Social Media Analytics Case Studies

This guide covers 3 real-world social media analytics case studies featuring SproutSocial, Plaid, and Extradom.pl. See how these companies used social media analytics to boost engagement, improve customer care, and grow their brands. 

Ever wondered how some businesses seem to know exactly what their customers want and show up with the right message at the right time? That’s because they turn social media data into actionable strategies. Social media analytics help you shift from guesswork to strategic decision-making. 

Read on to learn how to replicate the strategies used in these social media analytics examples to achieve your business goals.

#1: SproutSocial decreased customer support response time by 55%

To decrease SproutSocial’s support response time, the company reviewed the performance of its customer support team. From the data obtained, they spotted gaps and ways to improve its support process. They also used their own tool, SproutSocial, for monitoring and analytics.

SproutSocial rolled out a pilot program based on a new customer care strategy, and here were the results:

• A 55% decrease in response time
• A 37% increase in tag rate
• 36,000 messages handled in 2023

SproutSocial is a global company that provides social media management solutions. Its services include publishing and engagement support, AI-powered business intelligence, and customer care. SproutSocial’s mission is to offer the best kind of support to its customers. So, it uses insights from its social media management platforms to make data-driven decisions.

Let’s look at how SproutSocial used social media analytics to improve its customer care and support.

SproutSocial’s social media analytics process

SproutSocial’s social media analytics process involves analyzing customer service reports, making data-driven decisions from the insights gathered, and tracking progress.

SproutSocial reviews its social media management system regularly. Their team also prepares a customer service report at the end of each review. This data helps the decision-makers identify areas of improvement and what to double down on.

Here are the steps SproutSocial took to improve its customer service and support between 2022 and 2023:

Step 1: Analyze the customer service report

SproutSocial’s team analyzed their 2022 Inbox Activity Report. It provided an overview of their customer support performance. 

The team drew the following insights from the report:

• There was a gap in how the customer support team offered support during targeted customer support hours.
• The customer service agents weren’t tagging the social team correctly. So, it was difficult to organize and track customer messages.
• There was a need to reduce the average response time.
• There was an opportunity to increase SproutSocial’s after-hours social coverage.
• SproutSocial’s customer support team, which was spread across Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, needed training on how to offer personalized support.

Step 2: Make data-driven decisions from report insights

SproutSocial’s team resolved to bridge the gap between customers’ needs and customer service (and support).

Their key objectives were:

• To decrease response times
• To increase the tag (mention) rate
• To streamline the transfer of messages from customer support to the social media team

“Our aim is to meet customers in the moment, wherever they’re at, and say, “Here is what you need.” We want our customers to feel heard and taken care of.” Christina Nelson, Program Manager of SproutSocial’s Customer Support

To achieve these objectives, the customer support team needed to collaborate with the social media team. They formed a pilot group (the Tiger team), consisting of customer support agents and social team members. This team created strategies to improve SproutSocial’s social care and support. 

First, they would train the customer support agents to offer personalized support. Then, the agents would receive guidance on how to tag the social team, ensuring a smooth handoff in customer messages.

Next, they would adjust SproutSocial’s after-hours coverage. The Inbox Activity Report showed when the customer support team’s response time was highest. So, by relying on this data, the agents would tag the social team on time-sensitive customer messages to quicken responses.

Step 3: Execute your strategies accordingly

To execute the strategies, the Tiger team agents received training on how to use Sprout’s Smart Inbox feature. They dedicated a few hours of their targeted support hours to respond to customer messages. They also tagged the social team and effectively communicated the expected solutions.

The team used Automated Rules in the Smart Inbox that marked important, urgent messages. By doing so, the agents would spot messages that mattered most and address them within the shortest time possible.

Step 4: Track your progress

The Tiger team tracked their progress after rolling out the pilot program. They observed improvements in customer service and support.

• Between December 2022 and March 2023, the tag rate increased by 37%.
• The response time during targeted hours decreased by 55%.
• After an audit, the team created a tagging resource that customer support agents would use as a reference in the future.

The pilot program was successful, so the team turned it into a permanent process. They would also review it continuously to identify new ways to expand the social support coverage.

