Conducting a Social Media Audit
February 27, 2022
Conducting a Social Media Audit
If you are using social media for your small business,
you understand that having a strategy is important for your success.
Unfortunately, many businesses tend to set aside their social media strategy
for a later time and forget to return to it. Before jumping back into your
social media, you should complete a comprehensive review of your platforms. The
purpose of reviewing your social media accounts is to give you a complete
understanding of their current performance. With that firm understanding, you
can begin to develop short-term goals and long-term strategies. As with any aspect
of your business, you need to review on a regular basis to determine if your
goals and objectives are being reached. As most people do not know where to
begin, conducting a social media audit is a great place to begin as you start
to strategize.
What exactly is a social media audit?
In plain terms, a social media audit is when you
collect all the information you have about your social media accounts in one
place. This helps you keep track of all business social media accounts that you
have on any given platform. Compiling all the information you have about your
social media profiles will help you develop a big picture and greater
understanding of your brand on social media. Through conducting an audit, you
can identify the weaknesses you have on social media as well as the strengths.
To jump-start your social media audit, here are the beginning steps you should
be taking.
1.) Collect your existing profiles.
As you begin your social media audit, you first need to
collect the existing profiles you have across all social media platforms. Aside
from the obvious platforms like Facebook or Instagram, consider the other
platforms that you may have been inactive on for the past couple of years. Do
you have a Pinterest that you created and have not used recently? A quick
Google search should tell you, but to be thorough you should search across all
platforms. Knowing where your business has accounts and is active can help you
uncover new opportunities moving forward.
2.) Evaluate the current status of each platform
After collecting an inventory of your social media
platforms, you can evaluate the status of each platform. How active are you on
each account? Are you posting multiple times a week or are you posting
inconsistently? Understanding the frequency of your posting schedule will
identify the strengths you have established as well as the areas in which you
can improve. It is important to find a balance on your social media platforms.
To find that correct balance requires planning. You should be posting content
regularly, but not overwhelming your audience.
3.) Make sure your branding, promotions, and language
are consistent
Along with the consistency of your posting schedule,
take a look at the content you are posting. Is there a consistent message? Do
you have consistent hashtags that you use across different accounts and
platforms? Keeping your tone of voice and message cohesive across all social
media accounts will help reinforce your brand. As you evaluate the status of
each account, take note of the tone of voice, profile pictures, and branding
you use across each account.
Along with the messaging, analyzing the visuals on your
social media is important too. When posting a custom graphic are you using your
brand colors? Is your logo on your custom images and graphics? All of this
helps strengthen the brand of your business and elevates your social media
presence. For brand recognition, it is important to keep your social media
consistent across all your platforms. This means using the same colors,
branding, and profile pictures on each account.
4.) Make a note of what is doing well
What social media posts have been performing the best
on each account? For example, you may find that more informative posts have
higher engagement on LinkedIn, but more personal content has a higher
engagement on Facebook. Understanding what performs the best on each platform
will provide you with the insight to customize your strategy for your social
media. Some of the numbers you should be looking into include likes, comments,
reach, shares, saves, and views. Keeping track of the engagement on your social
media content will allow you to optimize your content for your audience. As you
begin to implement your social media plan, you can now compare your new
analytics to the analytics of when you first started.
5.) Discover your demographic
When posting on social media, do you know who is
viewing your content? One way to begin understanding who makes up your target
audience is to think of who your brand serves. Is it an older generation who
spends more time on Facebook? Or is your demographic a younger crowd who enjoys
videos on Instagram? Understanding your audience can help your brand
communicate relevant content in the best way possible. When you collect your
social media profiles across each platform, begin thinking about who is within
your target audience? By identifying who you are communicating with on social
media, you can begin building your plan. Knowing where you should be
concentrating your efforts will help optimize your time while providing you
with the best results. As you take the time to understand your target audience
will help your brand build a relevant base with its following.
6.) Identify new opportunities
After reviewing all aspects of your social media, where
do you see room for improvement? Are you posting content regularly? Is your
tone of voice different depending on the day or what platform you are posting
to? Looking into your social media with the lens of finding new opportunities
will allow you to develop new goals for your social media that align with your
business.
7.) Create new goals and objectives for your social
media
One way to hold yourself accountable is by setting a goal that you can measure across a specific period of time. The reason you complete a social media audit is to capture the big picture of how your social media accounts are performing. With the new knowledge of your social media presence, you can make informed decisions about your goals. The goals you can establish for your social can be anything from growing your following, increasing your engagement, or simply posting regularly. Creating a custom goal for your brand will allow your business to thrive on social media.
Keeping up with your social media can be an
overwhelming task. That is why the team here at Hyperchat Social works to be an
extension of your brand. We take the time to understand you, your business, and
your goals. We know that running your business's social media accounts requires
strategy, content, dedicated time, and long-term commitment. Book a free
consultation today to see how we can help your social media strategy go from
good to great!
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