Social Media Analytics Tools: The Modern Marketer’s Guide to Actionable Insights

TL;DR

• Social media analytics tools measure content performance across multiple platforms to help you make data-driven decisions.

• Focusing on the right metrics tied to real outcomes can help you reach goals tied to awareness, engagement, traffic, and conversions.

• Social media analytics differ from social listening and reporting. Social listening monitors online conversations to understand how people feel about your brand. Social media reporting tools help streamline and present performance data.

• Reliable workflows, clear goals, and efficient reporting are more important than chasing better metrics.

• Learn how to evaluate tools, track the right metrics, and make better decisions with this guide.

Whether you're a creator, in-house marketer, or on the agency side, you know juggling multiple social media channels can be tricky. Keeping tabs on how your latest short-form video performed on TikTok, Reels, and YouTube involves a lot of toggling between apps, copying numbers into spreadsheets, and calculating how well your posts are ultimately performing.

There has to be a better way, right? Well, the good news is there are plenty of social media analytics tools out there to organize all the metrics you need in one place. 

Social media analytics tools differ from those focused solely on social media management, social listening, or reporting, but they’re just as important. This guide explains how social media analytics tools work and how they help creators and teams both large and small. You’ll find out how to evaluate tools, which social media performance metrics actually matter, and how to use analytics to see the true impact of content or a channel. 

If you’re asking, "What are social media analytics?" we've got the answers. Read on for breakdowns, workflows, evaluation materials, and reporting shortcuts.

What counts as a social media analytics tool (and what doesn’t)

Social media success isn’t random. From the outside, it may seem that top influencers post videos, pictures, and text with ease and get millions of followers, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Creating a successful social media presence requires a lot of strategy. The best way to figure out how to develop a successful strategy is to follow the data. 

Analytics tools let you see what’s working and what isn’t. These tools track how content performs across platforms, so you can see where you're getting the most views, comments, clicks, and more. 

To make smart decisions when planning your content and creating it, look to social media analytics.

Native analytics vs. third-party platforms

With so many types of analytics out there, you might be totally lost about what metrics to track and how to track them. The key is to choose what works best for your channel. To start, there are two main types of analytics tools that you should know about: Native and third-party analytics. 

Native analytics come directly from the social media platform. Whether you need YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram analytics tools, you’ll have access directly in each platform. Some examples of in-app analytics for major platforms include:

• Meta Insights for Facebook and Instagram

• YouTube Studio for YouTube

• TikTok Analytics for TikTok

• LinkedIn Analytics for LinkedIn

The insights and data you get from these native tools are free to view with a business or creator account on the platform. These analytics platforms are useful because the data comes straight from the source. If you're a smaller creator or you manage only one or two channels, native analytics alone may be enough.

As your channels grow and you start creating content across more platforms, native analytics might not cut it anymore. Each platform has different goals and rules that make it difficult to compare the data directly. On top of that, similar analytics may have different names, formulas, and definitions across platforms. This can become a serious problem when you want to compare your TikTok analytics to your Instagram analytics quickly.

Third-party analytics suites make comparing cross-channel data much easier. These platforms take data from multiple channels and put it all in one place. That way, you can see the big picture of how your social media presence is working overall:

• Compare performance through social media data visualization

• Build custom dashboards

• Track campaigns across platforms

• Download reports

Social listening platforms are also helpful. These tools scan the internet to track mentions, keywords, and conversations about your brand. While they’re not exactly analytics tools, they can help you find out where your audience is, what they think of your brand, and what their conversations are about. This feedback helps you make more appealing content or know when your credibility is at risk.

Third-party analytics platforms and social listening tools are excellent additions for marketers. Platforms such as Later, Hootsuite Analytics, and Sprout Social come with big advantages. However, like everything, there can be potential downsides to consider. 

Pros and cons

If you’re interested in using third-party analytics suites or social media listening tools, it’s best to understand the pros and cons first. Here are some key areas to consider when deciding which one to use:

• Accuracy: Accuracy is vital when working with data and findings. Most third-party tools are accurate, but results can vary. Some platforms update in real-time, while others refresh at intervals. The formulas each tool uses can also make the numbers appear different across platforms.

• Channel coverage: Not every analytics platform covers every social media platform. Many cover the major social media players, but make sure that the tools you’re looking at support the channels you have. For example, most platforms integrate with Instagram and TikTok analytics tools, but not all cover LinkedIn and Pinterest.

• Historical depth: Once you select a third-party analytics platform, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have access to your historical data. Some platforms import all of your information. This lets you look back at long-term trends and progress. However, other platforms only begin collecting your data the day you sign up.

