Wednesday, 6 July 2022

The best times to post on Twitter 2022

With 436 million monthly active users worldwide and 52% of Twitter users using the platform daily, Twitter has been the go-to platform for up-to-the-minute conversations and breaking news. And 2021 didn’t slow down with the COVID-19 pandemic going into its second year. Brands looking to participate in trending topics need to be timely but conscious of the brand’s values in the process.

Now, with new features like Twitter Spaces and Twitter Communities, businesses and brands alike can further build relationships with followers. And as a platform for conversations and customer care, it’s important to understand how to use Twitter for business in a meaningful way.

If you’re interested in learning how to identify your best times to post on Instagram and other social profiles, start a free trial of Sprout Social and test our ViralPost® feature with your profiles.

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Best Times to Post on Twitter

Best times to post on Twitter Global 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 9 a.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter: Tuesdays and Wednesdays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter: Sundays

Twitter peak times for engagement shifted significantly compared to last year, becoming much more concentrated during mid mornings and middays throughout the week. This could reflect greater attention to developing news and updates, as well as a desire for entertainment via viral Tweets and memes.

Remember that Twitter’s use extends beyond breaking news and viral content. Many brands use Twitter as part of their customer care strategy, as an alternative to calling customer support. This is particularly important for the platform as brands continue to build trust between their customers and proactively improve customer experience through social listening as well.

All of these focus areas means brands can have multiple, and sometimes competing, priorities on Twitter. The top times to post on Twitter we found above may help you determine when you should focus on prioritizing publishing new content versus devoting resources to customer support or consider a multiple Twitter account strategy.

Best Times to Post on Twitter by Industry

Being armed with the best times to post on Twitter is a great start to any social media content calendar, it’s important to see how the data translates to your specific industry. With the help of our Data Science team, we were able to capture the best times to post on Instagram within ten industries.

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Consumer Goods

Best times to post on Twitter for Consumer Goods 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Consumer Goods: Tuesdays at 9.m., Wednesdays at 3 a.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Consumer Goods: Wednesdays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Consumer Goods: Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays

Consumer goods industry covers a large portfolio of products, including food and non-food categories, ranging from food and beverages to clothing and footwear and everything in between. Despite a nearly 5% increase in the demand for consumer packaged goods in the US, social media engagement of consumer goods was relatively low.

Even though most weekdays saw some engagement on Twitter in the early morning hours around 3 a.m., the best times to post were Tuesdays at 9 p.m. and Wednesdays at 3 a.m. Weekends had the lowest engagement for this industry.

Consumer goods social media resources

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Education

Best times to post on Twitter for Education 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Education: Mondays at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Education: Mondays, Tuesdays and Sundays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Education: Thursdays and Saturdays

Higher education and educational institutions saw an interesting shift and a new day for engagement opportunities on Twitter compared to last year. Mondays continue to have the highest engagement this year and Sundays evenings have entered the arena starting around 4 p.m. This could be in anticipation of the week ahead.

From highlighting student life to sharing school updates, a social media strategy for education needs to fulfill multiple functions. Keep in mind that some schools manage multiple social profiles (per college, athletics, etc.) to meet these needs and effectively target distinct audiences at the right time.

Higher education social media resources

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Finance

Best times to post on Twitter for Finance 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Finance: Tuesdays at 4 p.m., Wednesdays at 4 a.m., Fridays at 11 a.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Finance: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Finance: Mondays, Saturday, Sundays

Interestingly, top times on Twitter for financial institutions were highly varied, perhaps reflecting a global audience’s ready engagement with short updates on news and markets worldwide. Highest engagement times ranged from Tuesdays at 4 p.m., Wednesdays at 4 a.m. or Fridays at 11 a.m.

This may be due to the highly regulated nature of the finance industry or, after performing their own social testing, banks and financial businesses are focusing their efforts on other platforms, such as Facebook. The highly varied engagement times could perhaps reflect a global audience’s ready engagement with short updates on news and markets worldwide.

Finance social media resources

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Healthcare

Best times to post on Twitter for Healthcare 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Healthcare: Mondays at 1—2 p.m., Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and noon, Wednesdays at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Thursdays at 8 a.m. and noon—1 p.m., Fridays 8—9 p.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Healthcare: Tuesdays through Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Healthcare: Saturdays and Sundays

Healthcare services and institutions have spent the last few years with an overwhelming challenge responding to global audiences. As the pandemic went into its second year and vaccines were being distributed, engagement with healthcare institutions on Twitter grew compared to last year.

Each weekday saw its own peak engagement time, varying at some point between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Healthcare businesses saw their engagement on Twitter expand to new times compared to last year. With the many healthcare news and updates in 2021, we can assume audiences were looking for answers to their questions or sharing their experiences.

Healthcare social media resources

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Hospitality

Best times to post on Twitter for Hospitality 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Hospitality: Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Hospitality: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Hospitality: Tuesdays, Fridays, Sundays

Hotels and hospitality brands saw a major shift in Twitter engagement times. Engagement used to be more consistent throughout the week, but now we see less engagement during regular business hours and more engagement later in the evenings.

Current best time to post on Twitter for hospitality is Wednesdays at 8 p.m. The highest days of engagement for hospitality brands on Twitter are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Hospitality social media resources

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Media

Best times to post on Twitter for Media 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Media: Mondays at 10 a.m., Tuesdays 9 to 11 a.m., Wednesdays 10 a.m. to noon
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Media: Tuesdays through Thursdays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Media: Saturdays

Engagement for media or journalistic industry accounts was consistent from early weekday morning hours through the afternoons. In fact, this industry saw higher engagement on Twitter compared to last year, with engagement expanding through all hours of the day.

We see high Twitter engagement for the media industry Mondays at 10 a.m., Tuesdays 9 to 11 a.m., Wednesdays 10 a.m. to noon. We also see strong engagement Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Media social media resources

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Nonprofit

Best times to post on Twitter for Nonprofit 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Nonprofits: Mondays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 1p.m., Thursdays 10 a.m. to noon, Fridays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Nonprofits: Every day but mostly Mondays through Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Nonprofits: None

Nonprofits saw stronger engagement on Twitter compared to last year. Our data for the best times to post on Instagram for nonprofits shows solid engagement throughout the week, especially in the mornings to early afternoons, as well as the weekend. The best times for nonprofit engagement on Twitter are Mondays through Fridays between 9 a.m. and noon.

Even with this consistent audience engagement, it’s important for nonprofits to test their own best times to post. Whether it’s through AB social testing or using Sprout’s Optimal Send Times feature, you can find what works best for your organization and test which platforms your target audience is on the most.

Nonprofit social media resources

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Restaurants

Best times to post on Twitter for Restaurant 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Restaurants: Mondays at noon
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Restaurants: Mondays and Wednesdays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Restaurants: Sundays

In 2021, restaurants continued to deal with online orders, curbside or delivery services, outdoor seating, and limited indoor dining. Communicating changes with employees and diners was important as local ordinances fluctuated throughout the year.

