A common hurdle in content marketing is generating relevant and engaging content. Understanding what content resonates with your audience is the first step to creating appealing content, but it can often be difficult to nail down exactly what topics your audience is looking for. Fortunately, website and social media analytics can be used to gauge audience interest surrounding certain topics, based on the specific content’s performance. If your content needs an engagement boost, or you’re not sure how to determine whether or not a topic appeals to your audience, keep reading to learn how to use analytics to your advantage.
Website Analytics
Google Analytics offers valuable insight into the performance of pages and content on your website — what’s working for you, and what’s not. Additionally, it can detail how users arrived on your site and what information or pages they found and spent time reviewing, offering constructive information on how to appeal to your audience and respond to their needs.
There are multiple reports within Google Analytics that can be created to better understand your audience and their needs. The Source/Medium report shows how your web traffic arrived on your website, whether from a Google search, directly inputting the website’s URL, or from a link from another website. Understanding where your audience is coming from can help you understand what information your audience is looking for or interested in, and what other websites they are using around the internet (which corresponds to their interests and needs). Under the Behavior tab on Google Analytics, the Behavior Overview report details the most visited pages on your site. Knowing which pages on your website are the most popular with your audience gives you an idea of their interests and what they came to your website looking for, which you can use to brainstorm content ideas relevant to your target audience. Lastly, the Site Search Overview report shows exactly what site visitors typed into your website’s search box — showing you exactly what your readers were looking for on your website. If you don’t already have content about that subject, be sure to create content that speaks directly to the ways your business can address these needs and solve the challenges your customers are faced with.
While these are very powerful reports within Google Analytics, the platform also offers dozens of reports, each of which offers valuable insight into audience behavior. Look around and see what information you can find — you may be surprised!
Social Media Analytics
Social media marketing is an integral component to any digital marketing plan. According to a recent Hootsuite study, 95% of businesses use Facebook as part of their marketing efforts, and interest in platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn is on the rise.
Use of these platforms, or any social media management platform, can allow you to monitor your content’s engagement to better understand what interests your audience and what does not. Reviewing the Posts section under the Insights tab on your Facebook page can help you see at a glance how recent posts have performed. Posts that generate more likes, shares, comments, or messages than others signify that your audience was interested in its content and had a reason to share it with others. If you notice that a particular type of post is performing well on your social media platforms, analyze that post’s particular topic and see if there is any way you can expand on it or offer more information to your social media followers. Additionally, be sure to recognize and appreciate any feedback you may receive on social media — even negative feedback from your audience can help you understand the content that is relevant to them, and gives you the opportunity to provide them with more relevant content in the future. Understanding what doesn’t appeal to your audience may give you an even clearer picture as to what does!
Using website and social media analytics to gauge your audience’s interest and understand which topics are most relevant to them helps to improve overall content engagement. If you’re having trouble writing content, or determining which topics are most relevant to your audience’s needs, contact Pulse Marketing Agency today for a free 30-minute consultation.
