As a digital marketer people often ask me for advice for managing their social media campaigns. To be honest, management of social media accounts and content is only half of the battle. The real magic happens when we are able to dive into the data and use it to benefit the management and the content creation. So how do we accomplish this? We have to invest in tools. I understand that many of us are operating on a budget and the idea of spending money on more tools seems like an idea that we can’t really afford.
No need to worry! I have found several social media data and analytics tools that are easy to use and even easier on your wallet.
Use Serpstat to Find Your Competitor’s Most Shared Content
Serpstat is a great tool for keyword research, content ideation, and competitor research. Their SEO research tools allows users to search any website and will automatically pull each URL from their site, the organic words, Facebook shares, and potential page traffic. It even allows you to easily export all of the data.
They even offer more sophisticated search filters so that you can look at their shared content by keyword. This helps with deciding what kind of content to create and how much promotion is needed around that content to start to climb past your competitors. The best part is that subscriptions range from free to $299 per month for a professional account. You can access the tool without breaking the bank.
Use Buzzsumo for Influencer Marketing Research
Influencer marketing tends to be a buzzword that we all hear all of the time. However, very few social media marketers actually use influencer marketing appropriately. Buzzsumo is a very affordable tool with plans ranging from free to $299 per month. I suggest going for the Pro accounts if you can afford it. The Pro account cost $99 per month and has all of the influencer marketing research capabilities that most people would need.
The platform serves many functions and has a plethora of filter options. You can use Buzzzumo for content research, influencer research, or monitoring keywords across social and the web. For the influencer marketing research, Buzzsumo allows you to search by keyword to pull the most influential people on social media for that specific word. You can also search by content shared on the web, and then pull of the people that shared a specific link. This allows you to keep lists of influencers, people who share your type of content, and accounts that are active by keyword.
Once you have found the information you need from each search, you can refine your search, save your search, or export all of the data. Buzzsumo makes it very easy to collect information to use later, and when you are using influencers to help promote your content, you want to know who they are way ahead of time.
Use Cyfe to Create a Social Media Dashboard
Cyfe’s social media dashboard capabilities are a marketer’s best friend. The service is free, or you can pay for their premium account for added features for $29 per month! Cyfe has several widgets that you can add to your all-in-one social media dashboard. You can track your Klout score, Facebook reach, influencers, website traffic, Instagram followers, Twitter follower, etc. You name it and Cyfe has it.
I personally like to create two or three dashboards per accounts. I have an entire dashboard for Facebook, another for influencers and site traffic, and a third for all other social media analytics and monitoring. Unlike most social media analytics and data tools, Cyfe offers an easy way for you to customize your dashboards to fit your needs. As most of us marketers know, each project is different and the ability to easily and seamlessly organize, customize, and change your social media dashboard is a dream come true.
Generate B2B Leads with Socedo
Socedo is a great tool for connecting with influencers and instantly. Once you have created an account you will start by selecting the type of people you are trying to reach and your conversion goals. It will then ask you to choose how you want to engage with prospects you approve, what action you want to take when the prospect follows back, and asks you to write a custom message for them.
Once you have chosen your audience and conversion goals, Socedo will automatically pull all of the relevant people in social for you. From there, all you have to do is start searching through your potential prospects and click “approve” or “deny.” If you are unsure of a prospect, just click “later” and Socedo will save the prospect for you. You can also like or retweet their last tweet for added engagement. This tool is also inexpensive, especially for a B2B lead generating service. Their packages start at $300 per month, but you can use their 14-day trial first, before you commit to the service.
Social media analytics and data should be used to influence all of our decision making as marketers. The insights we have access to and what we do with it is what separates good marketers from great marketers. Remember to find the tools that work best for you and your budget. The tools I have listed here are some of my favorites, but there are definitely more to explore. What are some of your favorite social media analytics and data tools?
