Ep 53. Analytics for Introverts: How to know if your marketing is working (without obsessing over likes)

I think most people are measuring the wrong things, and for introverts in particular, measuring the wrong thing is going to result in anxiety and a lot of second-guessing that frankly you don’t need.

So today I want to talk about analytics, which I don’t think I’ve done yet.

I’m going to talk about the numbers I think you should be looking at when you look at your analytics.

Before I do that, if you’re new here, hello and a very warm welcome to Quiet Confidence with myself, Anita Popat. I’m a marketing strategist for introverts who want to get clients online without changing who they are.

So analytics, I promise this isn’t going to feel like a data session!

It’s one of those things you kind of have to look at so you can do more of what’s working and less of what’s not, and I find that my clients fall into one of two camps.

Camp one is the Obsessors, so straight after you’ve posted, you’re checking your engagement, you’re refreshing your screen to see if anyone’s liked it, and you might feel that sudden feeling of, “Oh God, this isn’t good enough,” if something doesn’t perform the way that you hoped. So you’re letting the numbers dictate how you feel about your marketing that week.

Then camp two is the Avoiders. So you’re not looking at your analytics at all. Maybe because they feel overwhelming or you’re scared of what you might find – you’re just posting and hoping for the best.

And honestly, neither of these is serving you, because the ones who are obsessed are measuring the wrong things and then making yourselves miserable over it because you’re making it mean something about you. And the avoiders are just flying blind because you’ve got no idea what’s actually working.

What I want to give you today is a third option – a simple, calm, intentional way of checking in with your numbers without it taking over your headspace or feeling really overwhelming.

[00:01:34] Let’s start with the numbers that feel important, but mostly aren’t.

So likes, comments, reach on a single post, your follower count on any particular day. These are what us marketers call vanity metrics. I’m not saying they don’t mean anything, engagement is still a signal, but they’re the least reliable indicators of whether your marketing is actually working.

And let’s face it, they’re the ones that are most likely to mess with your head too. Because if we think about the secret admirers I’ve talked about in previous episodes, these are the people who consume everything you put out, but they won’t interact with anything.

In my experience, so many of my clients come from this group. They’ve never liked, commented, and basically given me zero signal that they were even there.

But then one day I’ll get a DM or I’ll jump on a call with them and they can literally tell me my content back to me. They’ve been following me for months and they’re ready to buy, but I just didn’t know about it.

So if I was judging the success of my marketing on likes and comments, I would be completely missing that entire group of people. And this group is often your warmest, most ready-to-buy audience. So I want you to keep that in mind when you’re like, “Oh, my content’s doing nothing.”

Trust me, it is. It’s the thing that keeps me going anyway.

So what should you be looking at instead?

[00:02:42] What kind of numbers are actually going to tell you something about your business?

The first thing is profile visits. So when someone discovers your content and then goes straight to your profile, that’s a really good sign. It means something you said was interesting enough to make them find out more. So profile visits tell you that your content is sparking curiosity, which is the first stage of someone moving towards working with you.

The second thing to look at is your follower quality over follower quantity. So are the people following you the right people? This is obviously harder to measure with a number, but you can get a feel for it.

Looking at the people who are following you, are they aligned with the people that you want to work with? Are you getting DMs from the right kind of person? Because you could still be growing followers, but if you’re not attracting the right audience, then they’re not going to convert anyway, so this is another thing that you should keep an eye on.

The third thing, and this is the one I care about the most, is your conversations. So how many DMs are you starting? How many inquiries are coming in? How many people are referencing your content when they reach out to you?

Things like someone saying, “I heard your podcast episode or I saw this piece of content, and it really resonated with me.”

These are the metrics that tell you that your marketing is converting, and you’re not just posting for the sake of it.

And then the fourth thing is the slow burn numbers. So things like podcast downloads growing over time, your email list growing steadily.

These don’t move quickly, and they’re not supposed to. But if they’re consistently trending in the right direction (going up) your marketing is working.

Even when individual posts feel like they’re going into the void, don’t forget to look at the bigger picture. They’re all working together to build that trust bridge, to get someone moving closer to working with you.

[00:04:13] So how can you apply this practically in your business?

What I do, and what I suggest to clients, is to pick one day a month to look at your numbers. I usually do it at the end of the month, but you can do end or beginning.

That just makes sense to me. Not every day, month and then just look at the things I’ve mentioned, like your profile visits, your follower quality, the number of conversations you’re having, your slow burn growth,

Then ask yourself three simple questions, “Are the right people finding me? Are they sticking around? And are any of them taking action?”

Now, even a small action like a DM or replying to an email. If the answer to all three is yes, then your marketing is working. Keep going. Well done.

If one or more of them is off, that’s still useful information. Because it’s giving you some data about where you need to focus on.

For example, if the right people aren’t finding you, look at whether your content is speaking to your sweet spot client clearly enough.

Or if they’re finding you but they’re not sticking around, have a look at your profile and your recent posts and think, “Right, is there a consistent message?

If someone new was following me, would they get who I am from looking at the first nine posts on my Instagram grid?” For example.

Or if they’re sticking around but not taking any action, look at whether you’re making it easy enough for people to take the next step.

And that’s it. I said I’d give you simple, so I hope that’s simple enough.

I guess I want to end by saying that the performance of one post is not how your marketing is doing as a whole.

One quiet week is not a sign that your business is failing. Your marketing is the whole picture. It’s the consistency, the trust you’re building over time, the people watching in the background who are gonna reach out when the time is right.

I want you to zoom out, look at the bigger picture, and trust the process because it is working even though sometimes it might feel like it’s not.

This week, instead of refreshing your notifications, I want you to put a date in your diary for your monthly check-in.

Look at the right numbers, ask yourself the three questions, and then close the app and get on with your life

And that, my friend, is Introvert-friendly marketing in action.

Until next time, keep building your quiet confidence so you can make that loud impact in the world. Speak soon