You’ve got the hang of creating, posting, and sharing content on a regular basis, author. Now it’s time to analyze the performance of your posts.
Each platform has different metrics that they track, and they all have different types of users. Facebook skews towards older demographics (think retirees, folks 40 and older, parents, etc.) while Instagram mostly has a younger userbase (13 to 40). Pinterest, the app formerly known as Twitter, and YouTube cater to every age group, but with content tailored to them based on user history. TikTok is a bit of an outlier, with mixed demographics and a strong algorithm.
Facebook and Instagram have Meta Business as a catchall for scheduling and statistics. This is a great way to quickly view engagement for each post shared. Instagram has more detail in the app itself, but that isn’t always helpful depending on what you’re focusing on. Pay attention to results based on date and time posted. Maybe posting Monday at noon isn’t getting as many results as posting on Monday evening. If you’re not getting clear answers based on post history, it might be time to change up how you post.
Any other platform you use is going to have metrics specific to them. If you’re not familiar with it, there will be a learning curve. Consider refreshing your memory with tips and tricks and how-tos. Posting the same content on every platform isn’t always the most effective, especially if you have the same followers on multiple accounts. Don’t be afraid to curate your content for those specific followers either. Trial and error will give you the most insight about how best to cater your content to your current and future followers.
Your newsletter is another platform of sorts that also monitors performance. This is a great way to see direct results of your emails. What newsletter had the most open rates? Click-through rates? How many website redirects resulted in your most recent newsletter? Did you have several people unsubscribe one month? These are all important analytics to make note of. Focus on the good and the bad results. Look closely at the bad results and figure out what might have caused that. Bad timing? Boring content? Accidentally repeated the one from last month? Pay attention and use these statistics to improve your newsletters.
Monitoring the performance of your content on all these platforms can seem like a full time job. But if you make the time to check every 30 days, author, you can see the impact and reach of each post and learn to cater to your specific platforms. Ultimately, this will save you time and energy once you nail down what works best where.