Yes, most of social media is driven by engagement and conversation. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t need the data to back up your decisions. Social media can absolutely be measured and the tools to do that are becoming more and more sophisticated every day. Because the bottom line is that you are a business, and you need to see results from all of your marketing efforts.
When you use the right social media tools, you have access to more information about your prospective and current customers than ever before. Everything can be tracked, from the busiest time of day on your Facebook page, to the number of people sharing your content. Harnessing this data can help you fine-tune your social media strategies. You can obtain key information about who is engaging with your brand, which can help you build long-term and fruitful relationships, building customer loyalty for long-run.
The mass-targeting approach to marketing is on its way out, and customers demand a more tailored personalized message. Social media data helps you learn your customers and develop strategies for a more personalized experience.
The most important thing to remember, is that you should use data to help customize your marketing but not dominate it. Creativity and relationship-building should still be a fluid and intuitive process, but the information gained from analytics can help guide you in the right direction.