Running a social media audit is like attending an annual wellness check-up. The objective is to see what works, what doesn’t, and what might need to change. Social media audits are a key part of developing a marketing plan. To run an effective audit, you need to document and evaluate your existing efforts. Critically looking at what you are already doing is crucial to understanding areas of growth and development. Re-evaluating your tactics can help you understand what changes need to be made.
1. List Current Active Platforms
Evaluate what social media platforms you are already active on. Write this information in an excel document or another spreadsheet.
2. Analyze
The analysis is the most important part of the process and necessary in understanding how your network is performing. Some stats to consider are:
- Sales that can be attributed to social media network
- Newsletter sign-ups from social media
- Traffic each social network is driving to your site
- The size and engagement rate of each social media network
All of this helps you understand how your audience engages with your site and social media. The activity also helps you understand audience engagement with your different social media platforms. Some key stats in analyzing activity are:
- Follower number
- Reach/Impressions
- Likes, comments, re-tweets, mentions, etc.
- Top posts
- Lowest performing posts
Third-party tools are a way to keep track of these analytics. Agorapulse and Later are examples of some that could work for your business. If outside tools are not your cup of tea it is very possible to keep track of these statistics manually by using analytics tracker templates we’ve created. It may seem repetitive to always keep track of these statistics, but it will be better for you in the long run. Seeing these statistics consistently will better allow you to be able to notice any differences in data. It also will make it much easier to evaluate if you are on track to reach your goals and benchmarks.
3. Allocate Time and Resources Wisely
Think of this as sort of a “spring cleaning”. Assigning a value to the social media networks you are on helps you determine where you should spend the most time. If one platform doesn’t generate much activity or profit it will hold a lesser value- thus you won’t want to spend a lot of time on it. Knowing which platforms generate the most activity will help your company understand where they should spend the most time on posts, provide the most funding, and help figure out your customer journey.
Quantifying this information may seem daunting- but through tools such as tracked links, network-specific codes, or even questions such as “Where did you learn about us?” help you figure out where your conversions are coming from.
4. Decide What to Keep
Once you evaluate which networks are beneficial for your brand and which aren’t- it might be time to do a little more “spring cleaning”. Getting rid of some profiles that aren’t as helpful to your brand can allow you to invest more time into the profiles that are essential to your brand. To be successful you don’t need to be active on every platform- quality over quantity is essential in this process.
It is important to remember that popularity does not necessarily correlate with success. Not every platform will work for your brand. Your brand might only find success in certain platforms. Think about your target audience when deciding upon where you invest your resources. You won’t want to invest resources into a profile that your target audience rarely engages with.
5. Clean Up
Once you decide which profiles you want to invest your resources into it is time to clean up the ones you want to keep. Make sure all the links are up to date, all the bios are relevant, all the images are high quality, and anything else relevant on the profile is the best it can be. Social media is where we display our best selves. Profiles are the first impression, so it is important to ensure your company is putting its best foot forward on social media.
6. Revisit and Adjust
Once you have cleaned your profiles it is important to re-evaluate the statistics you have gathered. Evaluating your goals while analyzing these statistics can help you determine if you need to adjust your strategy. Look at trends in engagement- is there a certain time of day or time of the month your followers are most engaged in your profile? This can help determine when you invest your resources into your profile. Looking at that on the flip side- was there anything you were doing differently when your followers were more engaged? If you were doing something different- what was it and can you do it all the time? Applying what works to all aspects of the profile will generate more activity on social media. Keep strategies that work and cut the ones that don’t!
