Last Updated 7 months by Emily Standley-Allard
Creating client-oriented, simple, insightful social media reports is critical to proving the value of your social media marketing practices. It is a straightforward, data-driven way to highlight what you have accomplished so far and, in this way, build trust with your clients.
Sure, a good social media report needs to be planned and strategized carefully. Here are a few tips by Raul Harman, the Editor in Chief of Technivorz, to focus on.
Social Media Tools to Use
To create a reliable and data-backed social media report, you will first need to invest in the right tools.
You can either use individual analytics tools social networks provide or centralize their most relevant features under an automated social media reporting tool.
Here are a few of the best social media tools to focus on.
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Facebook Insights
The Facebook Insights tool presents a client’s most important metrics in an easily understandable, visual way. There are many reporting options to choose from, letting you see detailed data about a client’s reach, page activities, likes, etc. You can also export the data into .xls and .csv format.
Twitter Analytics
Once you click on the Analytics section on Twitter, you will your vital metrics on one page.
For more details, you will need to go to the Tweets or Audiences tab in your Twitter Analytics page.
Twitter Analytics also lets you export your data into .csv files so you can add them manually to your client reports.
Instagram Insights
Instagram Insights will provide you with data about profile visits, interactions, reach, or impressions.
Now, if you want to learn more about the performance of your clients’ specific posts or their audiences, you will need to open Content or Audience sections.
Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram doesn’t allow you to export client performance data from their app.
LinkedIn Analytics
LinkedIn Analytics provides Visitors, Updates, and Followers sections.
It will inform you about a client’s traffic, engagement rates, impressions, followers, and so forth.
With the “Companies to track” feature, you can even compare your client to its competitors. LinkedIn lets you export the data into .xls files.
Pinterest Analytics
Pinterest Analytics offers the overview page, where you can learn more about clients’ viewers, impressions, click-through rates.
When you click on each of these options, Pinterest will provide you with greater insights.
On Pinterest, you can download your reports as .csv files.
Reportz
If you are working as an in-house social media manager, where you are focused on creating social strategies for your employer, tracking your results manually with the abovementioned tools is possible.
However, if you are a freelance social media strategist or you are working at a digital company, you need to create social media marketing campaigns for multiple clients. Each campaign requires different social channels, different KPI to track and, therefore, various tools to use.
In this case, using different tools for each client and observing their metrics from a bunch of dashboards is extremely frustrating and time-consuming. To simplify the client reporting process, you should use automated reporting software like Reportz.
With Reportz, you can centralize all significant social media analytics tools under single software.
It lets you combine the widgets from each of these tools and customize client dashboards to track the most important metrics. In other words, you can create fully customized social media reports for each client.
Above all, you can make the reporting process more proactive. Automated reporting tools let you share access to dashboards with your superiors or clients, making your communication more transparent.
Social Media Reporting: The Basics
Next, let’s discuss a few basic client reporting rules every digital marketer should implement.
Set Clear Goals
Schedule a meeting with a client and talk to them eye-to-eye about their goals.
Do they want to boost brand awareness, maximize sales, engage followers, or maybe generate more leads? Each of these goals requires different strategies.
The goals you set also impact the metrics you will use to measure campaign performance.
That’s why the goals you set need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.
If a client has unrealistic expectations in the beginning, talk to them and explain how setting the bar too high can affect their campaign’s success.
Track the Right Metrics
Just like with setting social media goals, you need to collaborate with clients when choosing the right metric to add to your reports.
You need to be on the same wavelength.
Again, if a client provides you with a list of KPIs they want to see in their reports, go through them carefully.
If there are any irrelevant or vanity metrics, explain that to them.
Remember that the goals you set dictate what metrics you will track. For example, if your goal is to boost brand awareness and affinity, you will want to assess a client’s reach, engagement metrics, social media mentions, social media sentiment, and brand lift.
On the other hand, if a client wants to boost conversions, then focus on metrics like cost-per-click, cost-per-action, click-through rates, social media ROI, and so forth.
Set the Perfect Timeframe
Talk to a client and ask them how often they would like to receive reports – weekly, monthly, quarterly, or from campaign start to end.
Now, with the help of social media reporting software, you won’t need to worry about your reporting processes.
You just need to choose the timeframe for each client, select when you want the report to be sent, and the tool will send reports for you.
Choose your Templates
If you want to make your own client reporting template, you can use Google Spreadsheets or Excel.
However, adding your data to spreadsheets can be extremely time-consuming.
Not to mention the poor visual appeal that may harm user experiences.
In this case, you will first need to export your data to spreadsheets and then present it as a slide presentation.
Sure, a much faster way to create amazing reports is to use top rated social media reporting tools that offer predefined templates for social media reports.
Now that you have set your goals, chosen the right metrics to track, and invested in the right social media tools, it is time to start creating valuable reports your customers will be looking forward to.
Keep your Reports Simple.
If you believe that writing a 10-page report will impress your client, you are wrong.
Your clients are busy.
Their inboxes are packed to the brim with significant emails they will need to read and respond to.
If you want to grab their attention and get them to read your reports, keep them simple.
- Remember that most of your clients are not social media professionals, so explain the purpose and meaning of each metric.
- Use non-technical jargon. Write in a simple and understandable language your clients will understand.
- Leave lots of white space and keep your reports easy-to-follow and digest.
- Include visuals, such as charts or graphs. They will engage your clients and make data easier to understand.
Don’t Go Overboard with Metrics
Social media marketing can be overwhelming but try to stay focused on the goals and metrics you have previously set. Don’t add any extra KPIs. Listing a bunch of metrics, most of which a client doesn’t understand, will only confuse them.
Know who You are Creating a Social Media Report for
It is important to know who you are creating a report for and adapt it to their needs.
For example, sending a report to the company’s CEO differs from building a report for its digital marketing team.
When creating reports for digital marketing professionals, you will want to explain your data in a more granular way.
On the other hand, when creating a report for a boss, keep your social media reports concise and focus on the ROI and profits.
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Conclusion
Just because you are adding a bunch of statistics and metrics to a spreadsheet and sending them to a client doesn’t mean you’re providing value.
To inspire clients to read your social media reports and strengthen your communication, you need to approach your client reporting process strategically.
And, I hope these tips will help you!
Author Bio
Raul Harman is the Editor in Chief of Technivorz
contact him at: raul@technivorz.com
Contact us for a customized Social Media Audit Report and analysis to get a clearer vision of your current social strategy and best ways to reach your objectives!