Twitter engagement for restaurants and bars shifted in terms of days of highest engagement. Last year showed Wednesdays had the highest engagement, but this year we see a shift to noon on Mondays. Keep in mind that different platforms offer a unique way for businesses to connect with their customers. Offering unique promotions and updates suited for each platform will keep your restaurant in mind for potential customers.

Restaurant social media resources

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Tech

Best times to post on Twitter for Tech 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Tech: Thursdays at noon, Sundays at 3 p.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Tech: Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Tech: Tuesdays

In the last year alone, tech companies – including SaaS, software and B2B – have seen growth in social media engagement on both Facebook and Twitter. Social platforms are incredibly effective for staying in touch with current customers, allowing brands to create a community around their products and offer meaningful customer care.

It might be surprising to see that software and tech had a large number of engagement times on Twitter. However, it’s a perfect fit for tech companies and B2B brands to respond to customer care on Twitter in real-time. Compared to last year, engagement on Twitter nearly doubled and expanded to all days of the week. Best times to engage with customers for the tech industry are Thursdays at noon, Sundays at 3 p.m., but every day shows promise with moderate or high engagement times.

Tech social media resources

Best Times to Post on Twitter for Travel and Tourism

Best times to post on Twitter for Travel and Tourism 2022
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Travel & Tourism: Wednesdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Travel & Tourism: Tuesdays and Wednesdays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Travel & Tourism: Saturdays and Sundays

Travel and tourism industries saw a drop in engagement on Twitter as many travel restrictions were lifted in 2021. Whether it was participating in “virtual” tourism, local exploration or discovering new destinations, our data shows that audiences were less responsive to engagement efforts by travel and tourism brands.

On Twitter, there was primarily higher engagement on Wednesdays throughout the US workday and the highest engagement being at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m

Travel and tourism social media resources

How to find your own best times to post on social media

Social marketers can plan content more effectively when they’re armed with data on the top times to post across social networks. Still, as platforms evolve with how brands and consumers are using social, there are new ways to innovate interactions all the time. New content formats and trends might help you reach your audience in unexpected ways, or even find new segments and personas you weren’t focusing on before.

More tips for content scheduling and social strategies

While posting at peak engagement times is a go-to strategy, a detailed analysis of your audience might reveal less busy times when your specific audience is active, but competitors are not. A tool like Sprout Social can help you dig into your own analytics and develop tailored findings for your accounts to complement the wide range of data across industries we’ve surveyed here.

With Sprout’s tools like post tagging and cross-channel reporting, you can separate different factors like network or types of media and drill down into how your posting time influenced your social success.

Use Sprout Social Post Performance Report to calculate which of your posts have the most engagement.

Sprout’s very own ViralPost® algorithm uses the same types of data we’ve looked at across all our customer accounts to determine the best time to post for your individual account. ViralPost® algorithmically determines the results for our Optimal Send Times feature, a publishing option on our Professional and Advanced plans.

Use Sprout's Optimal Send Times to calculate your best times to post across your social profiles.

With Optimal Send Times, the specific times that your own audience engages the most are identified based on your publishing history. ViralPost® also continually updates and refines to save you time from doing repeated analyses yourself.
Want to see it in action? Sign up for a free 30-day trial of Sprout Social.

Start your free Sprout trial

If you’re looking for more of our findings from this year’s study of our customer data, see what we learned about the best times to post on social media and across ten industries on these networks:

How we gathered the data

We understand that these reports can raise questions about just where the data is coming from. That’s why we want to be clear about the data we pulled and how we got here.

First off, we were lucky enough to work with Sprout Social’s very own data science team to gather this information from our customers. Joel Booth, a Senior Data Scientist at Sprout, explained how it all works.

“Sprout integrates with the different social media platforms via their API, which allows the application to receive messages on behalf of our customers,” Booth said. “Essentially, this is how we power features such as Sprout’s Smart Inbox and Reports.”

Now’s the time to test your content calendar. Are you posting when your followers are most active? Start your free trial of Sprout Social and discover your best times to post on social media today.

Start your free Sprout trial

The post The best times to post on Twitter 2022 appeared first on Sprout Social.



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The best times to post on Facebook 2022

As the most-used platform by marketers worldwide and boasting nearly 3 billion monthly active users, there’s no denying the strength Facebook has as a marketing goldmine. And with so many active users available, there’s so much potential to get eyes on your brand’s content. That’s why knowing the best times to post on Facebook can be a huge benefit to your social media content strategy.

For brands who want to take advantage of Facebook’s large audience and opportunity for maximum visibility, it’s important to know when your audience is most active, especially for your industry. With 71% of consumers using social more than they have in years past, brands and marketers need to meet their audiences where they are. And when customers’ expectations are met on social, it benefits every area of a business.

If you’re interested in learning how to identify your best times to post on Instagram and other social profiles, start a free trial of Sprout Social and test our ViralPost® feature with your profiles.

Start your free Sprout trial

Best Times to Post on Facebook

Best times to post on Facebook Global 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook: Monday through Friday at 3 a.m., Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and noon
  • Best days to post on Facebook: Tuesdays through Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook: Saturdays

We’ve seen an interesting shift in when there’s the most engagement on Facebook in 2022. While mid-mornings used to dominate more strongly in years past, which would align with the US workday and people using the app on their commutes to school or work, it now appears early morning hours have taken the lead.

Weekday very early mornings and mid-mornings still show more consistent engagement and have become much more opportune times for brands to get eyes on their content. But there are a few more “off” times for Facebook when reviewing the data, including late evenings or early mornings on the weekends.

Keep in mind that the top times shown are recorded in US Central Time, so these high engagement times shown in the very early mornings plus the traditional US workday reflects Facebook’s significant global audience. What does this mean? Facebook continues to show opportunities in conducting a multi-location or international social media strategy for brands.

Best Times to Post on Facebook by Industry

Being armed with the best times to post on Facebook is a great start to any social media content calendar, it’s important to see how the data translates to your specific industry. With the help of our Data Science team, we were able to capture the best times to post on Instagram within ten industries.

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Consumer Goods

Best times to post on Facebook for Consumer Goods 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Consumer Goods: Fridays at 10 a.m.
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Consumer Goods: Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Consumer Goods: Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays

 

Consumer goods social media resources

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Education

Best times to post on Facebook for Education 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Education: Mondays from 8 to 10 a.m., Tuesdays at noon, Wednesdays at 9 a.m., and Fridays from 9 to 11 a.m.
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Education: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Education: Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays

There was no slowing down for universities, higher education and educational institutions on Facebook. Opportunities for engagement started midmornings and went throughout the day on weekdays, but also saw moderate engagement Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings.

From highlighting student life to sharing school updates, a social media strategy for education needs to fulfill multiple functions. Keep in mind that some schools manage multiple social profiles (per college, athletics, etc.) to meet these needs and effectively target distinct audiences at the right time.

