One of my non-negotiables? Performing a social media audit before creating a social media strategy. Some social media professionals avoid data because they’re uncomfortable with numbers, but I think when it’s avoided, it’s because they don’t know what they’re doing.
How else can you truly gauge a brand’s performance and even your own content’s effectiveness without taking a closer look? Audits are crucial – they are the nutrient-rich soil for your social media foundation to be built on; the strategy is the fertilizer.
Audits are one of my favorite things to do because they:
• are imperative for brands of all sizes and at all stages
• give invaluable and solid insight into the brand, its audience, and content performance
• help make decisions with confidence, backed by data
• make it easier to highlight the impact social has on the business
• are easy to digest and reference (some monthly reports are too numbers-heavy)
• lead the strategy
Is your brand overdue for a social media audit? Probably.
SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT FRAMEWORK
You should be familiar with the brand, its goals, and objectives before starting the audit to guide the process and measure success. What are the current goals and KPIs? Did they meet them?
Profile Evaluation: assess the completeness, effectiveness, and consistency of profile information across all platforms.
Do the bios and about sections tell someone unfamiliar with the brand what it is, what they do or sell, and why the user should follow? I can’t tell you how many profiles I’ve gone to and not been able to figure out what they do. It’s not a place to get clever.
Content Analysis: review published content's quality, relevance, and engagement.
• How does it ladder up to the goals and KPIs?
• Is the content delivering on its purpose for the audience and the brand?
• What are the highest and lowest-performing posts? Why? What’s the sentiment?
• What content types and themes are the most engaging?
• Does the content align with the content pillars? Does the content or do the pillars need to be updated?
Engagement Assessment: evaluate the level of proactive and reactive interaction and engagement with the audience.
• What can you say about the current community management?
• What does the audience resonate most with?
• What might they want more of?
• What trends, patterns, and outliers do you see?
• What’s working well for your brand, and where is there room for improvement?
If you notice a spike in engagement whenever you post UGC, consider doubling down on that strategy. If you see high engagement spikes and engagement rates, ensure you know the sentiment – high engagement isn’t always good. If certain types of content consistently underperform, reassess your approach and experiment with new formats - it’s ok to kill things.
Competitive Analysis: Look at the competitors’ social media content, engagement, community, and overall sentiment to identify opportunities and learn about the community and industry. I do the competitive analysis last so it doesn’t cloud my vision or give me imposter syndrome. If a competitor looks like they are doing well, their community is thriving, and they have clear top-performing content, that doesn’t mean it makes sense for your brand or community. We all have different communities for a reason. While the competitor’s tactics may not directly translate to your brand, there can be valuable insights to gain, like emerging trends, content formats, or engagement strategies.
Opportunities: highlight key opportunities that align with the brand’s goals and objectives. The insights from your audit will inform the strategic direction of your social media efforts. Use your findings to maximize impact and drive results. Whether you double down on successful content themes, recommend a new approach to content, adjust content pillars, explore new audience segments, or experiment with innovative engagement tactics, you have the data to back it.
“I HAVE A STRATEGY AND A TEAM; WHY DO I NEED AN AUDIT?”
Even if a business feels confident in its social media performance, there’s always room for improvement and optimization to stay ahead of the competition and meet evolving business and customer needs.
Blind Spots: internal teams may overlook critical issues or opportunities due to biases or familiarity with the brand. There can be a lot of missed opportunities because of laziness or the team being overworked.
Fresh Perspective: external audits bring fresh perspectives and industry best practices, challenging existing assumptions and driving innovation.
Benchmarking: audits provide benchmarking data against industry standards and competitors, helping businesses set realistic goals and track progress over time.
Strategic Guidance: ensuring social media efforts are aligned with broader business objectives.
Risk Awareness: audits raise awareness of potential risks and vulnerabilities, prompting proactive measures to safeguard the brand’s reputation and integrity.
Social media is just a piece of the marketing puzzle and user experience. When it makes sense, depending on the brand, product, or service, I move on to a customer experience audit. Often, employees are so close to the brand and know in their minds how things work and what the consumer should see, but having someone with a fresh perspective come in and evaluate the user journey is impactful. From awareness to conversion, social to website or app, uncover kinks in the process, customers’ pain points, and customer service efficiency. Knowing what your customers see and do before they purchase is their journey, and you create the blueprint.
I hope you’re anxious and excited to dive deep into your brand’s digital presence and are empowered by the audit to create the strategy and confidently make informed decisions. If you find yourself hesitating at the thought of a social media audit, remember this: insights gained from this process are not just numbers on a page; they’re not a reflection of YOU – they are the key to unlocking the full potential of your brand’s digital presence.
Thank you for reading!
Chelsea
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