We’ve discussed tracking social media success before, but sometimes the key metric isn’t simply driving traffic to the site. In some situations, a great goal is to drive engagement with the visitors already there –from every channel. Now, you can track that too.
Social sharing is an essential part of driving organic (‘viral,’ if you must) traffic to your content. ‘Like,’ Tweet and +1 have become natural extensions of word of mouth in the age of online social networks. If the goal is to have your content shared, and the shareability of your content is paramount, then tracking the use of those share buttons is a darned good metric to track. There’s a great metric built into Google Analytic allows for just that.
Google Analytics recently added a new report and series of metrics for all Analytics users. The new social metrics track social engagement to the page level. An engagement, by default, is the use of a +1 button. (You do have the +1 button, don’t you?)
Get Tracking
For more complete reporting, the social metrics can also track your other favorite Social Chiclets, such as Like and Tweet buttons. A code-level implementation, social tracking isn’t for the feign of heart. For the script-initiated, it’s a matter of firing the following line of code on the completion of a social interaction.
_gaq.push(['_trackSocial', network, socialAction, opt_target, opt_pagePath]);
*More details of code implementation are available direct from Google’s API documentation.
Why Am I Tracking This Again?
Data is only useful if, well, you have a use for it.
For business place bloggers, this is a perfect tool for learning what your most shareable content actually is. Noticing a trend in the shareability of ‘Top 10′ lists? Write more of those! Nobody sharing your more corporate press releases posted to the blog? Shake up your delivery.
For socially-enabled e-commerce, you’ll know at a glance what your most shared products are, and how often they’re being shared.
Interesting Intersections
Once enabled, there are some interesting intersections of your Analytics data that could be worth exploring. Are your most ‘Liked’ products the most sold? Is there a direct correlation between Tweet button and sales velocity? Are those who ‘Like’ more prone to purchase?
What data correlations would you look for? What social network use would you track? Is this something that might fit your company’s website and marketing metric needs? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
(Oh, and don’t forget to ‘Like’, +1 or Retweet this post!)
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Tags: Analytics, engagement, facebook, Google +1, Google Analytics, Marc Frechette, social media, twitter