Higher education social media resources

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Finance

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Finance 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Finance: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 11 a.m., Thursdays at 10 a.m. and noon
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Finance: Thursdays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Finance: Saturdays and Sundays

For social engagements with financial institutions, we noticed an interesting shift on Facebook. While in years past we saw a consistent engagement extended throughout the majority of the US workday, we continue to see a more concentrated engagement time this year. High engagement are Tuesdays through Fridays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., which follow a more typical pattern of activity around the US workweek.

Finance social media resources

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Healthcare

Best times to post on Facebook for Healthcare 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Healthcare: Mondays at 10 a.m., Tuesdays at 10 and 11 a.m., Fridays at 10 a.m.
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Healthcare: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Healthcare: Saturdays and Sundays

Healthcare services and institutions have spent the last few years with an overwhelming challenge responding to global audiences. As the pandemic went into its second year, vaccines were being distributed, and virtual learning was still in session for students, engagement with healthcare institutions, especially on Facebook, grew compared to last year.

Similar to last year, the most engagement on Facebook for healthcare was between 9 and 11 a.m. However, engagement expanded to include the afternoons most weekdays until about 3 p.m. With the many healthcare news and updates of 2021, we can assume audiences were looking for answers to their questions.

Healthcare social media resources

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Hospitality

Best times to post on Facebook for Hospitality 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Hospitality: Wednesdays at noon
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Hospitality: Wednesdays and Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Hospitality: Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays

Hotels and hospitality brands saw a significant shift in Facebook engagement times. Engagement used to span across most of the US workday, but we see a huge decline in Facebook engagement data. This could be because of the continuing limitations of travel or a shift in platform preferences.

The current best time to post on Facebook for hospitality is Wednesdays at noon.. There is some Facebook engagement throughout the week and the highest days of Facebook engagement are Wednesdays and Fridays. Hospitality brands appeared to have shifted their social media priorities to Instagram, but that doesn’t mean Facebook should be abandoned either.

Hospitality social media resources

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Media

Best times to post on Facebook for Media 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Media: Fridays from 5 to 9 a.m., Sundays at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Media: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Media: Mondays

Engagement for media or journalistic industry accounts was higher during US morning hours throughout the week. This could reflect a tendency for audiences to check in for longer, single sessions rather than quick visits throughout the day. However, we see solid Facebook engagement for the media industry Tuesday through Sunday mornings from 5 a.m. through 9 a.m., and the highest engagement specifically on Fridays and Sunday mornings.

Media social media resources

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Nonprofit

Best times to post on Facebook for Nonprofits 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Nonprofits: Fridays at noon
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Nonprofits: Mondays, Tuesdays Wednesdays, Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Nonprofits: Saturdays

Nonprofits’ engagement on Facebook shifted significantly this year. Our data for the best times to post on Facebook for nonprofits shows solid Facebook engagement throughout the week during US business hours as well as weekend mornings, but the best times for engagement are Fridays at noon.

Even with this consistent audience engagement, it’s important for nonprofits to test their own best times to post. Whether it’s through AB social testing or using Sprout’s Optimal Send Times feature, you can find what works best for your organization and test which platforms your target audience is on the most.

Nonprofit social media resources

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Restaurants

Best times to post on Facebook for Restaurants 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Restaurants: Tuesdays at noon, Thursdays at 1 and 2 p.m.
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Restaurants: Thursdays and Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Restaurants: Sundays

In 2021, restaurants continued to deal with online orders, curbside or delivery services and limited indoor dining. Communicating changes with employees and diners was important as local ordinances fluctuated throughout the year.

Facebook engagement for restaurants and bars were unevenly distributed but saw higher engagement closer to the weekends. Keep in mind that different platforms offer a unique way for businesses to connect with their customers. Offering unique promotions and updates suited for each platform will keep your restaurant in mind for potential customers.

Restaurant social media resources

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Tech

Best times to post on Facebook for Tech 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Tech: Tuesdays at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., Wednesdays at 11 a.m., and Fridays at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Tech: Wednesdays and Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Tech: Sundays

In the last year alone, tech companies – including SaaS, software and B2B – have seen growth in social media engagement on both Facebook and Twitter. Social platforms are incredibly effective for staying in touch with current customers, allowing brands to create a community around their products and offer meaningful customer care using tools like Facebook Groups.

Tech social media resources

Best Times to Post on Facebook for Travel and Tourism

Best times to post on Facebook for Travel and Tourism 2022
  • Best times to post on Facebook for Travel & Tourism: Wednesdays at 9 a.m. and Fridays at 10 a.m.
  • Best days to post on Facebook for Travel & Tourism: Tuesdays through Fridays
  • Worst days to post on Facebook for Travel & Tourism: Saturdays and Sundays

Travel and tourism industries still saw a solid amount of engagement on Facebook as many travel restrictions were lifted in 2021. Whether it was participating in “virtual” tourism, local exploration or discovering new destinations, our data shows that audiences responded to engagement efforts by travel and tourism brands.

On Facebook, there was significant engagement midday and midweek, especially on Wednesdays and Fridays, as people are getting ready for their weekend destinations.

Travel and tourism social media resources

How to find your own best times to post on social media

Social marketers can plan content more effectively when they’re armed with data on the top times to post across social networks. Still, as platforms evolve with how brands and consumers are using social, there are new ways to innovate interactions all the time. New content formats and trends might help you reach your audience in unexpected ways, or even find new segments and personas you weren’t focusing on before.

More tips for content scheduling and social strategies

While posting at peak engagement times is a go-to strategy, a detailed analysis of your audience might reveal less busy times when your specific audience is active, but competitors are not. A tool like Sprout Social can help you dig into your own analytics and develop tailored findings for your accounts to complement the wide range of data across industries we’ve surveyed here.

With Sprout’s tools like post tagging and cross-channel reporting, you can separate different factors like network or types of media and drill down into how your posting time influenced your social success.

Use Sprout Social Post Performance Report to calculate which of your posts have the most engagement.

Sprout’s very own ViralPost® algorithm uses the same types of data we’ve looked at across all our customer accounts to determine the best time to post for your individual account. ViralPost® algorithmically determines the results for our Optimal Send Times feature, a publishing option on our Professional and Advanced plans.

Use Sprout's Optimal Send Times to calculate your best times to post across your social profiles.

With Optimal Send Times, the specific times that your own audience engages the most are identified based on your publishing history. ViralPost® also continually updates and refines to save you time from doing repeated analyses yourself.
Want to see it in action? Sign up for a free 30-day trial of Sprout Social.

Start your free Sprout trial

If you’re looking for more of our findings from this year’s study of our customer data, see what we learned about the best times to post on social media and across ten industries on these networks:

How we gathered the data

We understand that these reports can raise questions about just where the data is coming from. That’s why we want to be clear about the data we pulled and how we got here.

First off, we were lucky enough to work with Sprout Social’s very own data science team to gather this information from our customers. Joel Booth, a Senior Data Scientist at Sprout, explained how it all works.

“Sprout integrates with the different social media platforms via their API, which allows the application to receive messages on behalf of our customers,” Booth said. “Essentially, this is how we power features such as Sprout’s Smart Inbox and Reports.”