• Export options: Downloading and sharing analytics reports is useful for collaborating. Basic third-party platforms give you the option for simple CSV downloads or screenshots. More advanced tools use automation for scheduled reports, real-time summaries, and multiple formats for exporting.

• Cost: Unlike free native analytics, third-party tools come at a price. Compare prices to find a platform within your budget. Low-cost tools are great if you're just starting out. The more expensive options are for proven influencers and brands hoping to take their progress to the next level.

Mistakes to avoid

When you find a third-party analytics platform that works with your channel, you can set yourself up for success with a few tips. Just because you pay for more analytics doesn’t guarantee better results. 

Here are some common pitfalls that creators fall into: 

• Chasing vanity metrics: Vanity metrics, such as likes, follower counts, and views, look impressive to the outside audience. However, they don’t have much impact on real growth. Focusing on watch time, shares, and click-through rate (CTR) are stronger signs that your content is resonating with your audience. 

• Misunderstanding data: Knowing exactly what data means is important. It’s also vital to know that some third-party platform metrics don’t account for all the data. Overreacting to incomplete or misunderstood data can lead to bad decisions. 

• Ignoring API limitations: Social media platforms have APIs that manage data usage. Because of this, third-party platforms are not able to pull all data from every social media platform. Knowing these limitations can help you keep your goals realistic. 

• Overloading dashboards: Custom social media dashboards are useful, but adding too many metrics can make things confusing and distract you from the ones that matter.

Relying on numbers: Analytics give you insight, but don’t base all of your strategy on numbers. Comments, feedback, and audience reactions should play a big part in how you plan out future content.

4 metrics that actually drive outcomes

A single social media channel creates a ton of data. You wouldn’t get anywhere if you tried to use every single one to grow your channel. 

Knowing which metrics actually lead to real success can be the difference between creating effective campaigns that reach the masses and posting content just to see what sticks. If you know your long-term goal, social media KPI tracking can help you reach it.

1. Awareness

Creators and brands that want more people to know about them must focus on awareness. Creators prioritizing awareness create content with the hopes of going viral, increasing visibility and reach. Whether you’re starting out, growing your following, or launching a campaign, you’ll want to get more eyeballs on your posts. 

These metrics are especially handy when trying to hit awareness targets:

• Reach: Reach shows how many different people see your content at least once. The larger the reach, the bigger the potential audience.

• Impressions: Many confuse reach and impressions. Impressions are the total number of times your content was shown. This includes if the same person sees it more than once.

• Views: Views are the number of times your content was viewed or watched. It’s important to remember that different platforms count views differently. For example, the moment a TikTok appears on someone’s screen, it counts as a view. On Instagram, a video post that isn’t a Reel needs to play for three seconds to count as a view.

• Watch time: The total amount of time people spend watching your videos combines for the watch time metric.

2. Engagement

When your audience interacts with the content you share, it creates an engaged community. More engaged followers leads to fans that are more loyal and supportive. If you want to make your audience feel like they’re a part of that community and not just passive observers, track these metrics:

• Comments: Comments drive conversations. They are great for engagement and getting others involved. Plus, comments let you know what your audience is thinking.

• Shares: Shares are a powerful metric to track. When someone shares your content, they not only like it, but they also take the time to promote it. 

• Saves: Saves mean someone liked your post so much that they want to come back and check it out later. If you’re getting a lot of saves, you’re getting good engagement.

• Likes: Likes indicate that people are into your content. This metric is helpful to get a pulse on what your audience likes and doesn’t like. However, don’t put too much weight on them because they don’t have much value past surface level interest. 

3. Traffic

Traffic metrics measure how effectively your content drives people elsewhere. If you're hoping to get customers to visit a blog, website, online store, or landing page, watch how these metrics perform:

• Clicks: Clicks are the total number of times people clicked or tapped on a link or completed a call to action.

• CTR: Click-through rate is the percentage of people who clicked on your link after seeing your content. For example, if 100 people see your link and four click on it, you have a 4% CTR.

• Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) sessions: UTM-tagged links track website visits from specific origins. Using one shows how many people visited a website from a specific spot, like a social media post or campaign.

4. Conversions

Views, likes, shares: these are all well and good, but sales are probably your end goal. Conversion metrics prove that your social media content directly influenced customers to take action, whether that’s making a purchase or another business outcome. Conversions to consider include:  

• Sign-ups: This is the number of people who sign up for something from social media content. Examples include newsletters, events, free trials, and accounts.

• Leads: Leads happen when people share their contact information because they’re interested in learning more. This can happen by filling out a form or asking for more details.

