Diana Podaski, Linear Retail Properties

Creating social media, measuring social media and reporting on social media are not easy tasks but they are tasks every business must do. With all the posts, reviews, hashtags, links and likes it’s clearly difficult to decide which stats to report back to management, especially when everyone now-a-days seems to have “digital adult ADD” (yes, I’m coining this). It’s important to understand your audience and figure out what your CEO cares about. You may want to share all insights you’ve gathered but you must narrow it down to a quick and easy-to-read snapshot.

Here’s how:

At the ICSC MOCIAL (Mobile, Social, Local) Conference earlier this month, I was able to hear insights from Erin Dwyer, senior VP of global economics and social media of Haven Beauty, on social reporting, whom introduced the idea of a social media report card to me. Erin suggested one horizontal sheet that includes four main categories:

1. Your top 3 posts/content performers

2. Key metrics

3. Recent social media news

4. 3 things to know

….genius! With this methodology, you can report metrics but also inform management of social happenings to be aware of. Erin suggests a weekly report but depending on your social media response you may want to report bi-weekly.

To give you a clearer idea of specific content to include in your report card, here are some examples:

1. Your top 3 posts – Look at your individual social media account insights tabs and see which posts have the most engagement. Take a screen shot of the top 3 and add them to the report card. Over time, this will help you recognize what type of content your audience likes best (photos, videos, vines, links etc.)

2. Key metrics – If you’ve had a boost in followers, be sure to report on it. For example, “6% increase in followers this week.”

3. Recent social media news – Search social media news sites to learn what’s new. This will keep you ahead of the game. For example, “Instagram launches ‘Instagram Stories,’ similar to Snapchat.”

4. Things to know – One example here could be, “We are launching a LinkedIn campaign under x group to assist in leasing x property.”

Committing to a social media report card will keep you focused on your goals and help you modify content and your time as needed.

Social media fun fact: There are no federal laws regulating facial recognition technology. (Source: Mashable).

Diana Podaski is VP - marketing and social media at Linear Retail Properties, Burlington, Mass.