Now’s the time to test your content calendar. Are you posting when your followers are most active? Start your free trial of Sprout Social and discover your best times to post on social media today.

Start your free Sprout trial

The post The best times to post on Facebook 2022 appeared first on Sprout Social.



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What’s next? 8 career paths for social media managers

Social media careers are taking off. Just a decade ago, the only role associated with the channel was “intern.” Now, social media professionals are in line for the C-suite.

This rapid growth can make navigating a once linear career path a bit more challenging. Now you can choose from several specialties under the social umbrella, each requiring different interests and skill sets. You need to understand your options to know which one to pick.

To help you navigate this evolving profession, we put together this guide to jobs in social media. Keep reading to find out which skills you need, where to look and which jobs to consider as you enter and advance through the field of social.

What is the current state of social media careers?

Over the past few years, social has become the go-to channel for everything from product discovery to sharing reviews. To tap into this growing opportunity, marketers are rethinking the structure of their social teams.

According to data from the 2022 Sprout Social Index™, 88% of marketers expect to hire another social team member over the next two years. More than half (62%) anticipate expanding their social teams by 2-6 positions within the same period of time.

A chart sharing the anticipated social media team headcount growth over the next two years.

This rapid change in headcount is likely due to the increasingly collaborative nature of social media jobs. The channel is being used to support several business functions, including human resources, customer service and product development. Meeting internal and external demands requires a diversified team of specialists, strategists and managers.

An infographic sharing the teams that contribute to their organization's social strategy.

Today, there’s a world of opportunities available for those working in social. So much so, that it’s driving up competition for employers. More than half of marketers (52%) say that finding experienced talent is their number one challenge this year.

What skills do social media careers require?

The journey to becoming a social media professional varies. Some get their start with an internship or customer service role. Others may go as far as earning a social media master’s degree.

These variations in career paths actually create more opportunity for those interested in social media marketing careers. It may make your start in the industry feel ambiguous, but it also means you don’t have to adhere to a single, linear career path. Use this to your advantage and build on these core social media skills:

1. Industry-specific skills

Social moves fast. A successful career in social media hinges on your ability to keep up.

“What matters most is that you know your stuff,” Sprout’s Social Media Manager Rachael Samuels tells us. “Domain and customer knowledge is a matter of research. Hiring managers want to know that you can speak on social media without relying on buzzwords or jargon.”

Incorporate reading trade publications like Social Media Today or AdWeek’s Social Pro Daily into your daily routine. These will help you stay up to date on the trends that motivate how consumers are using their favorite social media platforms.

You’ll also need to spend quality time with priority networks as well to understand what’s driving patterns of engagement. Most jobs may discourage on-the-clock scrolling but in social media careers, it’s critical to building your expertise.

2. Copywriting

Social allows brands to get more experimental with their voice. For example, it’s difficult to imagine Auntie Anne’s using this writing style in an email.

Copywriting for social is an act of translation. In a social media role, it’s up to you to determine how to translate your brand persona into a social identity.

You don’t need to wait until you land your first social role to build on this skill. Practice writing the same message for different brands. How would companies like Harley Davidson or Ford make an announcement compared to Apple or Microsoft? Understanding those nuances is the key to writing attention-grabbing, on-brand copy that connects with your audience.

3. Data analysis

More than half of organizations use social data daily and 29% use it on a weekly basis as well.

An infographic sharing how often organizations use social data.

Social analytics are driving proactive decision-making at top brands, impacting everything from marketing revenue to customer experience.  As a social professional, you’ll be tasked with providing these insights to a whole slew of internal stakeholders. That’s why you need to be able to communicate the story behind any given data set.

4. Creative direction

Think of your favorite social media campaign. It probably went a step beyond a few posts here and there, right?

On social, the campaigns that manage to rise above the noise have one thing in common: clear creative direction. This extends well beyond visuals alone. Creative direction also applies to:

  • Campaign pacing
  • Network-specific approaches
  • Voice and tone
  • Copy and multimedia formats

Keep your creative skills sharp by maintaining a steady stream of inspiration from a variety of sources. Most social media hiring processes include some kind of brainstorming exercise, so this will help you be ready to flex your talents at a moment’s notice.

5. Customer service

Four out of five executives agree that social media will soon become the primary channel for customer service and support.

Consumers are turning to brands’ public profiles to seek help, air grievances and everything in between. Those seeking careers in social media will have to tap into their inner customer service representative to handle these requests.

That goes a step beyond responding to comments and DMs in a polite and timely fashion. Given the varied nature of social customer care, you’ll also have to know how to create a company-specific escalation management strategy to share with your team.

Where to look for jobs in social media

As more companies look to expand their social media teams, knowing where to look for jobs becomes a competitive edge in itself. If you’ve scanned the careers section of your favorite companies to no avail, don’t fret. Try these sites instead:

Job boards

Employers use job boards like LinkedIn and Glassdoor to promote open positions to a wider pool of job seekers. These sites are indispensable in a world that’s shifting toward more remote work options. Use their filters to set your sights well beyond your own city or even state.

Newsletters

If you’re looking for a more curated approach to your job search, try industry newsletters like Rachel Karten’s Link in Bio or SocialMedia.org’s The Shortlist. These sources provide round ups of some exciting roles available in social media marketing. They’re perfect for someone looking for roles that require more strategic or creative skills.

Online communities

Online marketing communities are the job hunter’s secret weapon. Members aren’t constantly posting every vacant role they know of, but if you ask, many are more than happy to provide job leads. Look for groups specific to social media marketing for the best results, like Sprout’s Social Marketers’ Exchange, for example.

7 social media careers to explore

We’ve come a long way from the “social media intern” stereotype. Many social media roles don’t even have the word “social media” in the title anymore.

These roles are specialized and compensation can vary widely by location and experience. On average, social media managers can expect to make $53,000 a year.

“When I started my career, the breadth of social media management roles was a lot more limited,” says Samuels. “Now, there are so many different areas to specialize in. My advice to those just starting out in their social career is to find what you like and figure out ways to keep rounding out that skill set. If you can identify what you enjoy and use that to create success for an organization, you’ll both be happy.”

Understanding your options is the key to choosing a career path that gets you excited to log on each morning. Here are some job titles to check out if you’re interested in a career in social media.

1. Social media specialist jobs

A social media specialist job is a great way to gain exposure to the wild world of social media marketing. In these roles, you’ll get a full primer on all the basics, like content creation, scheduling and engagement.

These jobs tend to vary by company and industry. For example, a specialist working in the hospitality industry might have more customer care-related duties than someone working in real estate or recruiting.

Job listings typically give an overview of what to expect in the role, but always do your own research. Scan the social feeds of prospective job opportunities to get a realistic idea of what your day-to-day responsibilities might look like.

You’ll enjoy a social media specialist role if:

  • The idea of owning a monthly content calendar fills you with a sense of opportunity.
  • You want to be involved in the full process, from the first brainstorm to hitting publish.
  • You want to grow your strategic marketing and collaboration skills.

