Social media is a great way to promote your company and reach out to new customers. Reviewing your social media accounts on a regular basis is essential, regardless of the platform. In addition to the general benefits of evaluating performance, this will assist you to analyze what’s working and what chances are available to grow your organization.
You’ll need to do a social media audit to determine this. Even though the phrase “audit” may sound intimidating, it’s simple to carry out if you use a social media audit checklist or tools as a guide. Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about social media auditing and some social media audit tools.
What is a Social Media Audit?
A social media audit is a technique used to evaluate the effectiveness of your social media strategy across accounts and networks. An audit highlights your strengths, flaws, and the next steps required to develop.
- You’ll have all the information you need to improve your social media marketing approach after an audit.
- You will be aware of your most effective platforms, what your audience wants to see on each network, and who your audience is (demographics and more),
- What is assisting in the growth of your audience (and what is not),
- How each platform contributes to your objectives
- Which new ideas will help you grow, and where should you concentrate your efforts next?
Why Is a Social Media Audit Important?
A social media audit enables you to assess how your social media initiatives are aligned with your business objectives.
An audit will show you which content and platforms are working the best, who your audience is and what they care about, and where to focus your efforts next.
When Should You Conduct a Social Media Audit?
While there is no set timeframe or set of guidelines for when you should do a social media audit, there are some best practices to follow. In general, it’s recommended to conduct an audit every three months to incorporate new modifications and track success.
However, if you’re seeing a lot of success across your channels and rarely need to make changes to your implementation, you could choose to do this audit every six months. Similarly, if you notice a high number of negative customer complaints about your social channels, you may want to run this audit more frequently. This ensures that all of your channels are up-to-date and operational.
Social Media Audit Checklist
It’s critical to stay on track as you begin your social media audit. A basic checklist can help you focus on what you need to do. As you begin your social media audit, keep the following in mind.
- List all of your social media profiles: Create a spreadsheet with all of your social media profiles.
- Employ a social media audit template: Get a plan in place so you know where to begin.
- Select the appropriate social media audit instrument: Make use of tools that will save you time and money during the procedure.
- Keep an eye on your critical metrics: Discover audience, and engagement, and post information for each site your company uses.
- Establish your objectives: Determine what aspects of your social media presence you want to improve.
- Make future plans: Apply what you’ve learned to your social media approach.
Read Also: 7 Proven Ways To Get Famous On Facebook
How Should You Conduct Your First Social Media Audit?
Let’s imagine you’re performing your first social media audit. No problem!
We’ve broken out the process for your initial audit step by step below, much of which can be rinsed and repeated the next time you need to assess your presence.
#1. Gather all of your current social media profiles.
First and foremost, you will need to inventory your social profiles.
This may appear to be a no-brainer, right? Consider your social profiles in addition to “major” networks like Facebook and Twitter. You know, like that YouTube channel with two subscribers or the Pinterest page you haven’t touched in three years.
If there are networks you’re no longer active on, you don’t have to track them. Simply ensure that they are claimed and within your company’s control. On the other side, an audit may assist you in identifying opportunities that are a perfect fit for the unique qualities of networks that you have been ignoring.
After you’ve identified all of your current social profiles, the following step is to decide which platforms you want to focus on. You’re probably aware of your priorities, but a good social media audit can reveal which profiles are indeed your top performers.
#2. Set Goals For Each Platform
To avoid becoming overwhelmed, it’s critical to focus on your social media goals on each platform where you’re active, including:
- Enhancing brand recognition
- Increasing the number of leads and sales
- Encouraging community participation
- Increasing your audience (think: followers)
- Raising website traffic
Goal-setting will not only help direct your presence but will also advise you of the metrics to track for each platform.
For example, while your Instagram followers may be rising quicker than those on Facebook, the latter is generating more paying clients. When it comes to your metrics, the context of your goals matters.
For your first social media audit, you don’t have to fill in every single blank!
Again, concentrate on the social media indicators that correspond to your objectives.
#3. Ensure that your branding, advertising, and terminology are all consistent.
Consistent branding on social media is clear, but some aspects are easily overlooked.
Check that your profiles “match” when it comes to creatives, promotions, and campaigns when you audit your social presence. This includes:
- Language in the bio and “About” sections (when in doubt, refer to your style guide)
- Images for your profile and banner
- Links to destinations and landing pages
- Hashtags
If you don’t run a lot of social-specific advertising and are just attempting to drive visitors to your website, chances are not much will change from audit to audit.
On the other hand, brands that run seasonal ads will need to evaluate these facts on a frequent basis. For example, you should double-check that your holiday campaigns aren’t still running in mid-March.
