My first port of call is always web analytics + URL campaign tracking. I\u2019m going to base this on GA simply because most clients I work with use GA for campaign measurement. I recommend ensuring that each URL you share has UTM campaign parameters appended; you\u2019ll get your own set of campaign reports specifically for social campaign links.<\/p>\n
Top tip: create a UTM tracking taxonomy so that you use consistent campaign parameters. I typically set the following (all lower case):<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n So an example URL for a landing page shared via social media would be: There are premium tools available that are focused on social media analysis and reporting. A good example is Crowdbooster<\/a>, which provides analytics, automated insights and customised reporting dashboards. There is a 30-day free trial and plans start from $9 per month.<\/p>\n Each network provides its own free (and paid) analytics tools \u2013 use them as much as possible. Let\u2019s use Twitter as the example, you can get the following info for free:<\/p>\n You need to understand your audience, and learn what content resonates best with them and who is out their already sharing popular content for the topics that are most relevant to your business and products\/services. There are several handy research tools you can use.<\/p>\n Free option? Yes These are great for audience analysis. You can research by topic and learn what content and which publishers are the most active and popular based on social engagement metrics.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s use Buzzsumo as the example, a tool I\u2019ve used personally myself and found it to be incredibly useful with a simple interface. I\u2019ve used it to:<\/p>\n I\u2019ve used this for complex B2B projects like legal services, as well as high street retail. To do any meaningful level of analysis, you really need to switch to the paid version, which gives unrestricted searches and exportable data.<\/p>\n Enables URL shortening to ensure your content is focused on the message, not the URL.<\/p>\n Bit.ly used to be the #1 choice for URL shortening but the news that it partnered with Vigilink to effectively add affiliate tracking to all shortened links, dampened enthusiasm amongst marketers.<\/p>\n With freemium tools like Bit.ly, branded domains can be purchased with an enterprise subscription, which also gives you access to enhanced features such as mobile deep links and dedicated support.<\/p>\n All links reporting is much deeper, so you can see link share data to help with content optimisation plans. Free tools like Goo.gl do provide data but it\u2019s not as rich:<\/p>\n There are lots of free shorteners out there. For example, Hootsuite provides Ow.ly<\/a>, which provides deeper link data when you pair it with Hootsuite.<\/p>\n Social media is all about the content. Therefore you need tools that help you create and manage your content assets effectively.<\/p>\n When you start out, it\u2019s fine to take a manual approach and create content to upload direct via social networks. However, as you grow and your publishing queue expands, it\u2019s likely your demands will increase and you\u2019ll need a smarter way to schedule and publish content. Below are examples of tools that help you curate visual content.<\/p>\n Free option? Yes \u2013 pay with a tweet There are network specific tools available, the value of which depends on how active you are on each network. Let\u2019s look at one example.<\/p>\n Free option? No This is the leading solution for visual content scheduling and publishing on Instagram and Pinterest. Positioned as \u2018smarter visual marketing, it allows teams to manage content calendars, collaborate across multiple team members and has a small business packages, as well as upgrade options for enterprise customers.<\/p>\n Ok, so you\u2019ve created your content, sorted your links and got your tracking in place. Now you need a way of managing your updates and ongoing communication with followers. Step up the social media management dashboards\u2026<\/p>\n Free option? Yes They provide activity dashboards to show what\u2019s happening across your social networks, with the primary focus on Twitter (Tweetdeck only covers Twitter). Key features include:<\/p>\n Free option? Yes This helps you schedule all your social updates and create publishing queues. It has some neat features:<\/p>\n To access the detailed analytics and features like data export, you need to upgrade to the business package ($99 per month)<\/p>\n You can of course invest in other scheduling and publishing tools. Agora Pulse<\/a> is a good example, offering free tools (I like the Twitter analytics report card<\/a>) and a monthly subscription service from \u20ac49 per month, with a free trial option. Some of the cool features:<\/p>\n Screenshot: Agora Pulse Twitter report card<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n For heavier users such as agencies with multiple clients, tools like Sprout Social<\/a> have been highly recommended to me, though I\u2019ve not used personally. Pricing starts at $59 per user per month with a free 30 day trial.<\/p>\n Possibly the coolest and most flexible tool on the block, IFTTT is a free community that lets you create recipes for event-based triggers to automate social marketing. You can create a new recipe using a simple process and choose triggers and actions from the wide range of integrations that IFTTT supports. I\u2019ve got a simple recipe that sends a DM to my Twitter when a new person subscribes to our EcomChat email group.<\/p>\n So this is step 9 in the Smart Insights 12 step series on social media strategy and planning.<\/p>\n Did you find it useful?<\/strong> Please join in the discussion and share your experience in the comments field at the bottom of this page.<\/p>\n Keep an eye out for next month\u2019s article, \u201cHandling complaints and negative PR via social media\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n Missed the previous articles? Catch-up here:<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social media strategy and planning essentials This is part 9 of my Smart Insights 12 part social media series. In the last part we looked at reporting for social media; in this blog, I discuss what tools you can use …..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":77918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[737],"tags":[808],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\nhttps:\/\/mydomain.com\/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=a&utm_content=video_1&utm_campaign=mothersday_2016<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"GA](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Slide6-550x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSocial network analytics<\/h4>\n
\n
![\"Twitter](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Slide7-550x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPlanning tools<\/h3>\n
Buzzsumo<\/a>\/Audiense<\/a><\/h4>\n
\nPricing From $99 per month
\nFree trial option (for paid version) 14 days<\/p>\n\n
![\"Buzzsumo](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Slide9-550x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\nURL shortener e.g. Goo.gl<\/a><\/h4>\n
![\"Goo.gl](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Slide3-550x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\nContent tools<\/h3>\n
Everypost<\/a><\/h4>\n
\nPricing From $9.99 per month
\nFree trial option (for paid version) 14 days<\/p>\n\n
Tailwind<\/a><\/h4>\n
\nPricing From $9.99 per month
\nFree trial option (for paid version) Yes (based on activity threshold)<\/p>\nManagement tools<\/h3>\n
Tweetdeck<\/a>\/Hootsuite<\/a><\/h4>\n
\nPricing From $7.99 per month (Hootsuite)
\nFree trial option (for paid version) 30 days (Hootsuite)<\/p>\n\n
![\"Tweetdeck](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Slide1-550x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBuffer<\/a><\/h4>\n
\nPricing From $10 per month
\nFree trial option (for paid version) 30 days<\/p>\n\n
![\"Buffer](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Slide4-550x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"Agora](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Slide5-550x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIFTTT<\/a><\/h4>\n
\nFor example, there\u2019s a recipe<\/a> to automatically share new Instagram photos as native Twitter photos.<\/p>\n![\"IFTTT](\"http:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Slide8-550x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\nYour thoughts, comments and personal experience<\/h3>\n
\nWhat tools do you use to help deliver social media marketing? What mix of free and paid tools works for you?<\/p>\n\n
\nJames<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/digitaljuggler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JG_1-e1456150429966.jpg\")
Thanks to James Gurd<\/a> for sharing his advice and opinions in this post. James is an experienced ecommerce and digital marketing consultant with more than 14 years\u2019 B2C and B2B digital strategy and transformation experience. He is the Owner and lead consultant at Digital Juggler<\/a>. You can follow him on Twitter<\/a> or connect on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/div>\n