2. Social media manager jobs

Social media manager jobs are a common next step for those who have a few years of social experience under their belt. As a social media manager, your focus will shift from publishing social content to managing a team that oversees most of the execution. You’ll provide direction, support and feedback to direct reports and work with your team to develop their professional growth.

Alongside people management duties, these roles typically call for a more analytical mindset. You’ll spend a lot more time creating reports and analyzing them to figure out what’s working and what’s not. These findings will inform ongoing strategic decisions for you and your team.

Consider this role if:

  • You’re looking to move into a more hands-off role that is still closely involved in the social media landscape.
  • You’re passionate about nurturing the growth of those around you.
  • You’re a data-driven critical thinker and know how to establish frameworks that help tie social efforts to business impact.

3. Social community management jobs

For those attracted to the connectivity of social, community management is where it’s at. These roles are focused on fostering relationships with your brand’s audience through an owned channel (like a Facebook Group, for example).

Wholesome Culture Facebook Group's about this group page

As a community manager, you’ll be responsible for the growth and day-to-day maintenance of a social media community. Driving community engagement will play a key factor in your success in this role. You want to get people talking so they can work, learn and grow together.

Consider this role if:

  • You want to grow and nurture a community that contributes to long-term business impact.
  • You enjoy interacting with people online and prioritize customer trust above all else.
  • You have strong internal and external communication skills.

4. Influencer marketing jobs

Influencer marketing is an offshoot of social media management that involves seeking and securing endorsements from individuals with a strong online following. These roles are particularly popular within retail industries like cosmetics, for example.

@mikaylanogueira

The best hyaluronic acid eye serum is from @loréalparis! The applicator is EVERYTHING! Available @target #LOréalParisPartner #Skincare #HAEyeSerum

♬ original sound – Mikayla Nogueira

In an influencer marketing role, you’ll support the ongoing management of influencer programs. This might include elements of account management, events management and budgeting, alongside some standard social media responsibilities.

Consider a role in influencer marketing if:

  • You love building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships, both internally and externally.
  • You know the ins and outs of all major social networks and can easily identify influencers of all follower counts.
  • You have excellent organizational and communication skills.

5. Content creator jobs

If you’ve ever spoken directly to your front-facing camera in public and not thought much of it, you may want to consider becoming a content creator.

Content creators (AKA digital creators) create and distribute content across various networks like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and more. In-house content creators tend to be heavily focused on video, as opposed to text or image-based posts. Basically, you’ll spend quite a bit of time recording, editing and posting as the face of a brand account.

This role might be right for you if:

  • You’re always thinking about clever ways brands can get in on the latest social trend.
  • You’ve never shied away from the limelight and you love encouraging others to do the same.
  • When tasked with a project, you always come up with a clear creative vision to execute.

6. Social media consulting jobs

As you grow in your social media expertise, you may eventually consider a career as a social media consultant.  In this role, you’ll manage multiple client relationships and advise a variety of brands on how to build and deploy their social strategies. As a consultant, you’ll be helping clients develop their presence online and directly impact goals like raising awareness and increasing website traffic.

(Source: Mini Media Marketing)

Consultants are excellent at identifying problems and coming up with solutions. If that’s you, it may be time to research the ins and outs of owning your own business, along with the market demand for your skills. Or, if you prefer to work with a team, look for strategist roles at an agency where you’ll work with a range of clients.

This role is right for you if:

  • You enjoy helping others solve hard problems and bringing thoughtful solutions to the table.
  • You’re able to flex to different industries or business needs and support others in achieving their long-term social goals.
  • You’re a social media expert and know how to supplement your knowledge with additional research.

7.  Social media intelligence jobs

Social media intelligence is kind of like the FBI of social, according to Kate O’Hagan, Senior Specialist of Social Media Intelligence at United Airlines.

“We cover the behind the scenes of what you see in your feed,” says O’Hagan. “We monitor online chatter for any trends and threats to the airline to protect the brand.”

O’Hagan and her team work closely with United’s social engagement, public relations, global response and executive solutions teams to keep an eye on the expansive world of social media. For a business as large as United Airlines, that can mean tracking conversations on anything from the launch of a new route to helping the government with an emergency shipment of baby formula.

“There is no ‘normal day’ in social media intelligence,” explains O’Hagan. “It all depends on what’s going on with the airline. We also run sentiment analysis reports on certain things for potential upcoming projects. For example, if we wanted to partner with a celebrity, we look into their history and what the internet thinks of the person to see if it’s a good match for our brand.”

A career in social media intelligence might be right for you if:

  • You live and breathe data—all of your decisions are backed by numbers.
  • You enjoy pouring over large data sets to identify trends and opportunities.
  • You want to mitigate crises before they happen—and if they do, you know how to keep your cool.

Kickstart your career in social media

If you love brainstorming, creating content and connecting with audiences, then a career in social media might just be the job for you. The great news is, there’s never been a better time to break into the field.

Set yourself apart from the rest of the applicant pool with this guide to crafting a data-driven social media resume. It’ll show you all the do’s and don’ts of landing your next dream job.

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Tuesday, 5 July 2022

How to host an Instagram takeover in 7 steps

Instagram has an impressive 1 billion monthly active users—that’s millions of people logging in each day. It’s clearly a great place to connect with potential customers, particularly younger consumers (recent data shows nearly 62% of Instagram users are aged 18-34).

While there are many ways to promote your brand on the platform, including running ads and sponsoring posts, one of the most effective (and sometimes free) ways to grow your audience is by hosting an Instagram takeover.

What is an Instagram takeover?

A unique marketing tactic for your business, an Instagram takeover is when you partner with someone to take over your account for a short time, whether it’s one day or several. The host announces themselves to your audience and proceeds to post updates throughout the specified time. This host of the Instagram takeover can be an employee, an influencer, a business or an industry expert.

Takeovers help increase engagement and reach on Instagram. They give your audience a unique perspective of your business. They can also help elevate your brand, showcasing key products or differentiators to existing customers and new audiences.

Sometimes takeovers are more about elevating other people than simply promoting your brand. A great example of this is when the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) had their March Resident Scholar, Dr. Katherine Mills, take over their account for a day.

Dr. Mills posted to the ASA account throughout the day, highlighting meetings with ASA leadership and politicians during a trip to Washington, DC advocating for the physician anesthesiologists and safe care for patients.

How do Instagram takeovers work?

With an Instagram takeover, you’re handing over the proverbial keys of your account over to a guest for a specified time, whether it’s for one day or a few days. That person (or business) posts their own content on your account. If this makes you nervous, don’t worry—we’ll explain how takeovers work (including how you can protect yourself from risks) and provide some tips on how to make sure your takeover is successful.

How do businesses benefit from Instagram takeovers?

Instagram takeovers are a modern way to generate buzz about your brand or products. They provide many benefits to businesses, including the opportunity to collaborate with popular influencers or content creators who are relevant to your audience.

Here are some of our favorite benefits of Instagram takeovers:

The ability to reach a new audience

When an influencer with a large following takes over your account, you have the potential to reach new audiences. Influencers will notify their followers of the takeover by posting an Instagram Story or post to head over to your account to follow along. Takeovers help build your followers on Instagram, as some of the guest host’s followers will likely start following and interacting with you as a result. This benefit can last long after the initial takeover has ended.

