How to use data in social strategy

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How to use data in social strategy:

When I was working at YouVersion one of the things that the team said a lot was "data has a seat at the table."

I loved that phrase.

It's not "data makes all the decisions."

But it's also not "data has no place in the organization."

Data has a seat at the table.

Here's a "data has a seat at the table" approach to social media strategy.

Super easy to get overwhelmed by analytics.

Here's an easy way to simplify it:

1. Choose the data source

In platform analytics? Third-party tool? Pick one and stick to it.

2. Choose what data to measure:

- Day of week

- Time of day

- Content type (text, video, image)

- Content theme

- Anything you want to track and report on over time

3. Determine data's role

Another thing that leadership liked to say at my previous role was "pre-decide."

In other words, decide now how you will decide then.

Answer questions like:

- How much data do you need to make a decision?

- How often will you review and adjust?

If content type A underperforms content type B by 78% after 8 weeks, but the boss LOVES content type A, there might be a pressure to stick to something that's not working.

Pre-decide. Decide now how you will decide then.

Data informs decisions, but it doesn't make them.

Bonus tip:

Don't let short-term fluctuations derail long-term strategy.

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Hope that helps!