By Alyssa Gregory
This post is sponsored by Staples, but is in my own words and based on my experience with the Staples Quick Wins app.
If you are promoting your small business through social media, you know that it can often be a case of trial and error until you find the best ways to connect with your audience. You know that what works on one platform may not work on another. And you have certainly heard that tracking and analyzing your metrics is vital for figuring out what to do next when you’re building a highly engaged social audience.
So you take a peek at your Facebook Insights (Your page likes are growing, but slowly…), then you check in on your Twitter Analytics (Wow! That tweet had a lot of impressions!), and you probably also have a Google Analytics account, so you scroll those the pages there, hoping something will jump out at you (It doesn’t and you close out the tab feeling moderately frustrated.).
I’ve been there and know how challenging it can be to not only gather relevant metrics, but more importantly, to know what to do with the data when you have it. There are a number of tools that can help give some meaning to the numbers. I’m always looking for ways to streamline analytics, so when the folks from Staples asked me to test and review their new Quick Wins app, I was in. Here is a look at four ways small business owners can use the Quick Wins app to improve their social strategies.
Metrics Dashboard
Quick Wins allows you to pull in data from a number of sources — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Analytics, Shopify, and even QuickBooks (YouTube, Vimeo, Google+ and Yelp! integration is on the way!). The app measures your engagement scores, sales and site traffic and provides a summary that is refreshed with new metrics analysis every day.
Personalized Business Improvement Ideas
So you have all of your metrics in one place, which is awesome, but this feature of the app is what makes it truly useful — you get personalized improvement ideas for each of your metrics. Tips come from small business experts and your business peers, offering up actionable ideas like how to leverage your competitors’ followers, running social ads, and using videos to engage your audience.
Small Business Community
The Community section of the app gives you a place to connect with other small business owners to get advice and share your own expertise. The app is new, so there are not a ton of conversations happening yet, but as more small business owners join, I can see this community becoming one of your go-to places for small business help.
Mobile Access
Many metrics platforms are desktop-based, requiring that you are on your computer to access your data. This is why I loved that the Quick Wins app is both a smartphone app that allows you access your metrics and community from anywhere, and is also accessible online from your computer so you can view your dashboard and ideas on the big screen, too.
Learn more about the Staples Quick Wins app and sign up for your free account here: https://staplesquickwins.com.
