How to Use Social Media Analytics to Plan Better Genealogy Content
You've found your analytics.
You've stared at the numbers.
You've learned what some of them mean.
Now comes the question that really matters:
What are you supposed to do with all of this information?
Because knowing that a post reached 800 people or received 15 comments isn't particularly helpful if the information stops there.
Analytics become useful when they help you decide what to do next.
And thankfully, that doesn't require a complicated spreadsheet, a monthly report, or hours spent studying graphs.
I want to give you a much simpler process.
Look. Question. Learn. Try Again.
That's it.
Four small steps that can turn a bunch of numbers into something you can actually use.
Let's walk through them.
👀 Step 1: LOOK
Start by looking at what happened.
Choose a period of time, perhaps the past month, and look at the content you've shared.
Which posts stand out?
Don't immediately look for the posts with the most Likes.
Instead, think about what you wanted each post to accomplish.
Maybe you're a family historian who wanted relatives to help identify people in an old photograph.
Perhaps you're a professional genealogist who wanted people to read a new article.
Or maybe you're helping a genealogy society promote an upcoming program.
Success could look very different in each situation.
Look at your content and ask:
What happened after I shared this?
Did people see it?
Did they comment?
Share it?
Save it?
Click something?
Watch the video?
Start a conversation?
You're not judging the results yet.
You're simply noticing them.
❓ Step 2: QUESTION
This is where things get interesting.
You've found a post that stands out.
Now ask:
Why?
Let's say you shared an ancestor photograph and it received considerably more comments than your usual posts.
Don't stop at:
That photograph did really well.
Get curious.
Was it the photograph itself?
Did you tell a story with it?
Did you ask a question?
Did people recognize something in the photograph?
Did it remind followers of photographs in their own collections?
Did one person's comment lead to another person's story?
Analytics can tell you what happened.
Your job is to start thinking about why it might have happened.
And sometimes you won't know.
That's okay.
You don't have to solve the mystery before moving forward.
You simply need an idea worth testing.
💡 Step 3: LEARN
Now turn your observation into a lesson.
Let's stay with our photograph example.
LOOK:
An ancestor photograph received more comments than most of my recent posts.
QUESTION:
Why did people respond?
LEARN:
People weren't only commenting on my photograph. They started talking about photographs in their own family collections.
That's useful.
Your lesson isn't necessarily:
People like old photographs.
That's too broad.
A more useful lesson might be:
My audience enjoys content that gives them an opportunity to connect my family history with their own experiences.
That's something you can actually use.
And the lesson will look different depending on your goal.
A professional genealogist might discover that simple explanations of common research problems generate more website clicks than promotional posts.
A society might discover that questions about members' research generate more conversation than announcements alone.
A family historian might discover that relatives respond to photographs and memories far more often than they respond to screenshots of records.
Those aren't rules for what you should post forever.
They're clues about what you might want to explore further.
🔄 Step 4: TRY AGAIN
This might be the most important step.
Don't simply admire the successful post.
Use what you learned.
If the old photograph sparked conversation, share another photograph.
But don't just copy the original post.
Test your idea.
Maybe this time you intentionally ask:
What does this photograph remind you of from your own family?
Then watch what happens.
Did people respond again?
If they did, you're beginning to see a pattern.
If they didn't, you've learned something else.
Either result gives you another clue.
That's why I like thinking of social media as an experiment rather than a performance.
You're allowed to try something.
You're allowed to change it.
And you're allowed to try again.
Let's Look at Another Example
Imagine you're helping manage social media for a genealogical society.
You post:
Our October meeting is Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Register here.
The post gets very little interaction.
That doesn't automatically mean your audience isn't interested in the program.
Next time, you try something different.
The program is about newspaper research, so a few days before the meeting you post:
What's the most surprising thing you've ever discovered about an ancestor in a newspaper?
People start answering.
Someone found a wedding announcement.
Someone else discovered an arrest.
Another person found an advertisement for their great-grandfather's business.
Now you have a conversation happening around the topic of your upcoming program.
Your next post can naturally say:
If you've ever wondered what else might be hiding in historical newspapers, that's exactly what we're exploring at Tuesday's program.
LOOK:
The question generated more conversation than the announcement.
QUESTION:
Why?
LEARN:
People connected with the subject when they could relate it to their own research.
TRY AGAIN:
Use conversation-starting content before promoting future programs.
You haven't stopped promoting events.
You've learned a potentially better way to lead people toward them.
The Same Idea Works for Professional Genealogists
Let's say you offer professional research services.
You could repeatedly post:
I offer genealogy research services. Contact me to learn more.
There's nothing wrong with telling people what you do.
But your analytics might show that people rarely interact with those posts.
Then you publish something explaining three reasons an ancestor might seem to disappear between census records.
People save it.
They share it.
Several people visit your website.
That's a clue.
It doesn't necessarily mean you should stop talking about your services.
It may mean that showing people how you think and how you solve research problems helps them understand the value of your expertise.
That's very different from simply telling them you're available for hire.
Look.
Question.
Learn.
Try again.
And It Works for Family Historians, Too
You don't need to be selling anything or managing an organization for analytics to be useful.
Maybe your goal is simply to get your family interested in the stories you're uncovering.
You post a detailed explanation of a census record.
Nobody responds.
Then you share a photograph of your great-grandmother and write about the day she left her hometown.
Suddenly, a cousin comments:
I think Mom has another photograph of her.
Another relative remembers a story.
Someone else asks where she lived.
Your analytics may show more engagement, but the real success is what's happening because of the post.
A family conversation has started.
And that conversation might lead to another photograph, another memory, or another piece of the story.
Sometimes the most important result won't fit neatly inside an analytics dashboard.
Don't Let Your Best Ideas Disappear
Here's another reason I want you to develop this habit.
Content creation becomes much easier when you stop assuming every post has to be completely new.
Your past content is giving you ideas all the time.
If people loved a post about occupations, explore another occupation.
If cemetery research tips keep getting saved, teach another one.
If photographs start conversations, bring out another photograph.
If short videos consistently hold people's attention, experiment with another video.
Instead of sitting down every week thinking:
What in the world am I going to post?
You can ask:
What has my audience already shown me they'd like more of?
That one question can simplify your content planning tremendously.
Your Simple Monthly Analytics Habit
You don't have to check your analytics every day.
In fact, I don't recommend becoming obsessed with watching numbers rise and fall.
Try this instead.
Once a month, give yourself 15 minutes.
Look back at what you shared.
Choose three posts that stand out.
Then run each one through our four questions:
👀 LOOK: What happened?
❓ QUESTION: Why might this have happened?
💡 LEARN: What does this potentially tell me about my audience?
🔄 TRY AGAIN: What's one thing I could test next month?
That's enough.
You're no longer collecting numbers just because they're available.
You're using them to make your next decision.
The Simple Shift
We started this month with:
Your analytics aren't a report card. They're clues.
And that's still the lesson I hope you remember most.
The goal isn't to make every arrow green.
It isn't to chase Likes.
It isn't to compare your genealogy society's Facebook Page with an organization that has 50,000 followers.
And it certainly isn't to make social media another complicated job on your list.
The goal is to understand your audience a little better than you did before.
Then use what you've learned.
Look. Question. Learn. Try Again.
Social media doesn't need to be perfect.
It needs to help you connect.
Before You Go...
Take 15 minutes and look at what you shared during September.
Choose your three strongest posts and ask yourself:
What do these have in common?
Then choose one thing you're going to try again in October.
I'd love to know what you discover.
Leave a comment or send me a message and tell me one thing your analytics taught you about your audience this month.
Your answer might be much simpler than you expected.
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