Google Analytics includes quite a few social reports, but they can be difficult to find and interpret. There are quite a few gotchas that you might not be aware of when using social reports in Google Analytics. I share those in the video, as well as why not all reports are created equal. I share which ones I like and use most and why.
Highlights
Here are some highlights from the video:
- Why I like the social report inside the Channels report (by far) the best
- How it’s similar to the Network Referrals report (under Acquisition > Social) and yet very different
- How the Landing Pages report under Social is different from changing the primary dimension when you drill down to Social in the Channels report
- Why the heck the social reports are missing conversion data
- … Except for the Conversions report, which oddly enough uses Multi-Channel Funnels data (without disclosure … the only report north of the Multi-Channel Funnels reports in the left sidebar that uses MCF data … scandalous)
- The only report where you can get last-click conversion data from social interactions
- How to get the most value from the Multi-Channel Funnels social data
Video
Really good video, I haven’t tried that before. I have so much to learn with Analytics.
Fantastic! Happy to help!
Hi Annie,
Really useful video. I’ve been discussing some of these very issues with some of my more curious clients. Like you I’ve taken the opportunity to reinforce the value of the All Traffic > Channels report over some of the more misleading reports under the Social section. .
This vid has inspired me to go a little deeper into this topic next time around.
Cheers
Dan
Awesome!
Great video! Thanks!
My pleasure! 🙂
This is a great video thank you! II did notice a discrepancy in recent reporting via using channels. If you use your method, you don’t get the full report with Facebook. FaceBook added a new source medium that’s been messing with my 3 monthly reports for the past 3 months because the source medium isn’t getting counted as a social referral for some reason. Please check the source/medium facebook_page / (your facebook page name goes here). Please confirm… the only way to get the actual now is to use the Source/Medium and search Facebook?
Check your source/medium facebook traffic and compare it with your channels, the source/medium number is greater (at least for my google analytics due to that facebook_page source/medium discrepancy).
Thanks really appreciate this! Would love your input on this!!!
Facebook doesn’t send traffic from a medium of ‘facebook_page’. This is the result of bad campaign tagging by either someone in your organization or someone from another site that doesn’t understand that you don’t tag links that point to other sites.
Very helpful video, never get so much into analytics so I didn’t notice the discrepancy.
Fantastic!