Social Listening + Engagement Tracker
The Setup
Threads and LinkedIn are where my audience lives. But “being active on social” was eating 60-90 minutes a day — scrolling, engaging, checking what performed, losing track of time. I was either over-invested (doom-scrolling disguised as work) or under-invested (posting and ghosting for a week).
I needed a way to know what was working without living inside the apps. And I needed to engage with intention instead of impulse.
The Build
Two systems working together. First, a tracking spreadsheet that logs post performance weekly — platform, content type, topic, engagement (likes, replies, reposts), and any notable outcomes (DMs, bookings, follows). Manual entry, same time every week. The pattern recognition comes from the data, not from vibes.
Second, the Threads engagement skill I built in Claude Cowork. It scans my feed, identifies posts worth replying to, finds inspiration for original posts from trending topics, and presents everything in one review file. I spend 15 minutes reviewing and responding instead of 60 minutes scrolling.
The combination means I post with intention (based on what the tracker shows is working) and engage with efficiency (based on what the skill surfaces).
The Mess
The tracker was too granular at first. I was logging impressions, reach, engagement rate, follower growth, profile visits — metrics that fluctuate daily and mean nothing week-to-week. I cut it down to three columns per post: what I said, how many people responded, and whether anything came from it (a DM, a booking, a connection). That’s it.
The Threads skill also had an early version that surfaced too many posts to reply to. Twenty potential replies is overwhelming. Five good ones is useful. I tuned it to filter for quality — posts from people in my niche, topics I actually have opinions on, and conversations where my reply adds something instead of just being present.
The Result
I went from 60-90 minutes of unfocused social media time to 15-20 minutes of intentional engagement daily. I know which topics resonate (AI + small business, building in public, the messy middle of entrepreneurship). I know which formats work (short observations outperform long threads). And I know which platforms drive actual business results (Threads drives community, LinkedIn drives bookings).
The data also revealed something I wouldn’t have noticed without tracking: my most engaging posts aren’t about AI or marketing. They’re about being a parent running a business. The human stuff outperforms the expert stuff every time.
The Takeaway
Track what people respond to, not what performs. Engagement rate is a vanity metric. “Someone DM’d me because of this post” is a business metric.
How It’s Built
- Tracking: Google Sheets (weekly manual entry)
- Engagement: Claude Cowork skill (threads-things)
- Platforms: Threads, LinkedIn
- Time investment: 15-20 minutes daily (down from 60-90)
- Cost: $0 (Sheets + Claude subscription)