Questions answered in this post
What is a social media audit?
How can I improve my social media marketing?
Should I have a social media audit done?
As defined by Sprouts Social, “a social media audit is the process of reviewing your business’ metrics to assess growth, opportunities and what can be done to improve your social presence”. The point of this audit is to see how well you have been implementing social media strategies to reach your social presence goals.
There are many differing opinions on how often you should perform a social media audit, but ultimately it’s up to you. Some experts suggest that you should perform an annual thorough audit and also keep track of certain monthly key performance indicator (KPI) benchmarks. Depending on how much content you push out on your platforms this may make sense for you. At Nova Digital Strategy, we typically suggest performing an audit every two weeks in order to keep track of your KPIs.
Gather All Accounts
Begin by listing out all of the social media accounts your team has available. These include all of the accounts that you use every day, but it also includes accounts that you may have forgotten about, stopped using, or have left untouched for whatever reason.
To properly ensure that you have all accounts listed, make sure to search the web for your company, your product names, and previous company names. Also, search all social networks. If accounts come up related to your company that you don’t recognize, determine if they are run by your company or someone else that may be impersonating you.
Begin by addressing all accounts that are not yours. You may also consider setting up a social media monitoring program that will keep track of these other accounts that are created that are not managed by you or your team.
Next, are there any platforms that you don’t have an account on? Do you want to include these in your social media strategy? If you don’t, could there be a use for them down the road? Consider creating an account on each platform, to ensure that you secure your business username for potential future use.
Matching Brand Identity
Check each platform and make sure that your profiles match your brand. Ensure that all profile pictures are the correct size and up-to-date. Check to see that the hashtags used are still current and relevant keywords. Confirm that all posts and elements of each platform fit with your brand style, voice, and identity.
Analysis and Strategy
Now that you have all your accounts, use the analytics available on each platform to determine what types of posts have had the most engagement. Record the top 3-5 posts on each platform. To find the analytics, you have two main options. Either you can use the metrics available on each platform, or you can use an analytics tool that can find all of this information for you and put it in one place.
You can now determine if these platforms are meeting your goals or if you need to adjust your strategy to increase growth or engagement. Focus on what you want each platform to accomplish; Instagram might be used for sharing information and growing your audience, while Twitter might be used to engage with your audience, answer questions, and general customer service. These two platforms will have different insights and may be reaching their platform specific goals.
After you have all the analytics for the posts that received the most engagement, determine if there are any patterns or commonalities between the posts. These patterns are what you can replicate in your social media strategy to ensure you’re getting the most out of your social media marketing.
Lastly, once you have completed your analysis, it’s time to determine how to adjust your strategy. Come up with a goal for each platform. What do you want to use this platform for? Do you want to increase your follower count? Do you want to engage with the followers that you currently have? Make sure that these goals align with your brand. Make sure that you’re targeting your key demographics. If that means only utilizing certain platforms to ensure you’re producing quality content, well then narrow down the platforms you’re using so that your focus is not too widespread.
Conclusion
A social media audit is one of the most important parts of digital marketing. It analyzes your brand’s social media strategy and determines how successful your current methods are. It’s one of the key ways that you can know where to position your efforts to ensure the most growth. We understand that social media marketing can be overwhelming, but at Nova Digital Strategy, we try to make it simple.
Do you need help with social media marketing? Would you like to have a social media audit done?
We can analyze your social media platforms to ensure that you’re on the best path for growth and success. .
Check out some of our work on our portfolio page.
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