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Social Media Analytics: Extracting Insights from User Behavior - An M.Sc Perspective

February 20th, 2024: 5 mins

This Article Explores:


  • Introduction
  • Important Aspects of Social Media Analytics
    • Sentiment Analysis
    • Data Collection
    • Competitive Analysis
    • Influencer Identification
  • Understanding and Analyzing User Behavior on Social Media Platforms
    • Behavior Patterns
    • Engagement Metrics
    • Social Listening
    • Demographics
  • Reasons for Analyzing User Behavior Insights on Social Media Platforms



Not using any social media platform would be considered a rarity in today’s digitally aware world. According to current reports, there are 5.35 billion internet users globally– approximately 66.2% of the global population. Out of this 5.04 billion, almost 62.3% of the world's population are active social media users. 

 

Facebook is the market leader in social networking, which has over one billion registered accounts. The social media platform has more than 3 billion active users monthly, followed by YouTube (2.491 billion users), WhatsApp (2 billion users) and Instagram (2 billion users). 

 

It is evident from the above statistics that there is an increasing level of engagement on various social media platforms. Researchers are using social media analytics to decode and understand user behaviors using various social media platforms. Marketing teams of various organizations use these user behavior insights to create effective sales and marketing strategies, make informed decisions, and understand the target audience. 

Important Aspects of Social Media Data Analysis

Business organizations leverage social media metrics to understand their customers better. By tracking metrics like sentiment analysis, click-through rates, engagement rates, etc., businesses can tailor their content to resonate with the audience. It also helps to understand the effectiveness of the various social media campaigns that the business runs. 

 

Here are some key aspects of understanding social media analytics:

  • Sentiment Analysis

This process involves text data analysis to understand a user’s sentiment for a specific brand or topic. Businesses can gather public opinion about their services or products. They can also locate exact aspects that need improvement. 

  • Data Collection

Analytics for user engagement depends on data collection from various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. The collected data comprises demographic information, user-generated content like tweets or posts, and user interactions in the form of comments, likes, shares, subscriptions, emoji reactions, etc. 

  • Competitive Analysis

With effective social media data analysis, businesses can monitor their competitors' social media and online activities. Once they know the industry standards, benchmarking their standards becomes easier. Information on metrics like engagement rates and follower growth helps in staying ahead in the competitive business world. 

  • Influencer Identification

Influencer identification becomes comparatively easier with social media metrics. Businesses can locate and identify influencers within a particular industry or niche. This is mainly done by tracking follower counts, engagement rates, and content relevance. After identifying potential influencers, businesses can contact them for brand endorsements and other collaborations. 

Understanding and Analyzing User Behavior on Social Platforms

Understanding and Analyzing User Behavior on Social Platforms

Engaging with the target audience is vital for marketers to understand user behavior on social media platforms. There are various preferences, motivations, and patterns that drive user behavior. Here are some effective ways data-driven statistics can be leveraged for analyzing user behavior on social platforms:

Behavior Patterns

User behavior pattern stats provide valuable insights into how users interact on social media. Analyzing the patterns helps in understanding the peak activity times of users. Businesses can reschedule their posting and interacting schedules accordingly to accelerate engagement rates and reach a larger audience. 

Engagement Metrics

A great way to understand user behavior is by analyzing engagement metrics like shares, comments, likes, click-through rates, etc. Marketers decipher the kind of content that users like and drive engagement. 

Social Listening

Digital marketing professionals with a degree in M.Sc in Social Media Analytics perceive social listening as an excellent way to understand user behavior. This includes monitoring mentions, discussions, and conversations related to an industry or brand across various social media channels. This helps identify customer feedback, trends, and sentiment analysis. 

Demographics

Marketers find it challenging to target an audience if they don’t have an understanding of user demographics. Instagram and Facebook offer users detailed demographic data, such as their location, gender, age, and other interests. Based on the retrieved data, businesses can create personalized content for specific user segments, claiming a better reach and impact. 

Reasons for Analyzing User Behavior Insights on Social Media Platforms

Reasons for Analyzing User Behavior Insights on Social Media Platforms

Marketers emphasize the analysis of social media metrics for enhancing their marketing strategies, understanding their target audience, and bringing in better results for the business organization. Sustaining in the highly competitive digital landscape becomes slightly simple with user behavior insights like their interests, buying patterns, and preferences. 

 

Let’s navigate how social media statistics acquired through data analysis are important for marketers today:

 

  • Enables Competitor Performance Tracking

Along with getting insights into your business’s target audience, social media data analysis helps monitor competitor performance as well. You can compare your competitors' follower growth, engagement rates, and content strategies, ultimately leading you to identify the gaps and soar past your competitors in no time. 

 

  • Helps in Devising Better Marketing Strategies

With the use of user behavior data, business organizations can devise better marketing strategies. Marketers can track metrics like impressions, conversions, and reach to identify the performance of various running campaigns. They can also work on new campaigns or make amendments to those not performing well. 

 

  • Helps in Bettering Customer Understanding

Analyzing user behavior on social platforms helps develop a better understanding of customers. Metrics like time spent on posts, engagement rates, click-through rates, etc., help in monitoring customer activities. Companies can develop content and marketing materials that resonate with the target audience. 

 

  • Plays A Role in Bettering Customer Services

Customer service interactions can be seen often on various social media platforms. While some people provide positive feedback for a company’s products/services, some vent out their dissatisfaction. With user behavior stats, businesses can understand the areas that are troubling customers and work on them, further promising better customer services and organic growth. 

Conclusion

Social media analytics has become a powerful weapon for online marketers to extract useful user behavior insights. While user data is available on a whim, getting the right professional to monitor, collect, and assess this information is crucial to leverage it wisely. This is where professionals with degrees like online M.Sc programs specializing in statistics come into the picture. 

 

The best way to keep up with this dynamic sector is consistent upskilling, and candidates with a degree in M.Sc statistics promise a well-evolved set of skills that aligns with the current market’s search for data-driven practices. 


If you find statistics and social media data analysis fascinating, let experts at upGrad Disha guide you in picking the right course with the potential to skyrocket your career!