Data is rich in business intelligence, from emerging trends to competitor and audience insights. Small businesses should use these insights to cater to their audience’s interests or needs; determine which products to build a campaign around; understand which channels customers prefer and use most; learn what consumers like or prefer about their competition; and develop new, in-demand products.
Small businesses should meet their audiences where they’re at. Many businesses pull social data to observe the latest emerging trends to edge out competitors, but shifting the focus to the audience’s interests and needs can give them another edge. They can create content around the most popular products that are flying off the shelves and build excitement around what’s to come, discover which platforms customers prefer by identifying where and when the audience is most active, and decide which content performs best with the audience and continue to create within that vessel. Businesses can even survey their customers to figure out who they really are, who they follow and what they really like about using social listening tools. Relevance will always trump reach, so leaning into an audience’s preferences will help businesses cater to current and future marketing strategies.
Expanding the overall knowledge of key metrics and KPI’s will help businesses increase overall audience size by. Impressions are a great way to get an understanding of how many eyes the content is getting in front of, whereas engagements tell the true story of what is really resonating with the audience. Click-through-rate, link clicks and goal completions are integral in deciding what is drawing potential customers further into the marketing funnel. With new social platforms and social trends emerging on a consistent basis, metrics and their relevance are ever-changing. Knowledge of key social metrics is vital to increasing visibility amongst existing and potential audiences as well as edging out competitors within the space.
Candie Guay is co-founder and creative director of Scottsdale-based Envida, the nation’s leading multifamily creative agency.
