How to track social media analytics (best methods)
Whether you’re running your brand’s social media or managing multiple profiles for various clients, these are the best ways to track social media metrics across platforms and channels.
Native platform analytics
Native platform analytics are the analytics that come directly from the platform you’re using. For example, Instagram Insights shows you follower demographics and when your audience is most active, while TikTok Analytics reveals average watch time and traffic source types.
These built-in tools are best for tracking reach, impressions, and basic audience demographics without any extra setup or cost. They’re great for understanding individual platform performance and catching quick wins in your content strategy.
The downside? Native analytics don’t translate across platforms. Comparing Instagram performance to TikTok means jumping between apps and manually piecing together insights. You also can’t track the full customer journey.
For instance, native analytics tools won’t tell you if someone saw your Reel, visited your website, and then made a purchase. Attribution gets murky fast, and metrics definitions vary by platform. What counts as a “view” on YouTube differs from TikTok, making apples-to-apples comparisons nearly impossible without additional tools.
UTM tracking + Google Analytics
UTM parameters are tags you add to URLs that track exactly where your traffic comes from. For example, if you wanted to share a link to a blog post on Instagram, you can add a unique UTM tag to the URL that tells Google Analytics the click came from Instagram.
UTM tracking unlocks powerful cross-platform tracking. You can see which social platforms drive the most website visits, which campaigns convert best, and where people drop off in your funnel. This is a level of attribution native analytics can’t provide.
To analyze this traffic, you’ll need a Google Analytics account. In Google Analytics 4, head to Reports, Acquisition, then Traffic Acquisition to see all your UTM-tagged traffic broken down by source, medium, and campaign.
Pixels for paid social
Pixels are snippets of code you install on your website that track visitor actions after they click your social ads. Built-in business tools like Meta Pixel and TikTok Pixel monitor conversions including purchases, sign-ups, or downloads, then report that data back to the ad platform.
This tracking powers two critical functions: showing you which ads actually drive results (not just clicks), and feeding the algorithm data to optimize ad delivery. When platforms know which audiences convert, they automatically show your ads to more people likely to take action.
From a more technical aspect, marketers should also set up conversion APIs, which send purchase data directly from your server to ad platforms, bypassing browser limitations for more complete tracking. Use these whenever you’re running serious paid campaigns with conversion goals, especially for e-commerce or lead generation. Most platforms recommend using both pixels and conversion APIs together for maximum accuracy and campaign performance.
Dashboards and reporting templates
Whichever social media analytics platform you use, make sure you have a central dashboard to use for analytics and reporting.
Weekly reports should be quick but actionable. Track your key metrics week-over-week to spot trends early. Highlight your top-performing content so you can identify patterns in what’s resonating. Include key metrics such as follower growth, reach, and engagement rate at minimum. Then end with next actions. Keep it to one page for easy scanning.
Use your monthly reports to go deeper. Run a social media audit and track performance month-over-month and to your overall goals. Analyze audience growth quality, not just quantity. Break down your content mix and identify what formats or topics drive the best results. Include competitive benchmarking if possible. The real value comes from insights and recommendations. For example, “Reels drive 3x more saves than static posts, so we plan to shift 60% of content to video.” Reserve space to report on experiments you ran and what you learned, even from failures.
