Regular social media audits help you keep tabs on what is working about your current social media strategy and, more importantly, what’s not. Unfortunately, it is one of those tasks that tend to get swept to the end of the to-do list. You shouldn’t let it, though!
It’s essential to keep your social media program tidy if it’s going to continue having the impact you want. And the good news is that it doesn’t have to be super time-consuming or headache-inducing, either. Here are a few simple ways to conduct a social media audit and get a better idea of what is happening on each of your social media channels.
Start with the numbers
Begin the process by creating a simple spreadsheet where you can record the main analytics like follower count, engagement metrics, and how many posts you send per week per social media account. With this, you’ll have an idea of which social channels to focus on first for updating and optimizing.
Get your permissions in order
People come and go, and roles are reassigned. Take a few minutes to review who has access to what. Login to all of your accounts and double-check that your permissions are up to date and correspond with your current employees and job descriptions. Update any relevant passwords accordingly.
Freshen up your design
Time flies, and you might not have even realized it has been a year since you updated your header image or Facebook banner. Spend a bit of time reviewing your branding, language, and positioning — providing fresh content where needed and ensuring that your brand’s personality and values are putting their best foot forward.
Update response templates
It is important to regularly check-in and ensure your best practices and templates for community management and social media engagement are in line with your current goals. From having a crisis communication solution to ensuring social media responsibilities are clearly understood by your team — make sure it is as easy as possible to interact positively with your followers.
Highlight what is working
You want to keep your approach innovative and surprising, but it still pays to revisit your top-performing posts regularly. Create a little inventory of the posts that really resonated with your audience.
Get to know your audience
Speaking of audience, taking a close look at your follower data may reveal specific opportunities for your social media marketing strategy. Looking at this info can lead to the discovery of micro-communities based on shared values or interests, plus provide you with some insight into how your audience interacts.
Get regular reporting set up to make future social media audits even easier
You can stay one step ahead of the game by setting up competitor reports and tracking key metrics. Begin by identifying a couple of key competitors to monitor on social media. Next, create a template for monitoring the type of content they share, the frequency, and how much engagement they get from their followers.
Finally, finish up your social media audit with a plan to report on your channel performance every month with your complete marketing team. Ideal metrics to track include net new followers, frequency of posts, and various types of engagements (likes, comments, shares, clicks, and impressions).
If you stick with these best practices and repeat your audit once every quarter, you’ll be able to rest easy knowing that you’re making wise use of your social media presence. But, of course, every company has different goals that can benefit from a more tailored approach.
Feel free to get in touch to talk to one of our experts and learn how you can take your social media strategy to the next level. Likewise, if you’d like to stay up to date on current social media trends and growth marketing hacks, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter for the latest digital marketing news.
