Social media marketing has been one of the most popular and effective marketing strategies employed by businesses. However, getting the best out of this strategy requires businesses to understand how to conduct a social media audit. Understanding this procedure is instrumental in helping you develop a robust social media marketing plan.
Through a social media audit, you can get a clear picture of how your current social media campaigns are progressing and how best you can improve gray areas. In this article, you will focus on how to conduct a social media audit.
Performing a Social Media Audit
1. Search all your social media accounts
To carry out a full audit, you need to record all the social media accounts you and your team have used, both old and current ones. Some of the accounts may have become dormant from disuse. However, this may be the best time to carry out a little bit of research. You can start by Googling the company and searching social networks to find accounts associated with the company. Once you track all the accounts, you can set up a monitoring program for your accounts to help you keep tabs on pseudo accounts.
2. Make sure the accounts align with your brand image
With all the accounts lined up, take time to go over them to see if they align with your current status and image. For this, you will have to go through every account while comparing them against your business’s mission. You need to ensure each of the accounts uses updated images, brand voice, hashtags, and keywords. Some of the components you need to review include; links, handle, bio text, cover images, pinned posts, and verifications.
3. Identify your best posts
At this point, you may need to use analytical tools to gauge the top-performing posts for every social media account you own. With these analytical tools, you can see what kind of posts generate responses from the target audience. Using a note column in the social media audit document, record all your thoughts and observations. Test a few theories and record your findings for the next audit. To identify the top posts, you need to choose key metrics to help you narrow them down.
4. Evaluate channel performance
At this stage, you need to record the channel’s overall performance instead of focusing on individual posts. This may be an opportune time to set goals for each account. This way, you are able to evaluate their performance based on the goals set. Your mission statement should act as a guide to help you come up with key metrics that help with evaluation.
5. Track results over time
When carrying out an audit, it’s advisable to compare your results with a previous period; last month, week, or year. This way, you can spot variations and changes in real-time.
6. Calculate your return on investment
Social media offers an endless supply of marketing opportunities. If you’re running organic or paid campaigns through your social network, as part of the auditing process, it’s best to calculate the ROI for each period. This way, you can compare how much you have spent on social media marketing against the value it has accorded your business.
7. Settle on channels that meet your needs
At this point, you probably have enough data to make an informed decision as to which social media marketing campaigns are working for you. You need to set goals for each of the accounts and focus on how each account is performing. You also need to look at ways to integrate all your accounts with your marketing strategies, including social media marketing, for better results.