#4. Access your social media analytics.
Now that you know which profiles to audit and which metrics to seek, it’s time to delve into the data.
This is where you’ll be able to see if you’re on track or if there’s space for improvement.
It’s worth noting that a social media analytics solution like Sprout may significantly speed up the process of gathering your stats, not to mention keep them all up-to-date in one location.
#5. Determine your best-performing social media postings.
Digging down to individual posts can reveal the types of material you should be producing.
For example, does your target audience enjoy watching videos? Photos? Posts with questions?
Your native analytics for each platform can help you understand what any given piece of content is receiving in terms of:
- Impressions (or views) (or views)
- Engagements (comments, “Likes,” shares, etc.)
- Reach
#6. Determine how you’re directing social media traffic.
There are no surprises here: it is critical to assess the relationship between your social media presence and your website.
This will not only help you determine which topics generate legitimate interest from your audience, but it will also show you which channels are the most effective at producing leads.
#7. Examine your demographic information
Demographic data is important for everything from how you communicate with your audience to how you prioritize different content or platforms.
Messaging targeting Generation Z and millennials, for example, is like comparing apples to oranges. As a result, your social media audience should comprise people of all ages and genders.
Your audience statistics should ideally be consistent across all platforms. If so, you should reassess your messaging and content approach for ancillary networks.
#8. Evaluate the opportunities presented by new social media channels.
New social media platforms emerge on a regular basis, albeit not all of them are necessarily long-term.
For example, perhaps you’re not completely sold on TikTok but are still looking into potential there. Good! Similarly, becoming an early user of new platforms might help you get ahead of your competitors.
Highlight new platforms you want to investigate in your social media audit spreadsheet. Keep in mind that this is not required. No concerns if you’re already concentrated on a few networks or can’t locate any new platforms that pique your interest right now.
Having said that, it’s always a good idea to stay on top of new and developing social media trends.
#9. Create new objectives and action items.
Your spreadsheet should be basically complete at this point. What now?
Remember that the goal of a social media audit is to help you assess your current situation and plan for the future.
You have everything you need to make more educated decisions, whether it’s increasing you following on a certain channel, increasing engagement, or widening your audience.
We incorporated a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis section for each network in the form to assist make your social media assessment more actionable. You can use this section to offer some high-level analysis based on all of the data you acquire during your audit.
To take it a step further, undertake a full-fledged SWOT analysis after your social media audit to identify your company’s most critical prospects.
How Often Should a Social Media Audit Be Conducted?
Preferably, you should have a full-scale audit once a year, as well as periodic evaluations. Your yearly evaluation, which should be completed around the same time each year, will thoroughly examine all of your accounts to evaluate whether it is prudent to continue utilizing that platform.
The focus of your monthly reviews will be more on the content. You’ll examine the analytics of the content you’ve posted that month to determine which types of posts your target audience responds to the best. If you work with influencers, you can take your monthly reviews a step further by examining the performance of the content your influencers distribute.
Read Also: SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING: Best Practices & Tools In 2023
How Long Does a Social Media Audit Take?
That depends! You can run a fast social media audit in as little as 30 minutes, but if you want to get deep into each of your profiles, you may want to set aside a few hours.
Social Media Audit Tools
Utilizing the correct tools to complete your audit can make the process go more quickly and smoothly. Social media management tools can not only gather the data required for an audit, but they can also track it over time so that it is always available at a glance. Many will provide deep analytics that goes beyond the capability of each specific platform. Check out the tools below to explore what might work for your company:
- Sprout Social: Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media management tool that gives you a detailed breakdown of how your social media profiles are being used.
- HootSuite: This service generates customized reports for your company that show how social media is affecting your brand.
- Unmetric: This platform focuses on assisting you in comparing, benchmarking, and analyzing your company’s social performance.
- Zoho Social: This tool’s monitoring feature provides you with various “listening” columns that update in real-time as people interact with your social media profiles.
- Sociality.io: This service will also provide you with social media reports on competitors, allowing you to gain a complete view of how your audience is interacting with your industry online.
Conclusion
Managing several social media profiles can be time-consuming. A social media audit can assist you in determining how to best allocate your time and money. A quarterly audit of your online presence will assist your company in making the most of social media and all that it has to offer.
- AUDIT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: Types and Best Auditing Tools In The Market
- The Top 10 Best Social Media Tools for Business 2023 (Paid & Free)
- Social Audit: Features, Types, and Limitations
- CORPORATE RECORD BOOK: Meaning, Importance & How to Get It
- HOW TO BECOME A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER: Free & Easy Steps
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