The opportunity to build trust and credibility

Partnering with a guest host helps establish trust with their followers. This partnership gives your company credibility with a new audience who may not know about you or your business. It lends social proof since people trust the recommendations of others. When an influencer promotes your brand on their own page—and their followers see that content—you’re more likely to earn the trust of those individuals.

Engaging with an employee or industry insider gives you credibility with your own followers, particularly when that person is an expert in their field.

Increased engagement with your posts and account

Instagram takeovers provide a compelling way to encourage more engagement on your posts. If you’re collaborating with someone who has an active, loyal following, you can expect to see more Instagram likes, comments and shares on your content. This increased engagement can also help increase your reach because Instagram’s algorithm favors posts with high engagement.

A behind-the-scenes look at your business

Takeovers on Instagram give your followers a glimpse under the hood of your business. They help showcase an authentic side of your business and can highlight your company culture, products or services.

For example, let’s say you own a bakery. You could do an Instagram takeover with one of your pastry chefs and have them show your followers how they make some of your most popular desserts.

More traffic and sales for you

By increasing your brand’s reach and engagement, Instagram takeovers can also lead to more traffic and sales for your business. If you’re promoting a new product or service, an influencer takeover can help get the word out.

Make it easy for your followers to navigate to your website by coordinating your and your guest host’s Instagram link in bio tools. You can also use hashtags to increase exposure and discovery (more on that below).

How to run an effective Instagram takeover in 7 steps

Take some time to plan your strategy, identify your ideal guest hosts who align with your brand and values, and promote your event will help you get the most out of your Instagram takeover. The following steps are focused on helping you plan the perfect takeover.

1. Establish your takeover goals and KPIs

Before you start looking for guest hosts, it’s important to establish your goals for the takeover. What do you want to achieve (e.g., brand awareness, follower growth, improved post engagement, customer leads, etc.)?

Make sure to establish some KPIs (key performance indicators) so you can measure the takeover campaign’s performance. These could include:

  • The number of new followers you gain during the takeover
  • The amount of engagement on your posts
  • The number of website clicks or sales you generate

The goals should be clear to everyone involved in the takeover, so posts can be tailored to help you achieve them.

2. Choose a takeover host

When you’re planning your takeover, identify a host that makes sense for your brand. They should have a similar target audience and be respected in their field. Consider the following when selecting your host:

  • Influencers: Instagram influencers often, but not always, have a lot of followers. Their followers view them as experts in their niche. Collaborating with an influencer puts your brand in front of their loyal audience. Influencer posts, paired with hashtags, can also foster engagement and interest.
  • Customers: Giving a customer the keys to your account provides social proof and is a good way to show off your products. The customer’s voice is a powerful one. It fosters a feeling of community and demonstrates that your business values customer input.
  • Employees: Employee takeovers can make brands seem more relatable. A takeover gives your employees some recognition and reveals the human side of your business. This type of employee advocacy provides a unique look into your business.
  • Industry leaders and experts: Consider doing a takeover with an industry luminary, someone who offers valuable knowledge about your niche. Experts can provide content to your followers while reinforcing your company’s leadership.
  • Businesses: Partnering with another business—particularly one with a firmly established customer base—can elevate your brand in your industry and introduce your business or products to a new audience.

3. Select a type of takeover

There’s more than one way to execute a successful Instagram takeover. It’s important to be creative, but also to align your takeover to your specific goals. Here are three common approaches to consider:

  • Instagram post takeovers: This type of takeover generally involves having your guest host take over your company’s Instagram account for a fixed period of time and post content related to your industry, product or service to your feed. It’s a straightforward approach to a takeover that can be very effective in promoting your brand.
  • Instagram Story takeovers: A Story takeover involves having your guest host share a series of images or videos to your company’s Instagram Stories. These behind-the-scenes, action-oriented strategies generate engaging content while giving your followers a sneak peek of something specific to your business.
  • Live video takeovers: Live video takeovers generate excitement and build anticipation for an event or announcement (e.g., a new product launch.) You can also use live video to host Q&As, announcements or interviews.

4. Outline Instagram takeover guidelines

Once you’ve chosen your guest host and type of takeover, it’s time to create some guidelines. This will help ensure the guest’s posts are aligned with your brand voice and goals. Your guidelines should answer the following questions:

  • What type of content will be included in the takeover?
  • How long will the takeover last?
  • Will the content be pre-planned or spontaneous?
  • Who will approve the content before it’s posted?
  • What are the requirements for posting content?

Don’t be too restrictive. Set your expectations, but allow the guest host enough freedom to be creative and use their own voice.

5. Set permissions to your account

Now it’s time to give your guest host access to your account. One way to do this is to provide the password to the guest host (just make sure this is someone you can trust).

If the guest host is an influencer, they’ll likely have their own Instagram Business Account. Connect their account with your

Business Account through the Instagram settings. This will allow them to post content to your feed as if they were posting from their own account.

You can also give guest hosts access to your Instagram account by adding them as a contributor to your Meta Business Manager. Meta provides detailed instructions for how to do this via their Help Center.

Alternatively, you can streamline permissions management by implementing an approval process with a social media management platform like Sprout Social. With a message approval workflow, you can collaborate effectively with partners and guests on tone and content.

Sprout Social offers an approval workflow so that you can collaborate better with contributors on campaigns such as Instagram takeovers.

6. Choose a branded hashtag

You can promote your takeover ahead of time using Instagram hashtags. Any branded hashtags associated with the takeover should be easy to remember, specific and relevant.

Branded hashtags help your followers keep track of the takeover and see related posts in one place. You can also promote the hashtag to encourage your followers to use it when posting about the takeover to increase exposure and discovery.

7. Finalize the details and launch

The final step involves a few key details including choosing when to post. We’ve put together some best practices about when to post on social media to give you a starting point. However, you should also review your account analytics to see what times have historically been best for you.

This should also be the time to determine if you want a full account or semi-account takeover:

  • Full account takeover: The guest host has complete control of your account for an agreed-upon time frame (e.g., a day, 6 hours, a weekend).
  • Semi-account takeover: The guest host can post to your feed, but you maintain some control over other aspects of the account. For example, you might approve all content before it’s posted or schedule posts ahead of time. Social media management platforms like Sprout make it easy to plan and schedule Instagram posts.

You’re ready to launch, but there’s one more thing…

Promoting your Instagram takeover

With your takeover ready to launch, it’s time to start promoting it on Instagram and beyond. This will help ensure your followers are aware of the Instagram takeover and get them excited about the content to come.

Before the day: Tease the takeover on Instagram and your other social media channels. Send an email to your subscribers. Request the guest host post about the takeover to their followers and community. You can also announce the takeover on your website.

On the day of: Post a photo or video on your Instagram feed or Story to announce the start of the takeover and introduce the host. Make sure to use the takeover hashtag. The guest host can repost this content to their followers as well.

