The Numbers Are Telling You Something
Recently, EXPMG had the opportunity to sit down with the Destination Calloway team and walk through the results of their digital marketing.
We looked at email marketing, social media performance and website traffic, comparing where things stood a year ago with the growth seen from July through September of this year, the period since our partnership began.
Seeing those numbers together made the progress much easier to understand.
We could show growth across multiple channels, but more importantly, we could talk about what those numbers meant and what they told us to do next.
That is the part of analytics that often gets overlooked.
A monthly report is not very useful if all you do is look at a number, say “that went up” and move on. Analytics should help you understand what your audience responds to, where people are finding you and which parts of your marketing deserve more attention.
What Are You Actually Measuring
Opening a social media analytics dashboard can feel like learning another language. Reach, views, engagement, clicks and follower growth all sound similar, but they tell you different things.
Reach tells you how many individual accounts saw your content. It is especially useful when you are looking at brand awareness and how far your content is traveling.
Views or impressions show how many times content was seen or displayed. One person can account for multiple views, so this number can help show how often people are encountering your content.
Engagement includes actions like likes, comments, shares and saves. It helps show which content people cared enough about to interact with instead of simply scrolling past.
Clicks tell you when someone takes the next step, such as visiting your website, reading an article or learning more about a product or service.
Follower growth helps track whether your audience is expanding, but it should always be considered alongside the quality of that audience and how actively they engage.
None of these numbers should be judged on their own.
A post with lower reach but a high number of clicks may be doing exactly what it was meant to do. Another post may have fewer interactions but introduce your brand to thousands of new people.
The goal determines which number matters most.
Analytics Are The Real Influencer
The biggest reason to monitor analytics is simple: they help you decide what comes next.
You may notice that certain videos consistently reach more people. Maybe educational posts earn more saves; maybe posts that show people receive more engagement than graphics.
Those patterns should influence future content.
The same is true beyond social media.
Your website can be one of the best indicators of what your audience is already interested in. The pages receiving the most visits often reflect the topics people are searching for, researching or actively considering. (Those interests can carry directly into social media.)
If a certain type of article, reservation, destination page or resource consistently receives strong traffic, that can be a sign that your audience wants more information around that subject. Instead of guessing what to post about next, you already have data pointing you in a useful direction.
Email analytics offer another layer. Open rates can help you understand which subject lines grab attention, while clicks can show which stories, offers or topics are compelling enough to make someone want more.
The real value comes when you stop looking at each platform separately.
Social media may introduce someone to your business. Your website can answer their questions. Email can keep your brand in front of them until they are ready to make a decision.
Analytics help you understand how those pieces are working together.
Creativity Still Comes First
Monitoring analytics does not mean every marketing decision needs to be dictated by a spreadsheet.
There should always be room to experiment.
Some of the strongest content can come from trying something completely new, taking a different approach or following an idea that does not have historical data behind it yet.
The difference is that once you try it, you pay attention to what happens.
Did people see it? Did they engage with it? Did they click?
Those answers give you something to build from.
Analytics do not replace creativity. They keep you from creating in the dark.
They help you understand what your audience is already telling you, identify opportunities you may have missed, and make smarter decisions about where to put your time and energy next.
You are already getting feedback every time you post, send an email or bring someone to your website-you just have to know what you’re looking for!
