Nowadays, it’s not enough to be a recognized brand name. As a company, you’re expected to let your customers get to know the real “you,” to experience your culture in a way that makes them want to invest in your success. Social media is one of the best ways to do that; to connect with your customers about much more than buying your products or services.
So how do you get your business on the right track on social media? The best place to start is with a social media audit, which allows you to get a clear picture of your current situation, as well as the path forward.
First Steps
The first step to any social media audit is to take a full account of your current social networks. What platforms do you have profiles on? Are those profiles complete? Are they consistent with each other?
Now isn’t the time to make changes. You’re just getting a clear picture of your current social footprint. Keep a spreadsheet with all the pertinent information to track the information that you find.
The next step is to analyze your posts. What are you posting about? What kind of engagement is each channel getting? What are the engagement rates on each channel? Figure out what your top posts are for each channel.
Once you’ve analyzed your content, take a look at your posting schedule. Are you posting regularly? How many posts do you average per week on each channel? What time of day is your audience most likely to engage with your content?
And, on that note, who is your audience on each channel? What do you know about your “typical” follower? How old are they, what gender? What field of work are they in?
Adding and Removing Channels
Once you’re done analyzing your current social profiles and activities, it’s time to take a step back and evaluate the effectiveness of each of your channels. Are you missing out on opportunities to connect with a wider audience by not being on other channels?
What about ineffective channels? Are some of your current platforms underperforming? Before you cut the cord and delete those that you deem underperformers, ask yourself why. Is it because your audience isn’t on that particular network? Or is it because you haven’t been giving it the proper attention?
If your audience is active on your underperforming network, consider shifting your strategy instead of removing your profile entirely. If your audience isn’t on the channel, however, go ahead and close your account. It’s important that you put your time and energy into a social media plan that will yield results, rather than have a presence on all social media networks.
After completing your social media audit, congratulations! You’ve learned about what’s working and what’s not – and you’ve laid a path for next steps. But you’re not done. Doing the audit once is not enough to maintain an effective social program. It’s something that you should do regularly to track your progress and determine if you need to make adjustments to meet the goals you set for your business
Here at insight180, we can help make sure that your social media progress is on track with your goals. We work with companies every day to set realistic and achievable social media goals. If you’re looking for help with your first social media audit, contact us. We’d love to help you get the process started.
