They’re Related, But They’re Not the Same
Like cousins! Siblings are too close. These 3 things all connect, but they aren’t the same, even though they’re often used interchangeably. And honestly, that’s fine! As long as they’re being interpreted and shared differently too, that works. Let’s dive into each really quickly.
Data
This is just information. For us in social, these are numbers, behaviors, and demographic info that we can gather from platforms. That’s it!
Analytics
Here’s where the snowball starts adding layers. This is what you get after you look at your data through a more critical eye. It’s the trends and patterns that exist in your data. For anyone working in social, this is where you tend to go first when looking at data. Nothing wrong with that either!
Insights
If you want to think of this whole thing as a sort of funnel (marketing people love funnels, we can’t get enough of them), this is the very last stage as information moves through your brain. Insights are the value you gain from analytics. It’s the thread you can tie from one piece of info to another. This is where your creative brain takes over—insights are up to your interpretation of the data. Do we always get it right? Nope. But even failure is a new data point upon which we can draw a fresh insight.