Leveraging data analytics can be extremely beneficial for social media strategies.
For teams navigating its complexities, data not only illuminates audience preferences but also inspires innovative content development.
Explore the nuances of refining targeting strategies with Jason Kempen, Assistant Director for Social Media at the Australian Digital Health Agency.
Jason Kempen is a speaker for the upcoming 19th Annual Social Media for Gov.
How do you approach refining targeting strategies using data analytics at the Australian Digital Health Agency?
Refining targeting strategies using data analytics is all about continuously collecting, analysing, and interpreting data to make smart decisions. First, we gather data from different sources like social media platforms, website analytics, and customer feedback. This helps us understand our audience’s behaviour, preferences, and engagement patterns.
By analysing this data, we can spot key audience segments and figure out what kind of content they like. It’s also crucial to experiment with different styles and formats of content to see what clicks. This could mean A/B testing different messages, visuals, or posting times.
By regularly checking performance metrics like engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversion data, we get a clear picture of what’s working and what needs tweaking.
This approach has led to some new content development such as deep-dives into specific topics with longer form newsletters, mini-podcasts highlighting topical events, and carousel-style posts integrated into our social media schedule.
Benchmarking ourselves to similar organisations also gives us valuable insights. By seeing how others are doing, we can pick up on successful strategies and use them in our own approach.
In the end, the key to refining targeting strategies is to stay flexible and keep using data to guide our decisions and improve our targeting efforts.
What tools or platforms do you rely on to gather and analyse audience data? Can you provide an example of how data analytics has helped you identify a specific audience segment that improved the effectiveness of your content?
We utilise a mix of tools to collect and analyse audience data, helping us address or monitor immediate issues and guide strategic initiatives. Pulsar and Hootsuite are great for social media listening, providing large datasets to spot trends and sentiment.
LinkedIn Analytics is also key for us, providing accurate and free insights directly from the platform. This has helped us identify key audience segments, like discovering that most of our audience is in the healthcare industry, with 70% in senior roles and many based in Sydney.
This was invaluable for boosting registration for our 2023 Clinical Governance Summit held in Sydney, achieving 95% of our target through LinkedIn alone.
We also use Google Analytics to track website performance and user behaviour, aligning our social media insights with web traffic patterns. Benchmarking against similar organisations using LinkedIn data helps us adopt successful strategies and strengthen our targeting approach.
By leveraging these tools, our communication strategy remains flexible and data-driven, keeping us in tune with changing audience behaviours and preferences.
What steps do you take to keep your targeting strategies relevant as audience behaviours and preferences evolve? Have data analytics ever revealed unexpected insights that prompted a shift in your approach?
It seems like the social media algorithms are always changing. To keep our targeting strategies relevant there are a few things we do:
- Regularly monitor KPIs and audience metrics using tools like Google Analytics and social media insights. This helps in identifying any shifts early on.
- Ongoing feedback mechanisms such as surveys, polls and direct customer feedback to gather real-time insights.
- Conduct A/B tests to determine which content and strategies perform best.
- Stay updated with industry trends and competitor analysis.
- Use data to create personalised experiences for different audience segments. This can include tailored content on user behaviour and preferences.
- Adopt an agile approach for quick adjustments and iterations.
A/B testing showed our LinkedIn carousel posts outperformed static ones, with more time spent on posts and higher engagement through likes, comments, and shares. Surprisingly effective for a time-poor audience, carousels work particularly well because it allows us to present detailed information in a more digestible and engaging way.
Healthcare professionals often look for in-depth, informative content that can provide value to their work. Carousel posts enable us to break down complex information into smaller, more manageable pieces, making it easier for our audience to absorb and interact with the content.
Read also: Holly Bennett on navigating creativity within copyright boundaries
When experimenting with new platforms, how do you balance this with the need to maintain a strong presence on established ones?
We don’t experiment with new platforms any longer. We recognised that we don’t need to be all things to all people. With a small team, we decided to concentrate on doing a few things exceptionally well rather than spreading ourselves too thin.
Previously, we used numerous platforms without a focused audience or content strategy, believing we needed to be on all platforms to reach everyone. Three years ago, we reviewed our approach due to limited resources and lack of strategic direction, which helped us streamline our platforms and create a more targeted strategy.
We set clear objectives and focused our efforts on fewer, more impactful platforms. This strategic shift has yielded significant results, with improved engagement, metrics and more effective communication. By maintaining this clear focus, we ensure that everyone in the agency is aligned and working towards the same goals.
How do you ensure that your content remains authentic and engaging, despite being heavily data-driven?
To maintain authenticity and engagement we humanise data by using storytelling, case studies, and testimonials to make it relatable and impactful. We adopt an audience-centric approach by tailoring content based on audience insights and actively incorporating feedback.
We enhance visual appeal through infographics, visuals, and multimedia content to make information digestible and engaging. We maintain an authentic voice by being consistent, transparent, and aligning with our brand values. We also experiment with various content formats and interactive elements to keep the content fresh.
Additionally, we produce video content and run a series called Digital Bytes, which focuses on delivering bite-sized, engaging, and informative content to our audience, often featuring healthcare professionals from within the Agency or other prominent organisations.
Just because content is backed by data, doesn’t mean it still can’t resonate or being engaging. In fact, it’s just the opposite. By unpacking the data, we’re able to understand our audience, and then create content that they want to engage with.
Adrianne Saplagio is a Content Producer at Comms Room, where she combines her passion for storytelling with her expertise in multimedia content creation. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for engaging audiences, Adrianne has been instrumental in crafting compelling narratives that resonate across various digital platforms.