Social Media Analytics

On This Page

• C12.1  Project Overview
• C12.2  Business Problem
• C12.3  Dataset Description
• C12.4  Objectives
• C12.5  Step-by-Step Solution
• C12.6  Complete Python Code
• C12.7  Expected Output
• C12.8  Visualizations
• C12.9  Key Insights
• C12.10  Business Recommendations

Capstone Project 12: Social Media Analytics

C12.1  Project Overview

This project analyzes engagement rates across multiple social platforms and tracks subscriber growth over time — directly relevant to growing a personal brand like the Samantus YouTube channel.

C12.2  Business Problem

A content creator posts across 5 platforms and wants to know which platform actually drives the best engagement, so they can focus their limited time and content effort more effectively.

C12.3  Dataset Description

Sample scope: 12 weeks of engagement and growth tracking across 5 platforms.

C12.4  Objectives

• Compare average engagement rate across all 5 platforms
• Track subscriber/follower growth over a 12-week period
• Identify which platform is growing fastest
• Recommend where to focus future content effort

C12.5  Step-by-Step Solution

• Step 1: Load the social media performance CSV into Pandas
• Step 2: Calculate average engagement rate per platform
• Step 3: Plot a line chart of weekly follower growth
• Step 4: Calculate week-over-week growth rate
• Step 5: Rank platforms by engagement and growth together
• Step 6: Summarize content-strategy recommendations

C12.6  Complete Python Code

import pandas as pd
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

df = pd.read_csv("social_media_data.csv")

engagement_by_platform = df.groupby('platform')['engagement_rate'].mean().sort_values(ascending=False)
print("Average Engagement Rate by Platform:\n", engagement_by_platform.round(1))

youtube = df[df["platform"]=="YouTube"].sort_values("week")
youtube['growth_pct'] = youtube['followers'].pct_change() * 100
print("Weekly Growth %:\n", youtube[["week","growth_pct"]].round(1))

plt.plot(youtube["week"], youtube["followers"], marker="o")
plt.title("YouTube Subscriber Growth")
plt.savefig("growth_line.png")

C12.7  Expected Output

C12.8  Visualizations

C12.9  Key Insights

• Instagram delivers by far the highest engagement rate (8.2%), nearly 3x that of Twitter/X (2.9%) — Reels-style short content is clearly resonating most.
• YouTube subscribers show accelerating growth — weekly growth rate itself is increasing, not just the raw subscriber count, suggesting strong compounding momentum.
• Despite lower engagement rates, LinkedIn may still be valuable for B2B/professional credibility even if it won't drive the highest raw engagement numbers.

C12.10  Business Recommendations

• Double down on Instagram content production given its clear engagement lead — likely the highest-ROI platform for time invested.
• Continue consistent YouTube posting since growth is accelerating — this is the moment to push harder, not ease off.
• Keep a lighter-touch presence on Twitter/X and Facebook rather than matching effort across all platforms equally.