When I started my first business, over 8 years ago, I jumped onto the social media bandwagon wholeheartedly. I tossed whatever I could think of at my Facebook page: quotes, photos, carousels, polls and eventually a few videos. I would try anything I saw other people trying that seemed to spark conversation. It never occurred to me to stop and look back at what I had done, to see if it was actually having the effect I wanted it to. I simply thought if a little is good a lot would be better. If I keep posting something will happen. Not a whole lot happened.
Since then I have learned the value of strategy and reflection in business. Turns out a little self, or in this case social-reflection can go a long way. This is where a Social Media Audit can help.
What is a Social Media Audit?
A social media audit is a process of consolidating and analyzing your past social media efforts to gain a clear picture of how your social media profiles are performing. It can be as simple as a word doc with informed observations or as detailed as a spreadsheet laying out your metrics and how each post has performed. The shape of your social media audit is formed by your goals, and call-to-action(s). Placing your past content marketing efforts within this framework will help you understand what was effective in growing your business and what may have been hindering your business.
How to do a Social Media Audit
The most effective audits start with a clear understanding of your social media objectives. Just like reviewing your progress toward any goal, you first have to know what goal you are heading toward before you look back to see if your steps are taking you in the right direction.
Identify what actions you need your audience to take to know your content is having the effect you want, these are called your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Do you want them to like, comment, or share your content, or maybe you want them to book an appointment, or visit your website? What is the end result you are looking for from the interaction between your profile and your followers? Be clear on how you will know when a member of your audience has taken this action.
Once you have identified your KPIs, look back at all the content you shared over the course of a month or a few months. You do not need to do an audit every week, not even every month. Auditing your social media profile(s) every 3 – 6 months will give you quality information and help you to tweak your content marketing going forward. Look at what pieces of content performed well for different KPIs and which did not. Highlight the highest performing content and note what themes each piece discussed, what hashtags you used (if any) and any visual details (was it a photo, video or some combination of the two).
Many social media channels have business accounts that offer analytics or insights which will do a lot of the data crunching for you. Some of the KPIs listed on platforms are superficial and don’t tell you much about how your social media is affecting your business. You may need to compare your social media insights with your website analytics or email-list data to get a clear picture of how effective your content marketing has been.
Why do a Social Media Audit
If you stepped into running a small business as a sole proprietor, like I did many years ago, then you might be wondering why you need to put all this time and effort into a Social Media Audit. You might feel like you have better things to do. Maybe you feel like you already know if your social media is helpful or not and what posts have ignited your audience. Let me pass along a little well earned experience… Putting in the time to reflect on your marketing efforts is how you learn and continue to improve and simplify your marketing plan. Choosing to not analyze your past efforts can lead to increased randomness in your content creation and sharing process, taking up more of your valuable time and energy.
From July 4 – 15th, 2022 we are offering small businesses our Summer Social Audit service for free. Book a 15-minute Discovery Call before July 15th 2022 and receive a free social media audit of one profile.
Conclusion
A thoughtfully prepared Social Media Audit, rooted in your overall objectives and framed by a clear call-to-action, can catapult your content marketing plan. The information you gain from looking back at what you have shared on social media so far, learning about what worked and what didn’t, what enticed conversation and what fell flat, can help you to streamline your efforts and start creating more valuable high performing content.
If you would like guidance or are looking for support in planning your digital marketing, book a Discovery Call now. We can help you bring your services to those who need them most.
