Social media analytics: four reports worth setting up

Which social media reports are worth setting up?

Four are enough for most teams: a weekly check-in, campaign tags, a monthly review and a short summary you can share. Each one is small, and each leads to a decision.

Most teams have dashboards nobody opens. The aim here is the opposite: a few reports that you will really read, because each one answers a question you care about.

What is a weekly check-in?

A weekly check-in takes five minutes. You look at how many posts went out, how followers moved and how engagement compares with the week before. It is not for deep analysis. It is to catch problems early, such as a drop after a change of format or a gap in your calendar.

Keep it to the same few numbers each time, so that the changes stand out. Write one line about what you notice, such as “reach is down, no Reels this week”.

What are campaign tags?

Campaign tags are labels you add to posts that belong to a launch, a theme or an experiment. Later you filter your results by label, so you can answer questions like “how did launch week compare with a normal week?”.

Plan your labels before you start. Use short, consistent names, such as the campaign and the month, and write them down so that everyone uses the same ones. Messy labels make the report useless.

What goes into a monthly review?

The monthly review is where you learn. Once a month, list your best and worst posts for each network and ask what they had in common: topic, format, time and first line.

• Look at the goal and metric for each network. Are you on track?
• Name the top three and bottom three posts.
• Read the comments for what people ask.
• Choose one thing to do more of and one to stop.
• Write next month’s themes and fill the calendar.

How do you make a report people will read?

Someone else may need the story too: a client, a manager or a co-founder. Give them a short summary, not a spreadsheet. Lead with the headline in one sentence, show a few charts or numbers, and finish with what you will do next.

Explain each number in plain words, since not everyone knows what reach or engagement rate means. A short note on why a number moved is worth more than ten extra charts.

Which metrics should each report include?

Choose metrics tied to your goals. For awareness, use reach and follower growth. For community, use replies and shares. For learning, use saves and watch time. For sales, use clicks and sign-ups.

Keep the same set from month to month, so you can compare. Add a new metric only when it answers a real question.

How do you avoid common reporting mistakes?

• Reporting everything, so nothing stands out.
• Comparing numbers across networks that measure different things.
• Looking at single posts instead of patterns.
• Skipping the next step, so the report changes nothing.
• Changing the format each month, so you cannot compare.

How can AI help with reporting?

Numbers need interpretation. With Content Postiz connected to your AI app, you can ask for a summary of last week’s performance and what to try next, then schedule the posts that follow. The assistant can also point out when the data is too thin to draw a conclusion.

Treat its answer as a second opinion. You know your audience and goals, and the numbers are only part of the picture.

What should a weekly check-in include?

Keep it to a short, fixed list so it stays quick. Each week, write down the number of posts published, the change in followers, the total reach and the engagement rate. Add one line on the best post and one on anything unusual, such as a holiday or a technical problem.

Put the numbers in the same place every week, such as a simple table with one row per week. After a month you will see a trend without any extra work, and you will notice when something changes.

The check-in is not the time to change your plan. It is the time to ask whether anything looks wrong. If it does, note it, and look closer in the monthly review.

How do you set up campaign tags step by step?

First, decide what deserves a tag. Launches, seasonal campaigns and experiments are good candidates. Everyday posts can share one general tag or none at all.

Second, choose short, clear names and write them in a shared list, such as “spring-launch” or “thread-test”. Agree the format, including capital letters and dashes, so the same campaign never has two spellings.

Third, add the tag when you schedule each post, not afterwards, since it is easy to forget. When the campaign ends, filter your results by the tag and compare reach, engagement and clicks with a normal period.

What does a worked monthly review look like?

Imagine a small software company reviewing its LinkedIn and X accounts. On LinkedIn, the goal was more visits to the pricing page. They list the twelve posts from the month with their clicks. Three how-to posts brought most of the visits, while two opinion posts with many likes brought almost none.

On X, the goal was more conversation. Their threads earned the most replies, and posts with a link in the main text earned the fewest impressions.

They decide to write more LinkedIn how-tos, keep one opinion post a month for conversation, move links on X into the last post of a thread and test the change next month. Each decision follows from a number they can point to.

What should you share with a client or manager?

Share a one-page summary in plain words. Start with a headline sentence, such as “Reach grew and clicks held steady”. Then show the three or four numbers they care about, the best three posts with a line on why each worked and the plan for next month.

Leave out anything that does not lead to a decision. If a number is not tied to a goal, it is probably noise. Offer the full data on request, so they know it is there.

Agree in advance which numbers matter, so the report speaks to their goals instead of whatever is easiest to count.

How do you know which report to drop?

If a report has not changed a decision in two or three months, drop it or simplify it. A report that nobody reads is a cost, and the time is better spent making a post.

Keep the weekly check-in and the monthly review as your core, and treat campaign tags and shareable summaries as tools you use when a campaign or a stakeholder needs them.

Frequently asked questions