What happened when I tracked my own data

I’ve decided to practice what I preach. I’m using my own data to tell my story.

My LinkedIn story.

If you also post on LinkedIn regularly, you may have also been confused recently by algorithm changes and inconsistent engagement and a whole process I have been trying to understand but really don’t.

So a month or so ago, I decided to use my tools and track the data of my LinkedIn posts and resulting engagement.

I wanted to see if I could identify some patterns or clues into what gets LinkedIn to show your post to more people and to have those people engage with your content.

Naturally, I made myself a spreadsheet I tracked the date I posted, whether I tagged people or organizations, if I used hashtags, when I added photos, and then entered the analytics information I could find on my LinkedIn account.

When I was done, I was reminded why data tracking can often be tricky!

Here’s an example: I planned to track what time of day I posted, but this wasn’t something I tracked in real time. I was relying on LinkedIn’s data for this, and I couldn’t find that information anywhere on my account or posts.

I went in with good intentions, since I’ve read that time of day matters for social media posting, but the information just wasn’t available for me to track.

And here’s the other honest truth: my results were inconclusive.

I didn’t see a clear pattern of particular factors affecting the engagement I was getting.

This was, of course, a little frustrating.

I took the time to track my data, and I didn’t end up with any new insights as a result.

That happens sometimes!

But now I have the framework in place to keep tracking, and I can make some adjustments, like entering the time I post something when I post it instead of relying on other sources of data.

And maybe I just need to track my data for a little longer to find a pattern.

Either way, it was a good exercise (albeit a humbling one) for practicing what I preach and keeping my data tracking skills up to speed.

Ready to engage with your data?

Let me help you get started.

This free spreadsheet template will guide you through reflecting on the data you have and the data you need to start telling your story.