• Sales: When someone makes a purchase, it counts as a sale. This metric counts the sales that directly trace back to social media activity.

• Assisted conversions: Assisted conversions measure how social media played a role in making a sale. Analytics platforms that track the movements of a customer can show if social media played a part in a sale.

If you want results, you need to know which metrics are for your whole channel or for an individual post. 

• Content-level metrics measure posts, videos, and stories. These metrics, such as watch time and shares, can help you figure out which topics and formats are working. 

• Profile-level metrics give you an idea of how your whole channel is doing. 

• Channel overview metrics, such as overall engagement rate and reach, show you your growth trajectory.

Putting your metrics in context

Knowing raw statistics alone isn’t all that helpful. That’s why benchmarking is a best practice to contextualize your metrics.

Benchmarking is when you do a social media audit of your content and overall performance to compare it to past performance, competitors, and top influencers. 

First, compare your results with the standard that other creators in your space have achieved. This can help you get a sense of your engagement and growth: Is your content over- or under-performing? You can get a lot of good insights from this. However, your competitors and other top influencers may not have the same goals or audience as you have. This means you shouldn’t base your decisions completely on this information.

It’s also important to benchmark against your own content. For this angle, look at your current vs. past performance. Is your progress speeding up or slowing down over time? Compare by month and year to determine progress. 

If you make major adjustments to your content strategy, it’s also a good idea to compare your results before and after the change. Overall, it’s better to focus on your rate of improvement instead of the individual numbers coming in. Your overall momentum is more important than the performance of one viral post.

Simple formulas to know

Whether you’re using native analytics or a third-party platform, it’s a good idea to know how to calculate metrics. Here are some formulas to know:

• Engagement rate: (Total engagements / Reach) x 100

• CTR: (Clicks / Impressions) x 100

• Cost Per Mille (CPM): (Total advertising cost / Total impressions) x 1000 

• Save Rate: (Save / Reach) x 100

• Average View Duration (AVD): Total watch time / Total views

• Retention Rate: (AVD / Total video length) x 100

Having a general idea of these simple formulas helps you better understand what the numbers mean instead of just reading them. 

How to evaluate social media analytics tools

So you've decided it's time to add a social media analytics tool to your tech stack. How do you know which one is best?

First off, there are a few must-have features to look for, which include:

• Cross-channel views: See your social media performance from multiple platforms all in one place.

• Post-level insights: Track how each individual post does.

• Customizable dashboards: Personalize which metrics you track to cut down on clutter and confusion.

• Scheduled reports: Schedule reports and send them automatically to save you time.

• CSV/PDF exports: Download your data in CSV or PDF format to analyze it outside the platform.

Third-party analytic suites that include those features will get you far. However, there are even more features to consider. These features aren’t absolutely vital to the success of your channel, but can propel its growth. Some nice-to-have features include:

• Automatic UTMs: Add tracking links to see where clicks and traffic come from.

• Click tracking: See which links people click and how often.

• Google Analytics 4 (GA4) integration: Connect your social media and website analytics to see what actions customers take.

• Campaign tags: Group posts and content to measure a campaign's overall performance.

• Saved report templates: Save report forms to use again instead of recreating them every time.

As you research social media analytics tools, narrow down the choices to tools that meet your needs. You can then use a few more criteria to hone in on the best tool for your situation. Solo creators often derive the most value from affordable, easy-to-use tools. If you’re part of a small team, look into how the tool supports workflows and collaboration. If you work with an agency, you may want to find tools that help manage multiple clients and provide white-label export options.

Workflow: From posting to proving ROI

Using a proven workflow can vastly improve channel growth and success. The best way to do it is to start with specific goals. Once you’ve decided whether your goal is to increase awareness, engagement, traffic, or conversions, you can create a solid strategy. 

Begin publishing content on your channels at regular times. Use UTMs and campaign tags to keep your posts organized and easy to study. Begin monitoring the performance analytics from the moment the content goes up. Continue to see how your individual posts and overall social media presence trend. If you’re not hitting your original goals, make adjustments.

Consistent reporting helps your team stay on the same page. One proven structure is to have monthly deep-dive reviews on the performance and weekly check-in updates to make sure things are going well. Every quarter, the entire team should meet to review the big picture. If the strategy isn’t working, it might be time for serious changes. If performance drops, this is your chance to diagnose the problem in detail. Determine if the issue lies with your content, audience, the algorithm, or the platform. With this information, you can begin to make adjustments and trend in the right direction.

When it comes to customizing a social media analytics tool’s dashboard, it depends on your personal preference. Not sure where to start? One effective approach is to layer metrics by importance. For example, the first metrics you see should be those that relate to the goal you’re trying to achieve. As you scroll through the dashboard, you can include important metrics that indirectly affect your progress. At the end, display long-term trends that develop over time.

