The end of the year is closing in, and 2018 is already on my mind, along with thinking about what goals I’d like to set with my client’s social media marketing strategies.
The only way to figure out what new goals to set, and what to flat out get rid of going forward, is to conduct a social media audit. Read on for some tips on how you can conduct a social media audit for yourself and your business.
Start by creating a spreadsheet/Gathering all past performance
If you don’t already have one, create a spreadsheet to keep track of all your accounts. This spreadsheet will keep you organized during your social media audit process.
Include columns for social network name, links to the specific network, and a column to fill in with your “about” or biography. You can also create columns named ‘profile images’ and ‘header images’.
The rest of the columns you can create depending on what you choose to audit (after you’ve read this post). The idea is to keep track of what elements of your channels and strategy need adjusting. If you ran any specific campaigns make sure to include performance indicators for these (or at least bring up the results so you can look at everything in one siting).
Include a separate sheet to track competitors and include their links (we’ll be using this sheet a little later). If you happen to find unofficial accounts, take a note of those also so you can circle back and start the process of getting rid of those later.
Check how details are filled in on each channel
Social networks are constantly evolving, and it can be easy to miss network changes. After you create your spreadsheet, the next part of your social media audit is to make sure your profiles are in order.
Check that your profile and header images are sized correctly, and are clear and consistent across all your channels. Take a look at each field in your “about” sections and fill in as many blanks as possible. Filling in these sections helps with optimization and will assist people in finding you via search.
Is all of the information in your “about” or detailed sections still relevant to your brand? If not tweak them. Check that business information like opening hours, contact emails, phone numbers and any links are current. Also keep an eye out for consistent messaging, and voice across all of your social media profiles.
Get an overall view of your strategy
Part of your social media audit should include taking a look at how you actually use each social media network.
Are you using the network correctly? Are you posting different variations of content? Could you use network specific tools more often – for example maybe you’re lacking Instagram Stories or Instagram Polls? Or you haven’t set up your Pinterest Showcase, perhaps you could use Facebook Live sessions? Make a note of these.
Another part of taking a look at your overall strategy is to analyze your top performing posts on each network. You should also recognize which campaigns gave you the best results – these metrics will let you know what’s working, helping you to create better posts and campaigns moving forward.
Check out some competitors
Now it’s time to dig a little deeper and do some research for your social media audit (and use that sheet we talked about earlier).
Pick three of your top competitors and take a look at their accounts.
What are other brands in your industry doing successfully in their social media marketing efforts? Are they doing something you aren’t or vice versa? Jot these ideas down.
Set new benchmarks and goals
This part of your social media audit requires work as well. If you set any goals – did you reach them? If not, why?
Was there a particular campaign or social media network that did really well or sent the most traffic to your site?
Based on the answers to these questions, you can begin to set goals for next year. This could be anything from increase membership by 10% month to month, to making it a goal to run three promotions a year because you realize you didn’t run enough of them this year.
Remember to follow metrics that make sense to your business.
I hope this helps you get a start towards auditing your own social media channels. Do you have any social media marketing goals set for 2018?
This post was first published on Dhariana Lozano’s blog.