to be expected … fans are intrigued by a social post and go to your site to see what it’s all about. Chances are they are getting there from their phones, hence the reason why they aren’t going to stick around long.

 

With some tweaking, you will learn how to cultivate those second, third and even fourth interactions. It could be a sweepstakes, quiz or special offer. Whatever it may be, identify what works for you and ride that horse until it won’t run anymore.

 

Editor’s Note: This is the first in Realtree’s exclusive 5-part series on improving your brand’s social media practices. Check back frequently for future posts. Next up: When, Why and How to Schedule Your Social Media Posts.