When managing multiple social media accounts for your business, the pressure to create an endless stream of content can be intense.
Not only this but, unless you have a substantial marketing team, there’s a strong chance that you don’t have a dedicated person to manage your social media. You might be a generalist marketer who’s spread incredibly thin (believe me, I’ve been there!) or even someone with limited marketing experience wearing multiple hats in your company.
When time is limited, trying to keep on top of the latest trends and produce results might feel like an uphill battle.
Enter the social media audit!
What is a social media audit?
A social media audit is an opportunity to delve into each of your social media accounts from both a quantitative and qualitative standpoint.
Audits will typically cover observations about your social media accounts and make recommendations for how you can improve your performance. Recommendations are based on data, trends and best practices.
Think of it like a social media health check!
Why should I audit my social media channels?
When time is precious, I’m sure you’re probably wondering why we’re recommending to stop and take stock.
Taking the time to deep-dive into your social media activities can deliver big benefits in the long run. Here are just some of the reasons why I’d recommend auditing your social media channels:
1. Confirm your purpose
A social media audit is your opportunity to ask yourself: Why are we posting on social media?
You’ll might find that your purpose differs between channels. For example, Facebook might be all about building a community with your audience by answering their questions. Alternatively, TikTok might be about increasing awareness and engaging them via on-trend content.
Confirming your purpose is important as you might find that somewhere along the way, your content has moved in a different direction and no longer fulfils its aim. On the other hand, you might find that your content that’s not aligned with your original purpose is actually performing better and resonating more with your audience. As such, should your purpose be re-evaluated?
An audit is the ideal opportunity to ask yourself these questions.
2. Deep dive into analytics
Your analytics are the backbone of your approach to social media – they show you what’s working and what’s not. It’s likely that you already measure all the standard KPIs, such as impressions, engagement and followers. But when was the last time you took a more in-depth look at your content’s performance?
Look at peaks and troughs over time. Compare days of the week. Are there any common themes in your top performing posts? What type of posts are your audience more likely to clickthrough to your website from?
Understanding these more in-depth analytics can help to guide your content moving forwards and help to give your audience what they actually want to see.
3. Get back to basics – what are you missing?
With algorithms constantly changing and new trends popping up, it’s easy to sometimes miss the simple things. An audit can help you take a step back and look at your social media accounts with a fresh pair of eyes.
Consider:
- Are your profiles looking their best?
- Is your branding correct?
- Is all your information up-to-date?
- Are you missing any obvious opportunities for call-to-actions or to link to other content?
- Are you replying to comments and engaging with your followers?
All of these things might seem simple but it’s easy to forget the basics when you’re caught up in creating new content.
4. Take a holistic view of your social media accounts
When was the last time you stopped and looked at how your social media platforms all link together? Although they might have different purposes (as mentioned earlier), they should all fit together, working towards one common goal.
A social media audit will help to make sure that your messaging is consistent across all your accounts and highlight any gaps in content.
5. Identify new opportunities
With social media constantly evolving, there might be new features that you haven’t yet discovered. An audit is a great opportunity to identify any new features which might work for your brand.
It’s also helpful to look at what your competitors are up to; monitor what they’re posting on their platforms, consider how their approach differs to yours and observe the effectiveness.
It’s important to be open to new ideas and consider how you could incorporate them in your overall social media strategy.
Want some fresh eyes on your social media platforms?
AB can help! We’ve produced in-depth audit documents, full of analysis and content recommendations to help you grow your social media channels in line with your goals.
We’re also offering a free mini digital audit to get you started.