After the day: Recap the takeover on your website and share highlights on social media. You can even create an Instagram Stories Highlight reel with the best posts from the takeover (your guest host will likely want to do this too).

And, of course, be sure to thank your host.

Measure your takeover’s success

After the dust settles, review your takeover’s performance and evaluate metrics against the established KPIs. Take some time to understand what worked and what didn’t so you can optimize your takeover strategy for next time. Here are a few key metrics to measure:

  • Number of new followers: Keep track of how many new followers you gained during the takeover period and compare this number to your average rate of growth.
  • Post engagement: Review your post engagement (Likes, comments, shares) to see if it increased versus what’s typical for your account.
  • Hashtag usage and mentions: Review how often your hashtag was used and see if you can spot any patterns. Also, check for any new mentions of your brand.
  • Website traffic: Check your website analytics to see if traffic increased or traffic patterns changed.
  • Website conversions/signups: Did you see a spike in sales or an increase in conversion (e.g., newsletter signups)?

A social media management tool like Sprout can simplify campaign measurement associated with an Instagram takeover. Sprout provides dashboard-style Instagram analytics that let you easily see post performance, hashtag usage, audience engagement and more.

Sprout Social Profile Engagement Report shows the different types of engagements (likes, comments, Story replies, saves) to help you track the performance of campaigns such as Instagram takeovers..

Examples of Instagram takeovers

Now that you know how to execute an Instagram takeover, check out some examples from brands that have done it well.

Samantha Pollino’s Hamilton Musical takeover

In May 2019, Samantha Pollino hosted an Instagram Story takeover on the official Hamilton Musical Instagram account. Pollino played Woman 2 in the Phillip Company production of the show. She did the takeover when the show was in Dallas, posting Story videos throughout the day of behind-the-scenes footage. She used Story elements, adding hashtags, Instagram handles, stickers and music to her posts. She also engaged with followers—for example, inviting them to ask questions which she promised to answer on Twitter.

Pollino has just under 21,000 followers on Instagram, so this is a great example of how an insider with a modest following can produce some engaging and unique content.

Penn Admissions student takeover

In 2019, the University of Pennsylvania Admissions department gave one of their student ambassador’s the keys to their Instagram Stories for a day. She recorded her day on campus as a UPenn student: walking to class with friends, enjoying a meal in the cafeteria and attending class. She even recorded one of her professors writing on a chalkboard.

The takeover provides a brief, but impactful, glimpse into the life of a student at Penn, complete with some compelling footage of the campus, classrooms and student spaces.

Jessica Capshaw’s 300th episode takeover for Grey’s Anatomy

Many may know Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Roberts in the long-running ABC show Grey’s Anatomy. Capshaw took over the show’s official Instagram Stories to celebrate the milestone 300th episode. This gave the show’s fans and followers a unique glimpse into the show’s production.

Capshaw’s posts included cameos from fellow cast members, a brief spotlight of the hair and makeup trailer, shots of the cast and crew gathering in a dining area and many more insider treats.

Launch and manage Instagram takeovers with Sprout

Instagram takeovers provide a powerful way for businesses to mix up their account’s content, increase engagement and reach new audiences. Sprout is the perfect tool to help you plan, execute and measure your Instagram takeover. With Sprout, you can easily see post performance, hashtag usage and audience engagement.

Download our Instagram for Brands guide and learn how to build a comprehensive high-impact Instagram marketing strategy.

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Marketing Analytics: Everything You Need to Know To Start Leveraging it Today

When’s the last time you attempted to make a recipe in the dark? I’d venture to guess you’ve never done so. It’s unnecessary and reckless. Would you be surprised to learn, then, that more than 60 percent of companies have ignored marketing analytics data when making marketing campaign decisions?

Just like making a recipe in the dark is unnecessary and reckless, so too is ignoring the invaluable marketing data when making expensive and time-consuming decisions for your business.

In this post, we’ll introduce marketing analytics and its benefits. We’ll cover the types of marketing data and how to create your own report. Finally, we’ll highlight three examples of companies that used digital marketing analytics to their advantage.

What Is Marketing Analytics?

Marketing analytics is the use of data to evaluate the performance of a marketing activity or collective marketing efforts.

From 2012 to 2020, the share of projects where marketing analytics were used to make a decision has ranged from 29 percent to 43.5 percent. While this number seems low, it does go to show that using marketing analytics to drive your own business’s campaigns will give you an edge against the competition.

Why Is Marketing Analytics Important?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, it helps to understand why marketing analytics is so important. While some companies may argue that analytics data isn’t crucial to their business, others will stake their success solely on their ability to follow the data.

Perhaps the greatest benefit to digital marketing analytics is the ability for businesses to understand big-picture marketing trends and forecast future results.

On a micro level, marketing analytics can help a business to understand the ROI of their individual programs. This can help them to determine which programs to cut and which programs to invest in. It will also teach them what they need to know for future projects.

Finally, consider that sophisticated marketers (those who utilize 5 or more analytics tools) are 39 percent more likely to see an overall performance improvement in their marketing programs. Just imagine what that growth could look like across your portfolio!

Types of Marketing Analytics Data

When it comes to marketing analytics data, there are three categories it can fall into. Here’s a description of each, as well as examples of the metrics used.

Descriptive Analytics

Descriptive analytics provide insights into the current state of your business. They answer the question, “what is happening now?”

The types of metrics you’ll see here are surface level. They provide a quick snapshot of the business as it is today but without any analysis or reasoning behind it. These metrics include page views, revenue, units sold, average unit price, and conversion rate.

Diagnostic Analytics

Diagnostic analytics provide a root cause as to the descriptive analytics. That is, they answer the question, “why is this happening?”

When you have questions about your descriptive metrics mentioned above, you’ll dig into the diagnostic metrics. These dig deeper to find the cause of the diagnostic metrics by looking at things such as traffic sources, bounce rates, exit rates, and last touch channels.

Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics provide a look into the future of your business. They answer the question, “what’s likely to happen in the future based on past and current trends?”

As you can imagine, predictive analytics requires more sophisticated input. While you can pull descriptive and diagnostic analytics and make connections, you cannot do so easily with predictive analytics. Instead, you’ll typically need the help of a predictive modeling tool or a data analyst.

How to Create a Marketing Analytics Report

If you’ve been tasked with creating a digital marketing analytics report for your business, the steps below will help to get you started.

1. Pull the Raw Data

Where does it all begin? With the raw data.

How you pull your data will depend on the tools and platforms you use. There are many free and paid options available and you may find yourself using more than one to get a fuller picture.

A screenshot of a Google Analytics home screen.
Step one of creating a marketing analytics report.

Google Analytics is a free tool that provides you with in-depth website analytics. If you’re using an e-commerce platform like Shopify, you may also have access to free analytics within your account. Paid options include HubSpot, Domo, and Tableau.

