Florists can wear a lot of hats — marketing maestro, sales driver, artistic lead and mentor, to name a few. It’s okay if social media master doesn’t make the list, because there are plenty of artificial intelligence tools to help you analyze and improve the effectiveness of your social media posts.
We talked with AI guru Nicole Donnelly of AI Smart Marketing and checked out several resources to help analyze and increase social media engagement.
- Understand your audience. AI analytics can tell you not just who your followers are, it can show you their behaviors and preferences, Donnelly says. Tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Buffer offer analytics features that can provide information on follower demographics, engagement metrics, and even sentiment analysis to understand follower behavior and preferences.
- Spot the next big wave. Donnelly suggests using AI tools to track hashtags and viral content to guide your content creation and ensure it is timely and fresh. Try RiteTag, Keyhole, or Hashtagify, both of which analyze hashtag data to make recommendations and track your hashtags’ effectiveness. The platform Trendsmap visually displays trending topics and hashtags on a map, allowing you to see what’s trending in different locations. And Trendspottr uses predictive analytics to identify emerging trends and viral content.
- Get immediate feedback. Business owners certainly don’t have time to monitor various social platforms to see whether users are mentioning their business or products‚ but AI can, Donnelly says. Tools like Brandwatch and BrandMentions alert you to mentions of your brand, products, or keywords. They also analyze these mentions to identify trends, sentiment, and preferences among your followers and the wider social media audience.
Even with those tools, Donnelly suggests taking your social efforts a step further to understand followers’ preferences. Tailor minor elements in your posts (perhaps to reach a different audience) and use AI to track which post performs better.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the senior director of content and communications for the Society of American Florists.