Analytics tool categories and common use cases

The right analytics tools for your team depend on your goals, workload, and number of channels.

Native analytics tools may be enough if you only manage one or two channels. With these tools, you won’t need to worry about inaccurate information or paying for anything.

However, the more channels you have, the more complicated social media management gets without a third-party social media analytics tool to bring everything together. 

Cross-channel analytics suites save you time and make things more consistent. By pulling data from different platforms and putting it all together in one place, you only have one place to check. Combining a third-party suite with social media listening can supercharge your progress even more. Having the ability to follow your performance and track what people are saying about you is invaluable. 

If you have one or two channels, native analytics is probably enough. If you’re posting content on multiple social media channels and need organized reporting to prove ROI, go for a social media analytics tool. 

Pro Tip: For the most opportunities and potential for growth, bundle an analytics and social media listening tool together. 

Making the business case for social media analytics

More in-depth analytics tools mean stronger performance. Using a social media analytics tool means less time wasted on manual reporting because it gathers the data for you. These tools reduce the time spent organizing spreadsheets, taking screenshots, and stressing out over sudden requests for updated charts. Agencies, teams, and organizations that take advantage of social analytics tools all benefit, and these tools scale to meet demand.

Taking advantage of social media analytics tools helps you get financial results faster. These tools make it easy to track conversions and assisted conversions, so you know what’s working and what isn’t. 

UTMs and campaign labeling are two ways social media analytics tools can help you attribute successes to the right creators and track campaign results. When you know what’s driving sales and traffic, you can build better strategies to get more purchases. 

To test whether social media analytics tools work well for your business, try building a pilot program:

1. Choose a tool, then decide what metrics you’re going to use and what a successful run would look like.

2. Run the new analytics tool for a short period of between 30 and 60 days. 

3. Compare it to your previous strategy and data after you’ve got some data and experience with it.

With real results, you can make a simple decision on whether it’s impactful for your business model.

Why Later for social media analytics

When it comes to social media analytics platforms, there are plenty of choices. However, one stands out. Later is a unified platform that gives you everything you need for continued success. You get planning, publishing, and analytics together on a simple-to-use dashboard. 

Later’s cross-channel social media reporting tools give you a big picture view of your social media presence from the combination of your channels. Use the social media insights platform to get information from each post you make, as well as your broader profile growth, with ease. With Later, it’s easy to see what’s working across different platforms. Use the information to focus less and create more.

Signing up gives you access to templates, automated reports, and clear visuals that make complicated data easy to understand, share, and download. That means time saved preparing for meetings and creating presentations. Join our community to benefit from clearer performance awareness, faster reporting, and greater confidence.

Turning analytics into action

To reach your goals faster, you need to follow the analytics and focus on meaningful metrics. Whether you’re using native analytics or a third-party suite, staying in tune with the numbers cuts down on guesswork. Once you have a strategy in place, keep your workflows and regular reporting consistent. If trends change, make adjustments until your performance improves. 

For efficient analytics, workflows, and reporting, try Later: the platform that helps you get the most out of social media analytics and use them to solve your issues. 

Ready to apply the tips in this guide? Start your free trial with Later and scale your social media today.

Frequently asked questions about social media analytics tools 

What is a social media analytics tool?

Social media analytics tools help creators track and analyze how their channels and content perform. First, these tools get information from different social media platforms. Once they have the data, they present it in helpful ways that make it easier for the creators to see what’s doing well and what isn’t.

Advanced social media analytics help creators figure out why their content over- or underperformed. When they know this, they can make changes and improve their next post. 

How are social media analytics different from social listening?

Social media analytics measure specific metrics that show how well content does, whereas social listening tools scan the internet to see what people are saying about you or your brand. 

If you want to know how long people are watching a video or if your content is getting sent to the right audience, you’ll look at analytics. On the other hand, social listening tools look for keywords, mentions, or topics related to your content. Using social listening can give you an idea of your reputation and how people feel about what you’re putting out.

Both analytics and social listening are important for creators. Using both tools lets you see the big picture of your social media presence. You can figure out what changes to make and what’s best for growth by combining these two tools.

Do small teams and creators really need analytics tools?

Small teams and creators benefit a lot from analytics tools. You may think that only large brands use analytics tools. However, even the biggest channels on a platform started out small. To make the transition from a creator with a small audience to an influencer, you need to know what helps your channel.

Social media analytics tools take out the guesswork of your strategy. You’ll spend less time experimenting to find a winning combination and more time posting what works.