If you’re on this page you likely use social media for your business and my guess is it’s not working exactly as you hoped or you’re not seeing the growth you expected.
That’s okay! You are not alone and there is a very simple solution for you: audit your social media account (this is also known as a refresh!). Before you physically recoil because of the word “audit”, let go of any preconceived notions and keep reading because this will be one of the most valuable skills you ever develop for your business.
Social media can be tricky. Each channel has a different strategy, different engagement rules, an audience looking for different things, and a world of algorithms that can make your head spin. You don’t need to know all details of each platform, but you do need to know all of YOUR account’s details.
An audit will get you up-to-speed faster than anything else you’ve done yet and get you the crystal clear direction to achieve your goals.
So sit tight and absorb all these wonderful tips! Then be sure to download the Transform Your Social Media Guide and get the ball rolling. There are 5 steps to a successful audit, which you will see outlined below.
But first, let’s answer a few key questions…
WHEN DO I USE SOCIAL MEDIA REFRESH?
Whether you’re looking to dig into your years-old (or even decades maybe!) Facebook, Linkedin, or YouTube accounts to see what you can do to improve them, or whether you’re caught up in the Tiktok and Snapchat craze and know those are the platforms your audience uses, the audit process for social media is the same. Do you have a Pinterest business account and can’t seem to crack the code just yet? Have you ever thought about an Instagram social media audit?
No matter what social platforms you’re using to engage with your audience, your business will benefit from a DIY social media audit.
No need to hire someone to do this work for you, it’s actually best if done by you because you know your business, your audience, and your account best. To make this process as easy as possible, I created a thorough, yet straightforward 5 step DIY Guide for a Social Media Refresh for any account complete with tips, tricks, and tools from marketing experts. You will even find the exact checklist I use with every client.
This audit guide is thorough but efficient to respect your time - because as a fellow small business owner, I truly understand how busy you are and how precious your time is.
And because every one of your social platforms should already be linked to your amazing website, I created a similar DIY Website Refresh Guide to give you all the tools you need to take advantage of your opportunities.
WHAT IS A SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT?
The formal definition: It is the process of reviewing your data against your goals, assessing your existing decisions and content against your brand strategy, and identifying opportunities to improve your social presence.
The lighthearted answer: a social media audit is your check-in with your account. It lets you know all of what’s going on. It should create a clear picture for you of what’s working and what’s not working. Ultimately, the audit should allow you to improve your results and grow your business.
The easiest way to audit your social accounts is with a few simple steps that break out the most important information for you. Each step should have the goal of helping you optimize a key part of your social media efforts. You will get a clear answer of whether your account’s measuring up!
The best social media audit templates will give you step-by-step instructions in digestible chunks. There should be targeted questions, strategy components, analysis sections, and checklists. While I may be biased, I know the Social Media Transformation Guide I created accomplishes all these things for you. I designed it so you do not have to be a marketing expert or a social media expert, you simply have to care about your business and want to grow! And if you are reading this article, you are clearly invested in that!
A thorough social media audit will give you the following:
What’s working in your social media strategy
If you’re applying your brand strategy
What opportunities your business has on each social media channel
What you could be doing better to reach your audience
How your content plan is working
Your opportunities with your audience
Steps to improve your presence moving forward
and more!
What’s “and more” mean?
Who are you engaging with and should you be engaging with them
Is your profile fresh? is it accurate?
Who are your key competitors?
Are there any new features to take advantage of?
What does your audience expect?
At this point, it’s probably clear how beneficial these audits are. But what about the process? How easy is it? You may be wondering if it’s as straightforward as I’m making it sound.
This is not a trick! There are really 5 steps and the guide is 20-30 pages long. Each page is packed with information, but you are not working with a Dostoyevsky novel. It is reasonable, doable, and most importantly, it includes the most vital pieces of information you need to clean up, fine-tune, and perfect your social media accounts.
HOW TO DO A SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT?
Because you’ve made it this far in the post, I’ll give you a little teaser of what the guide gives you. Ultimately, the social media audit guide is your “how-to” with all the step-by-step details.
But you’re here, you’re reading, and I love that!
So here’s the how-to the guide includes:
Intro: best practices, tips, tricks, and juicy little nuggets from marketing experts
Step 1: Performance Analysis
Step 2: Cadence Analysis
Step 3: Audience Analysis
Step 4: Content Analysis
Step 5: Bring it all together
Checklists on checklists!
The best place to start is always with data. So the guide begins with a performance analysis of our account. You can use your own spreadsheet or any one of the spreadsheet templates I’ve created for all the major social media channels.
Here’s where I have to add my plug for tracking your data…consistently.
The tough love you need to hear is, there is no excuse for not tracking your data. Your data is what tells you whether or not your social media is successful. So quit the excuses of “I’m not a numbers person” or “I don’t like excel” or “I don’t actually need this”.
You do need this if you have any hope of creating marketing that works on social media. There is no way around this and the longer you kid yourself, the longer you will struggle. So sit up straight and reframe your thoughts because these numbers need to be your best friend!
The rest of your audit walks through assessing the vitals of your business and it is important you conduct the social media audit in the order it is given. As you read through the guide, you will understand why (if you don’t already!).
At the very end, I give you a tasker’s favorite tool: checklists! The Social media refresh checklist is extensive on purpose and grouped into buckets that match the steps in the guide. You can use the checklist before you start your audit and then do it again after your audit to get a read on how much you’ve improved. The checklist is also a great way to check-in on your business every few months to see if it’s time for another audit!
The last things I will leave you with are a few extra tricks to keep you on your A-game with social media. You can start these now and should keep up with them weekly:
I’ll say it again…TRACK YOUR DATA!
Use these templated Tracker Spreadsheets I created for you if you are not comfortable creating your own.
Plan all your content intentionally! If this is not something you’re doing, this tip will change your life. Here are my resources for you:
Competitor Tracking
Templates for your responses (to DMs)
Templates for your messaging (outreach through DMs)
Templates (in Canva) for your branded content
Always know your top-performing post from the last month and for each month over the last year
Keyword lists for SEO — if you did not already know this, MOST social channels have their own SEO so be sure you are intentional with your words -- every time you use a hashtag you are tagging a keyword! Are you being intentional about that? Hashtag Guide is coming soon to the shop!
And that’s a wrap for how to do a social media audit and why you should audit social media channels!
Are you feeling ready to know what your best social media opportunities are?
I hope a social media refresh is no longer daunting and thank you for taking the time to read my content and learn more about how you can use marketing to your advantage for your business.
Remember, you can download your DIY Social Media Guide here and if you’d like to take advantage of my free strategy sessions, I’d love to chat with you!
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