Tracking Social Media Data With Google Analytics

Google Analytics tracks social media data for critical user analytics metrics. This is how it is done.

Ashley Stander
By Ashley Stander
Romi Hector
Reviewed by Romi Hector

Published May 25, 2022.

Google Analytics is one of the most popular analytics tools available today, and yes, it is free. Not only does it help you track your customer’s behavior, but it also helps you to analyze critical user analytics metrics that can tell you which content your customers are responding to most. Many people don’t realize that Google Analytics, if used correctly, can play a major role in boosting a company’s bottom line. Getting into the mind of your customer will give you valuable insights into their needs and preferences, which could result in more sales and growth.

How Google Analytics Tracks Activities on Social Media

Google Analytics has several standard reporting methods that are given to you in the form of reports. To find these reports, simply follow these two easy steps:

Step 1: Go to "Analytics" and select "Reporting."

Step 2: Choose "Acquisition" and then click on "Social."

These are some of the different types of reports you’ll be able to get access to:

  • Overview report This report will give you the conversion value that you are generating from your social media posts.
  • Social data report This report lets you see how many users are interacting with your content or even sharing your content off-site.
  • Trackbacks report This report tells you when your content is shared, who is sharing your content, and the context that they share it in.
  • User’s flow report This report provides a map of your users’ movements and interactions, also known as their journey.
  • Conversions report This report tells you how many users have converted from visitor to customer when a purchase was finalized successfully to optimize e-commerce conversions. You’ll need to set up your goals for this report.
  • Plugins report This report tells you when your customers have tweeted or liked your posts.
  • Landing pages report This report provides you with engagement metrics for every URL. This applies to sessions that originate from social networks.