4 Tips to Conduct a Comprehensive Social Media Audit

by Hit Your Mark | Sep 20, 2023 | Digital Marketing Articles

Social media: continually growing, always changing, and constantly posing new challenges to business owners.

As social media evolves daily, business owners face many hurdles in optimizing their business!

Because social media is one of the best ways to interact with your customers, staying relevant and updated on its platforms is crucial.

Whether that means adding a business profile to a new platform or unifying your branding, the methods for maximizing your social media productivity are endless.

How do you know what to improve and where to expand? Performing a social media audit is the best way to answer these questions.

Keep reading to prepare for your comprehensive social media audit! 

Why Is a Social Media Audit Integral to Your Digital Strategy?

“Social media audits are so annoying!”

At least, that’s how many business owners feel about them.

But if you’re doing them right, they will be a breeze! 

Social media audits are the backbone of any business’s plan for expansion and professionalism. They show how well you manage customers, how social media improves your company, and where you should implement new strategies.

With this knowledge, it’s easier to understand how to budget for social media and what kind of posts will be relevant.

Social media confusion resolved!

Think, for example, of this method for understanding your ROIs (returns on investments).

Business gurus say that 90% of your business comes from 10% of your content.

So, you need to locate that 10% and capitalize on it.

Instead of wasting energy on material that doesn’t satisfy anyone, let your social media audit reveal it.

Now, you can focus your energy where it matters!

Decoding the Process: 4 Tips to Conduct Social Media Audit

Tip 1: Are You Tracking the Right Social Media Metrics?

One surefire way to get a headache from your audit is to track the wrong metrics.

Nothing is worse than thinking you’ve cracked the code to business success, only to discover your formula was all wrong!

To help you skip this frustration, we’ve assembled a master list of the essential metrics:

• Profile impressions and reach: “Do people positively react to your content?” “How much exposure does your profile get?” If the answer to either of these is no, it’s time to reevaluate your profile.
• Follower and audience growth rate: “Is your number of followers growing consistently?” “Does it spike or drop at a specific time?” “Can you draw a correlation between spikes and certain events?” Understanding what draws in new followers will dictate the development of new ideas and strategies for your business.
• Engagement rate: “Are followers interacting with your posts?” “How many likes, follows, shares, and comments do you get from each?” “Which ones have the most interaction?” The answers to these questions will form the core of your choices for social media publication.
• Demographic information: “Do you reach more male or female audiences?” “What ages interact with your content most frequently?” “Where are your customers coming from?” These questions will gear your content toward the correct audience.
• Bounce rates: “When are customers leaving your page?” “Is there a common trend surrounding this behavior?” “What type of visitors bounce away?” Your bounce rate will give you ideas for areas that need a boost.
• Conversion rates: “When do you have high conversion rates?” “What people convert more frequently?” Conversion rate patterns highlight both success and the need for more creativity.

Record these metrics on your audit spreadsheet for future reference and evaluation. They will give you your company’s first impressions of social media performance and suggest avenues for improvement. Use the data as your Northern Star to take the first step to social media success!

Tip 2: How to Evaluate Your Social Media Content Performance?

Now that you’ve collected your data from the social media world, it’s time to evaluate your performance:

• Look for patterns: Inspecting the data for patterns will illustrate what the numbers say.
• Check if your profiles match each platform’s strength: Instagram needs a highly visual and engaging form of communication, while on Twitter, the key is communication and quick responses. 
• Identify your most popular posts: They will have the most comments, views, likes, shares, and reach. Check for patterns within other posts that may correlate to increased engagement. 

In three easy steps, you’ll have a master picture of your strengths and weaknesses. Make sure you’ve sufficiently mined the data for diamonds!

Tip 3: Why Is Analyzing Your Follower Demographics Crucial?

Imagine a burgeoning entrepreneur who wants to start a toy company.

She designs a website, publishes ads on Google, and creates a social media profile on Facebook.

She figures she should target the parents since they control the wallets.

Therefore, she creates polished ads displaying toys.

However, her ads don’t attract either children or parents.

Why?

Because she doesn’t appeal to either demographic.

Social media audits reveal who engages the most with your website so you know how to advertise your products to the appropriate demographic.

Your posts and language have the most impact on the demographic you attract.

For example, avoid trendy language and upbeat photos if you want grandparents to shop on your website. Instead, appeal to their sense of nostalgia and tradition!

Tip 4: How Does Competitor Analysis Enhance Your Social Media Strategy?

Even though this might seem like a waste of time, competitor analysis is the make-or-break step of your social media strategy.

If you understand your competitors’ successes, you will draw unexpected lessons from their approach:

• What social media channels do they use the most? This way, you’ll know what channels you should prioritize.
• What content is most popular? If your competitors’ viewers are eating up short films but ignoring posts, incorporate more short films into your social media plans!
• How successful are their CTAs? If they’re getting consistent business through CTAs on social media, consider incorporating a few on your profile.
• What is their communication style? Are your competitors light-hearted and whimsical when they talk with customers, or are they serious and down-to-earth? Their style will hint at what your demographic likes.
• How effective is their customer service? Rave reviews will open your eyes to how to improve your business.

The Role of Tools in Streamlining Your Social Media Audit

The best way to streamline your audit is by using a template. Your template should include areas to record data about demographics, posts, and ad campaigns. It should have a space to summarize your performance and list new ideas to increase performance. 

You can also use analytics to simplify the search for patterns.

Our favorite analytics tool, Google Analytics, includes extra features for more in-depth research. It gathers data from your social media platforms and analyzes information found through social listening tools, letting you collect everything in one place and then transfer it to your spreadsheet.

Through tools like analytics, spreadsheets, and social listening, it’s easy to gather data in one place and glean information from it. Don’t let a social media audit become a source of stress—streamline it for maximum efficiency!

From Audit Insights to Action: Refining Your Social Media Strategy

The patterns you’ve identified in your data will add the final touch to your social media strategy.

For example, if your customers enjoy posts with bright colors and punchy text, brainstorm ways to produce more of such content.

Five key questions that stimulate your creativity include: 

• Which social media platforms give you the best engagement?
• Are there any new platforms our demographic enjoys that we should create a profile on?
• What neglected platforms have real power?
• Is your company attracting the expected demographic?
• What content brings the best results?

These questions serve as a launching pad for the rest of your analysis.

Go over each one thoroughly with your team so everyone’s in on the new plan.

Then, it’s time for action.

Implementing the fruits of your audit is the most valuable—and most enjoyable—part!

Social media audits don’t have to be stressful and overwhelming. You can take the easy path to brilliant results by being smart about your resources.

Soon, you’ll see a load of excellent results from a drop of focused work!

Let Hit Your Mark Conduct Your Social Media Audit!

Skip the social media audit headache, and let us help you increase conversions and engagement!

Social media audits are a breeze when our team of experts has your back from start to finish.

So, sit back and relax while the data comes pouring in.

Effortless transformation can begin today!

References

1. Gregory, Lauren. “How to Conduct a Social Media Audit.” HubSpot, https://blog.hubspot.com/customers/check-pulse-digital-strategy-social-media-audit. Accessed 18 September 2023.
2. “How to Conduct a Speedy Social Media Audit.” Sprout Social, https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-audit/. Accessed 18 September 2023.
3. Martin, Michelle. “How to Run the Easiest Social Media Audit [FREE TEMPLATE].” Hootsuite, https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-audit-template/. Accessed 18 September 2023.
4. Smith, Emily. “The 7-Step Checklist for a Successful Social Media Audit.” Brandwatch, https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/roi-social-media-audit/. Accessed 18 September 2023.