Plus, they collaborated with Sprout’s Professional Services staff to create a Saved Responses Repository. That way, customer support agents had a reference point, helping them customize responses depending on the specific requests.

Ultimately, the success of this pilot program became a blueprint that other teams could replicate. It would help them improve their training, workflows, and guidelines to offer better service to SproutSocial’s customers worldwide.

Key takeaways

Below are the key lessons I learned from SproutSocial’s social media analytics case study:

• Analyze your social media performance regularly. You’ll gather helpful insights from social media reports, helping you make smart and data-driven decisions.
• Look for patterns or trends in your report. Patterns like shifts in customer behavior help you understand their needs and how to serve them better.
• Set clear goals based on insights gathered. For example, have SMART goals like ‘to offer more personalized support in the next 3 months’ to improve your customer service.
• Make room for collaboration. Identify different teams in your company that can collaborate to improve business. A good example is when the production and sales teams partner in product development. The sales team gathers customer insights using surveys, reviews, and CRM tools. Then, it shares this information with the production team to improve existing products.
• Track your progress and adjust your strategy accordingly. A regular review of your performance will help you know what’s working (and what’s not). That way, you’ll know what to improve and what to double on.

#2: Plaid grew its audience on LinkedIn by 60% in one year

Plaid used a social media analytics and management tool (SproutSocial) to grow its LinkedIn audience.

After a year of using this tool, Plaid got the following results:

• A 60% LinkedIn audience growth in 2023 
• A 73% YoY (year-over-year) growth in engagement rate per impression
• 62K YoY follower growth
• 20 hours saved on social media management

Plaid, a San Francisco-based company, helps large banks, Fintech partners, and Fortune 500 brands link their financial accounts to their fintech services. It has built over 8K digital financial services and worked with over 12K financial institutions.

Plaid has disrupted the market and has reached a reasonable customer base. But the company still faces a major challenge. Most of its potential customers don’t understand its services and how it works. 

To overcome this challenge, Plaid identified social media (mostly LinkedIn) as a viable platform to reach its target audience and educate them on how open banking works. Plaid’s Social Media Lead used SproutSocial to achieve this goal.

We’ll cover more details on Plaid’s social media analytics process and takeaways below.

Plaid’s social media analytics process

Plaid’s social media analytics process started with identifying the company’s pressing challenge. Matthew McConnell, Plaid’s Social Media Lead, spotted a gap in how customers understood its solutions. For instance, most financial institutions didn’t know how Plaid secured data using data transfer networks. 

With that in mind, McConnell came up with a strategy to resolve this problem.

He would use LinkedIn to reach out to and educate fintechs and large banks. McConnell sought a social media management tool to help him track his LinkedIn efforts and increase customer engagement.

With the strategy in place, Matthew McConnell followed these steps to reach more brands on LinkedIn:

• He created and shared educational content on Plaid’s LinkedIn page. For example, he shared helpful tips to help developers improve their apps and services.

• McConnell used SproutSocial to track KPIs (key performance indicators) that measure brand awareness, advocacy, and consideration.
• He also used the SMM tool to track the performance of Plaid’s LinkedIn content. 
• McConnell generated reports showing the performance of metrics like reach, lead generation, and click-through rates.
• He shared these reports with the broader team, which analyzes the data and uses the insights to power their decisions.
• McConnell used the insights gathered to adjust his LinkedIn strategy and grow Plaid’s LinkedIn community. For instance, he used insights from SproutSocial’s Listening feature to understand customer sentiments and spot trends.

Key takeaways

Here are the takeaways I got from Plaid’s social media case study example:

• Set clear social media goals. Align your social media goals with your business objectives. For instance, improve engagement with your social media audience by 10% in 3 months to nurture them into customers. 
• Pick the right platforms. Find out where your target audience frequently hangs out and follow them there. For example, Plaid’s Social Media Lead identified LinkedIn as a favorite platform for fintechs and banks. 
• Create a strategy to engage your audience. One of the best social media strategies is educating to connect. Here, you educate your customers using simple, clear posts to help them understand your business.
• Track the right metrics and KPIs. The metrics and KPIs to track depend on your social media goals. For example, to measure brand awareness, monitor your reach, mentions, or impressions. Use a reliable social media analytics tool to choose keywords (and hashtags) to track. An ideal tool also offers actionable insights and recommendations to help you improve your strategy.
• Use insights to adjust your strategy. Social media analytics offers helpful insights into your performance. For example, content performance reports show what post types your audience loves (and vice versa). Use such insights to adjust your content strategy.

