Chapter 5 Reading Analysis
Research, research, research. Just like the importance of location in real estate, research is an incredibly important aspect of social media. This past week we were assigned to read Chapter 5 of "Social Media for Strategic Communication," which was all about research in social media.
Research is so important because not only do you need a baseline measure of where your focus started (like a business Instagram account), you also need to see if your efforts are making a difference in engagement and other metrics. Despite the chapter focusing on business accounts, the same goes for building a successful personal account. Using your platform's analytic tools, you can perform your own research and see which posts connected with your audience versus the ones that didn't. Using your analytics can help you get a feel of what works, so you can curate your posts to generate more success.
I like the metaphor of how research to social media is like location to real estate because it shows just how important research really is. Without it, any social media strategy would be a shot in the dark with no knowledge of where you currently stand or whether what you're doing is working. Analytics also help you see which posts are successful and which are not, which is very helpful. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that research can also be useful for personal social media accounts too. I feel like some people only see business accounts as useful for monitoring and research, when you can grow your audience on your personal account too. A lot of the time, this is how influencers get their start, by knowing how the algorithm works and researching what their audience wants.
ReplyDeleteI feel like research is often underutilized within smaller businesses who don't have a specified PR or marketing employee. For several years I worked for an ice cream shop that always tried to reach new people through social media, but rarely was it successful because of the lack of thought behind the timing of posts, quality of photos, and understanding them demographic that they were trying to reach. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with this idea! Research is so important when it comes to social media. I love the examples you give, like you mentioned making use of the analytic tools at your disposal can really make an impact on engagement and reach. I would even throw hashtag research into the mix. Small businesses can often widen their reach to their ideal client by conducting hashtag research and effectively utilizing their findings in their posts!
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