2. Understand Your Audience

There are two important questions to answer before you compile your data. They are:

  1. What’s the purpose of your marketing report?
  2. Who’s the audience for your marketing report?

To answer those questions, you’ll want to dig deeper by answering the following:

Are you pulling the data just to get a snapshot of the business, or is there something more specific in mind? Are you delivering the report to top-level executives or a direct manager? How will this data be used? How often will this data report need to be compiled?

A weekly report on the state of the business to your direct manager will look completely different than an analysis of a business unit to the CFO of the company.

3. Highlight the KPIs That Matter

You have the data and you know the purpose and audience for your report. Now it’s time to ensure you’re highlighting the right data in your report. This will come down to understanding the type of data analytics you’ll need to answer to your audience (e.g., descriptive, diagnostic, predictive).

Let’s say you’re tasked with reporting on the launch of your company’s newest product. It hit the virtual shelves two weeks ago and it’s time to evaluate its initial success. What does this look like?

Here you’ll be pulling descriptive analytics. This includes metrics like product page views, add to carts, revenue, and conversion rate.

It doesn’t end there, though, because your audience will likely want to know whythe above metrics are what they are. Whether they’re below or above the target goals, it’s good to understand what happened to get you where you are.

This means you’ll also be pulling diagnostic metrics like last touch channel and traffic source. You can also dig into the customer demographics and behaviors.

A screenshot of a variety of metrics in Google Analytics.
Step three of creating a marketing analytics report.

With this data, your report will begin to shape itself into more of a story than just a bunch of KPIs and graphs.

4. Use Visuals to Break Down the Data

You have the data, you know your audience, and you have your story. Now it’s time to consider the best way to tell your story to make sense to your entire audience. Visuals are a crucial way of doing so.

Visuals include graphs, charts, maps, funnels, and Venn diagrams. They are a great way to help you see your data in a new light andtell your story more effectively.

The good news is most analytics tools offer a suite of visualization tools so you don’t have to find yourself reinventing the wheel. However, programs like Microsoft Excel also make it incredibly easy to turn raw data into visualizations.

Examples of Marketing Analytics

It can be inspiring to see how other businesses are using marketing analytics to inform their decisions. Here are three examples for you to consider.

Marketing Analytics Example #1: Costa Rican Vacations

Averages are used frequently when evaluating marketing analytics. There is nothing inherently wrong with this approach, but as we’ll see below, it can be good to look at those outliers to determine the true efficacy of the average.

Looking beyond the average customer for Costa Rican Vacations has resulted in a 40 percent increase in website conversion.

According to Casey Halloran, the Co-Founder and CEO of Costa Rican Vacations, their team frequently looks to averages to inform their decisions: average spend, the average length of stay, and the average number of travelers.

Upon taking a deeper dive into the data, they realized the average number was so far off the actual customers’ metrics due to the extremes of the outliers. That is, the majority of their customers were on one end of the spectrum or the other with very few actually falling into the middle.

With this information, Costa Rican Vacations made a shift in its product offering. One way they did so was by adjusting the total budget slider on their homepage to go up to $20,000.

An image of the Costa Rican Vacations booking page.
An example of marketing analytics from Costa Rican Vacations.

By doing so, they opened up their offering to a new, higher spending customer base and increase website conversions by 40 percent.

Other businesses, too, can benefit from this example. After all, how often do we look at averages and medians without considering the impact of our marketing decisions on the outliers? With this in mind, take time to truly understand how average your average customer really is, or whether they’re simply a product of extremes on either end.

Marketing Analytics Example #2: Allrecipes

Allrecipes is the world’s largest digital food brand. It boasts 18 websites in 23 countries and more than 85 million users. No matter how large your brand, there’s always the competition to consider. To maintain their competitive advantage, Allrecipes worked with Tableau to better understand every stage of the customer journey.

The brand had several primary objectives, including to:

  • improve user experience
  • increase video engagement
  • drive mobile engagement
  • inform product strategy
  • expand user base
  • grow advertising revenue

Allrecipes leveraged Tableau, a business intelligence platform to visualize data all in one place. With custom dashboards and organizational collaboration, the brand was able to achieve numerous goals. In particular, let’s look at how Tableau’s device-level analytics enabled them to drive mobile engagement.

According to Esmee Williams, the VP of Consumer and Brand Strategy, mobile usage had increased from 8 percent to three-fourths of all visits in recent years.

The goal was to increase mobile usage while also providing a continuous experience across devices. They performed an A/B test which showed the mobile site on all devices as a way to learn more about how users interacted with mobile site elements.

An image of an Allrecipes page with various foods.
An example of A/B testing in marketing analytics from Allrecipes.

Using Tableau’s digital marketing analytics collection and visualization tools, Allrecipes used the data they collected to improve the mobile site. This included optimizing content and encouraging photo uploads with an easy-to-use interface.

While you don’t need to perform a cross-device A/B test to get these same results, your business too should evaluate mobile device engagement to understand customer behavior. Only then can you implement changes that have a measurable impact on customer engagement metrics.

Marketing Analytics Example #3: Netflix

Let’s end our examples with a titan of industry, Netflix.

Netflix has a customer retention rate of 90 percent which is far above Amazon Prime’s 75 percent and Hulu’s 64 percent. What is it that drives Netflix’s success? According to Netflix, its success is largely due to the collection and use of customer behavior analytics.

What kinds of data does Netflix collect and feed to their algorithm? Here are a few examples:

  • What time and date did a user watch a show?
  • What device was used to watch the show?
  • If the user pauses the show, do they resume watching?
  • Does the user binge-watch an entire season of a TV show?
  • If they do, how much time does it take to binge-watch it?

Of course, Netflix also looks to interactions the customer has with their shows and movies. If a user selects a show based on the 96 percent recommended rate by Netflix, does the customer finish the series? Do they rate the series well?

An image of the Netflix homepage.
An example of Netflix using marketing analytics to improve their customer experience.

With more than 150 million subscribers, Netflix has a large data pool from which to gather insights. This is critical to their success considering 80 percent of viewer activity is triggered by algorithmic personalized recommendations.

Marketing Analytics Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about marketing analytics.

Are there additional types of marketing analytics data?

In addition to the three marketing analytics data types listed above (descriptive, diagnostic, and predictive), there are also said to be prescriptive analytics and cognitive analytics.

What are the three main components of a marketing analytics campaign?

Your digital marketing analytics campaign should be scalable, sustainable, and affordable.

What are the best marketing analytics tools on the market?

The needs of your business will largely inform your decision on marketing analytics tools. However, a few tools to consider are Tableau, Power BI, and Adobe Reporting.

Does my business need a data analyst to decipher our marketing analytics?

A data analyst can certainly offer important insights for your business. For small and medium-sized businesses, though, they likely aren’t necessary.

Marketing Analytics Conclusion

Marketing analytics is more than just a collection of data. It provides invaluable insights that could have otherwise gone unnoticed.

After all, when you’re making big decisions regarding your business’s marketing campaigns and programs, you need to evaluate all of the data available to you. Only with a proper analysis of previous data and current trends can you ensure you’re making the best decisions for your company’s bottom line.

What percent of your business’s marketing decisions are made using analytics?



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