#3: Extradom.pl used social media analytics for crisis management

Extradom.pl’s social media specialist used social media analytics to spot and manage a crisis. She had been relying on Brand24, a social media monitoring and analytics tool, to monitor the company’s social profiles.

Extradom.pl’s social media team has also used Brand24 to track over 170,000 mentions on social media. 

Extradom, a Polish company, guides homeowners in choosing and buying house design plans. It also provides architectural consultation and construction services. Extradom.pl owns a social media network of over 500K community members.

This community has a high engagement rate because that’s where potential home owners share their building and home-purchasing challenges. Exradom.pl, on the other hand, creates educational content that addresses their pain points.

Extradom.pl’s social media team has been using various tools to manage the company’s social profiles. But recently, they noticed a surge in engagement among the company members. So the team turned to Brand24 for brand monitoring and analytics. 

We’ll get into more details on Extradom.pl’s social media analytics process below.

Extradom.pl’s social media analytics process

Extradom.pl’s social media analytics process involves brand monitoring, analytics, and reporting. Klaudia Klebon, a social media specialist at Extradom.pl, uses Brand24 to monitor the company’s social media channels.

Let’s follow her social media analytics process below:

1. Set up keywords to track brand mentions. Klaudia uses relevant keywords, like Extradom, to track mentions of the company’s name in social media conversations. 

2. Review brand mentions regularly. Klaudia regularly checks Extradom’s Brand24 dashboard for brand mentions. Some of the key metrics she measures include total social media mentions, estimated social media reach, and social media interactions.

She also uses Brand24’s filter feature to sift out her results. She focuses on Facebook and Instagram mentions because that’s where Extradom’s social media community is.

3. Translate insights into action. Klaudia Klebon uses the insights the tool gives in strategic planning, content creation, and scheduling. For instance, in 2022, she was notified of a negative comment on Extradom.pl’s Facebook page. Klaudia quickly responded to this comment and controlled the situation.

During a routine check later in the day, Klaudia noted that the same user had spammed other Facebook pages with the same comment. Brand24 helped her spot this unusual surge in negative comments and take action to prevent a crisis.

Since then, the social media team has been using Brand24’s social listening tool to monitor conversations, understand customers’ sentiments, and prevent crises.

4. Use reports in decision-making. Klaudia and the broader social media team generate quarterly reports using Brand24. They share these reports with the rest of the Digital Marketing team and the Product teams. 

The insights in these reports help the teams spot gaps and opportunities to improve communication and product development. They also study and compare trends to measure their performance in different quarters.

Key takeaways

Here are the takeaways from Extradom.pl’s social media analytics example:

• Track brand mentions continuously. Use a social media monitoring tool to track relevant keywords of your brand online. This tool will notify you whenever your brand’s name appears in people’s conversations, posts, or reviews. Plus, you’ll get quick alerts when there’s an unusual spike in brand mentions.
• Brand monitoring is a great way to protect a brand’s reputation. Regular tracking of brand mentions keeps you on top of what people say about your brand. The quick alerts also help you respond to any issues that may affect your brand’s reputation. For instance, a surge in negative reviews can escalate into a crisis when you don’t act fast.
• Analyze people’s conversations to understand their sentiments and perceptions. Use features like social listening and sentiment analysis to analyze tone and sentiments in comments, posts, and reviews. For example, a dissatisfied customer will post a negative comment about your brand’s products or services. 
• Use social media analytics to power your decisions. Translate insights into action. For instance, Extradom.pl used insights into their audience’s social media engagement to create their content strategy. They realized that potential customers had challenges selecting and buying home design plans. So, they shared helpful content to educate them.
• Share reports to align teams. Generate shareable reports using a social media analytics tool and share them with the right people. For example, you can create monthly or quarterly reports to show how your social media efforts influence your company’s sales. Then, share this with the sales/marketing and production teams to guide marketing and production improvements.