Building a Social Media Analytics Dashboard in Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a powerful tool for building dashboards with analytics data. A social media analytics dashboard is important to visualize key performance and overall trends to make decisions on how the reach and engagement are working. In this article, we will build a social media analytics dashboard in Google Sheets.

Step 1: Prepare Your Dataset

You can import your social media data from web analytics in Google Sheets. List all the necessary fields in Google Sheets. To create the social media analytics dashboard, you will need columns like:

• Date,
• Platform,
• Impressions,
• Reach,
• Engagement,
• Likes,
• Comments,
• Shares,
• Click_throughs,
• Engagement Rate.

To Import Social Media Data:

• Go to the File tab >> select Import.

Step 2: Organize Your Data Through Calculations

You can use the Google Sheets functions and formulas to calculate the key performance metrics.

Engagement Rate: Calculate engagement using the Google Sheets formula.

• Select cell J2 and insert the following formula.

Formula:

=(F2+G2+H2)/C2

This formula will calculate the engagement rate from likes,comments, shares, and impressions.

Click-Through Rate (CTR): Calculate CTR using the Google Sheets formula.

• Select cell K2 and insert the following formula.

Formula:

=I2/C2

This formula will calculate the Click-Through Rate (CTR) from impressions and click-throughs.

Step 3: Create a Dashboard to Add Summary Metrics

You can create a new sheet for the dashboard to include all the key metrics and a summary of different social media performances. You can use the QUERY function for platform-specific performance analysis.

Overview Metrics: Total Impressions, Clicks, Likes, Shares, and Comments.

• Select cell B2 and insert the following formula.

Formula:

=QUERY('Raw Data'!A1:K39, 
"SELECT 
SUM(C), SUM(D), SUM(E), SUM(F), SUM(G), SUM(H), SUM(I), AVG(J), AVG(K)
WHERE A is not null 
LABEL SUM(C) 'Total Impressions',
SUM(D) 'Total Reach',
SUM(E) 'Total Engagement',
SUM(F) 'Total Likes',
SUM(G) 'Total Comments',
SUM(H) 'Total Shares',
SUM(I) 'Total Clicks',
AVG(J) 'Avg Engagement Rate',
AVG(K) 'Avg Click Rate'")

This QUERY formula summarizes the overall metrics of the social media dataset within a single formula.

• Aggregations:
  • It calculates totals (SUM) for metrics from columns C to I(e.g., Impressions, Reach, Engagement, Likes, etc)
  • Calculates averages (AVG) for columns J and K (Engagement Rate and Click Rate).
• Condition: Excludes rows where column A (Date) is null.
• Labels: It renames results (e.g., SUM(C) as “Total Impressions” and AVG(J) as “Avg Engagement Rate”).

Platform-Specific Performance: Separate insights for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

• Select cell A6 and insert the following formula.

Formula:

=QUERY('Raw Data'!A1:K39, 
"SELECT B, 
SUM(C), SUM(D), SUM(E), SUM(F), SUM(G), SUM(H), SUM(I),AVG(J), AVG(K)
WHERE A is not null GROUP BY B 
LABEL SUM(C) 'Total Impressions',
SUM(D) 'Total Reach',
SUM(E) 'Total Engagement',
SUM(F) 'Total Likes',
SUM(G) 'Total Comments',
SUM(H) 'Total Shares',
SUM(I) 'Total Clicks',
AVG(J) 'Avg Engagement Rate',
AVG(K) 'Avg CTR Rate'")

This formula returns the summarized report of each platform’s total metrics and average engagement rate.

• Aggregations:
  • Calculates totals (SUM) for metrics from columns C to I (e.g., Impressions, Reach, Engagement).
  • Calculates averages (AVG) for columns J and K (Engagement Rate and CTR Rate).
• Condition: Excludes rows where column A (Date) is null.
• Grouping: Group the results by platform (column B).
• Labels: It renames columns for clarity (e.g., SUM(C) as “Total Impressions,” AVG(K) as “Avg CTR Rate”).

Step 4: Visualize Trends Over Time

You can visualize the trends of likes, clicks, impressions, shares, engagements, etc.

Creating Impression Over Time:

• Select the Date and Impressions columns from the Raw Data sheet.
• Go to the Insert tab >> select Chart.
• In the Chart Editor >> select a Line Chart.

Creating Platforms Engagement Rate:

• Select the Platforms and Engagement Rate columns from the Dashboard sheet.
• Go to the Insert tab >> select Chart.
• In the Chart Editor >> select a Pie Chart.

Creating Platforms Total Impressions:

• Select the Platforms and Total Impressions columns from the Dashboard sheet.
• Go to the Insert tab >> select Chart.
• In the Chart Editor >> select a Bar Chart.

Creating Scorecard:

• Select the Total Impressions columns from the Dashboard sheet.
• Go to the Insert tab >> select Chart.
• In the Chart Editor >> select a Scorecard Chart.

• Repeat this process for metrics such as Total Engagement and Avg CTR.
• Place the charts in the Dashboard sheet.

Step 5: Customize Your Dashboard

• You can use Conditional Formatting to highlight significant metrics.
• Adjust fonts, colors, and borders to make the dashboard visually appealing.
• You can add titles and labels to make the dashboard user-friendly.

Conclusion

By following the above steps, you can create a stunning social media analytics dashboard in Google Sheets. You can track your all-social media KPIs performance, and trends immediately. You can connect or import your social media data to Google Sheets to update the dashboard in real time. Customize this dashboard based on your requirements. Explore Google Sheets’ advanced features to update your dashboard.