How to Create a Social Media Audit: Assessing What’s Working and What’s Not
Wazzos eServices Private Limited (APAC)
Wazzos eServices Pvt Limited is a 360 degree Digital Marketing and Advertising Agency. & Multimedia Service Provider.
In today’s digital age, social media plays a crucial role in building and promoting businesses. However, just being active on social media is not enough. To ensure your social media strategy is effective, you need to regularly assess what’s working and what’s not. This is where a social media audit comes in.
A social media audit helps you take a closer look at your social media presence to identify what is driving results and where improvements are needed. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to conduct a social media audit to help you optimize your strategy.
What is a Social Media Audit?
A social media audit is a process of reviewing your social media accounts, content, and performance to understand how well your efforts align with your business goals. The audit helps you:
By conducting a social media audit, you can make data-driven decisions to enhance your social media strategy and achieve better results.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Social Media Audit
Here’s how you can create a social media audit that helps you evaluate your current performance and improve your strategy:
1. Gather Your Social Media Accounts
The first step in a social media audit is to gather all your social media profiles. This includes any accounts you’ve created for your business on platforms like:
Check for any old or inactive accounts as well. These could be accounts you created and forgot about or ones that no longer align with your current strategy. Make a list of all active accounts to ensure nothing is missed during the audit.
Why this matters:
Having a complete list of all your social media profiles ensures that you can review the performance of each account, making sure none are neglected.
2. Review Account Profiles and Branding
Next, take a look at your social media profiles to make sure they are consistent with your brand. Check for the following:
Consistency across platforms strengthens your brand’s identity and makes it easier for your audience to recognize your business.
Why this matters:
A cohesive brand identity across platforms builds trust with your audience and makes your business appear professional and reliable.
3. Evaluate Content Performance
Now, it’s time to dig into your social media content. Look at your recent posts on each platform and assess their performance. Pay attention to:
Identify which types of posts perform the best and why. Are there certain topics, formats, or times of day that result in higher engagement?
Why this matters:
Understanding which content resonates most with your audience helps you create more of what works and cut back on what doesn’t.
4. Analyze Follower Growth and Demographics
Next, assess the growth of your social media followers. Are your followers increasing steadily, or have they plateaued? Look at how your audience is growing over time and on which platforms.
Also, analyze your followers’ demographics, including:
These insights can help you understand whether you’re reaching the right people with your social media efforts. If your audience does not align with your target market, you may need to adjust your content or targeting.
Why this matters:
Knowing who your audience is ensures that your content is relevant and tailored to the people you want to attract.
5. Assess Engagement Rates
Engagement is a key indicator of how well your content is connecting with your audience. Compare your engagement rates across platforms to see where your audience is most active.
Look at:
A high engagement rate shows that your audience is interested in what you’re sharing, while a low engagement rate might indicate a need for more compelling content.
Why this matters:
Engagement reflects how well you are connecting with your audience and whether your content is driving meaningful interactions.
6. Check Competitor Activity
A social media audit isn’t just about evaluating your own performance. It’s also important to take a look at what your competitors are doing. Identify a few key competitors in your industry and review their social media activity. Pay attention to:
This competitive analysis can provide insights into what’s working in your industry and help you identify gaps or opportunities to stand out.
Why this matters:
Keeping an eye on competitors helps you stay competitive and identify strategies that may help your business grow.
7. Set Clear Goals for Improvement
After gathering all this information, the next step is to use it to set clear, measurable goals for your social media strategy. These goals should align with your overall business objectives.
For example, if you notice that video content is performing well, you might set a goal to create more video content in the future. If your engagement rate is low on a certain platform, your goal might be to experiment with new types of posts to increase interaction.
Why this matters:
Setting clear goals allows you to track progress over time and measure the success of your social media efforts.
8. Create an Action Plan
Once you have your goals in place, create an action plan for how to achieve them. This plan should include:
Be sure to monitor your progress and make adjustments as needed. Social media trends and algorithms change over time, so it’s important to stay flexible and adapt as necessary.
Why this matters:
An action plan helps you stay focused and organized as you work to improve your social media performance.
Conclusion
Conducting a social media audit is a valuable process that helps businesses assess what’s working and what’s not. By reviewing your social media profiles, analyzing your content’s performance, and understanding your audience, you can refine your strategy for better results.
A well-executed social media audit not only reveals areas for improvement but also highlights what you’re doing right. Use the insights from your audit to set new goals, make adjustments, and continue growing your online presence. Regular audits ensure that your social media strategy stays aligned with your business goals and adapts to changes in the digital landscape.