In the span of a couple of decades, social media platforms have become a regular presence in most people's lives. This extends to the business world; most customers expect a company to have profiles on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, regardless if they are B2C (business-to-consumer) or B2B (business-to-business).
Due to the presence of social media, many companies now have social media teams. Every so often, an organization's social media team should conduct a social media audit. In this blog post, we will learn what a social media audit is, how to conduct one, and the benefits marketing teams can gain from conducting these digital marketing solutions.
What is a Social Media Audit?
A social media audit is a process used to measure the success of a business's social media strategy across different networks. The audit identifies the company's strengths, weaknesses, and the steps they need to take to improve. By conducting a social media audit, marketing teams can gain insight into their primary demographics, their most effective platforms, and what types of content their audiences want to see.
How to Conduct a Social Media Audit
Below, we have detailed the steps a marketing team must take to conduct a social media audit.
1. Find All of the Company's Social Media Accounts
The first step in conducting a social media audit is to find all the company's social media accounts. The marketing team can do this by searching the company name across different social media networks. Doing this can result in finding old accounts created for the company but no longer in use. These inactive profiles should then be deleted. The marketing team should also detect and contact any imposter accounts to take them down. Then, the marketing team should determine if they should make accounts on other platforms.
2. Ensure All Profiles Align with the Company's Branding
The second step in conducting a social media audit is ensuring that all social media profiles align with the company's branding. Generally, all accounts should have a profile picture of the company's logo. The username should be consistent across all social networks. The profile pictures and cover images should adhere to each platform's image size requirements. The URL links should link to the appropriate website or landing page. The pinned posts should be up-to-date.
3. Identify Top-Performing Content on Each Platform
The third step in conducting a social media audit is identifying the top-performing content on each platform. This can be determined by seeing how much engagement each post receives, such as likes, comments, or shares. The type of content that gets the most engagement can vary across different platforms. The marketing team can see if they get more engagement when they post content like memes or polls or if they should stick to informative content. The team can also see if they receive more engagement if they post during certain times of the day or on certain days of the week.
Many social networks have their own tools to measure engagement, such as the Meta Business Suite or Twitter Analytics. Businesses can also use third-party tools like Hootsuite to track engagement across different social media platforms.
4. Evaluate Each Channel's Performance
In addition to identifying the top-performing content on each platform, the social media team must evaluate how each channel is performing overall. Some networks are more suited for some businesses and industries than other platforms. For example, a B2B company will likely receive more engagement on its LinkedIn posts than on its Twitter and Instagram posts.
5. Understand the Demographics on Each Platform
Another important aspect of conducting a social media audit is understanding the company's key demographics on each platform. Many analytics tools display information on the demographics of people that engage with the company's posts. Knowing aspects such as followers' ages can help determine the types of content that get posted. For example, Facebook is most commonly used by consumers aged 35-44, while TikTok should be used if the company targets young people. Any demographic information should be put into a spreadsheet so the marketing team can consult it while creating content for different platforms.
6. Update the Social Media Marketing Strategy as Needed
The last step in conducting a social media audit is using the information gained to update the company's social media strategy. The marketing team can use the information gained using the audit to determine which platforms the company should focus on, which types of content the company should focus on, and if they are new networks the company should focus on.
Benefits of Conducting a Social Media Audit
Now that we know the steps needed to conduct a social media audit, let's now discuss some of the top benefits of conducting one.
1. Find Out What Isn't Working
Sometimes marketing teams will struggle to understand why the content they are posting results in little to no engagement. By conducting a social media audit, the team can figure out what isn't working and adjust their plans accordingly.
2. Uncover Opportunities to Generate Leads
Another benefit companies can gain from conducting a social media audit is finding new opportunities to generate leads. Businesses need to figure out how to get customers to visit their websites, especially if they are not running ads on Google or Facebook. Creating engaging content makes it likelier for potential customers to click links to visit the website.
Wrapping It Up
Companies should regularly conduct social media audits to see how to improve their social media strategy. If companies do not have an in-house marketing team, they should hire the services of an internet marketing services company. Zorbis is a leading internet marketing services company that can help companies create social media audits, as well as provide local internet marketing services and create SEO and PPC campaigns. To learn more about Zorbis' digital marketing solutions, mail us at info@zorbis.com or call 214-441-1309 to schedule a meeting with a team of experts.
