WHAT IS A SOCIAL MEDIA EDIT?

What is a social media audit and why is it important for your business?

“Audit” can be a scary word, but it doesn’t have to be. In this case, it’s simply the process of hunting down all of your company’s social channels, as well as any impostor accounts, and compiling key information about each account, all in one place. As a social media agency Cape Town can be proud of, we are able to assist you to compile this information. 

As you build your audit document, you’ll think about your goals for each account, and evaluate whether your existing strategy is working. This allows you to see how each social account functions as a building block in your social strategy.

Once you’ve identified the blocks, it’s time to play Jenga—removing the unnecessary pieces and adding new ones that will help take your social efforts to new heights. Or, maybe you just need to make some simple tweaks to get your social strategy on track.

Irrespective of where you currently stand with social media, a social media audit will present a clear picture of your current efforts and help you think clearly about the best way forward. It will also leave you with a single strategy document that lists all of your social accounts, the goals for each, who’s responsible for each channel, and other key information that’s important to have at your fingertips.

Steps to follow when performing a social media audit for your company;

Step 1:  Locate all profiles.

Certain profiles will be easy to find if social media is well-integrated into a company\’s marketing Strategy.  Still, a few may have fallen by the wayside. These profiles are usually on lesser-known networks or platforms that were once up and coming but have since lost popularity.  Aside from the big names (Facebook and Twitter), your company should check Google Plus, LinkedIn and Instagram.

This is also a good time to identify networks where you don’t yet have a social presence, so you can start thinking about whether you should add them to your social strategy, or at least create profiles to reserve your handle for the future.

Google your company name and the name of your products to see what social accounts come up. If you find accounts you don’t recognize, do some investigating to determine whether they’re actually connected to your company, or if they’re impostor accounts run by someone not affiliated with your brand.

After your Google search, it’s worth visiting each of the main social networks and searching directly for your brand and product names to see if you uncover any unexpected accounts. Consider using one of the best social media agency Cape Town has, in Digi-Guru.

Step 2:  Record information

The best way to keep track of all the information you’ll uncover during your audit is to use a spreadsheet, using a program like Excel or Google Docs.  For each social account, you’ll want to record:

• the link to your profile (for example, instagram.com/hootsuite)
• your social handle (for example, @hootsuite)
• the internal person or team responsible for managing the account (also known as the “owner”—for example, the social marketing team)
• the mission statement for the account (for example, to promote company culture using employee photos, or to provide customer service during office hours)
• the top three posts in terms of engagement
• three important metrics
• key demographic information

Step 3:   Check each profile for completion

Go through each profile and make sure that every input option is filled.  Social media sites vary In the amount of information a business can list e.g. Instagram allows for a website, biography and Profile picture.  This ensures that a company is making the most out of every social media account.

Step 4:  Check for consistency and deviations

Logos and names should be the same across all profiles, and any optional colours should be consistent with branding. Images, videos and other content should be similar enough to relate to each profile, but the unique aspects of each platform can be utilized.

Certain information is more compatible with different social media sites (keep longer videos to YouTube and shorter ones on Facebook, for example), and having a bit of unique content provides a reason for consumers to follow all of a company\’s profiles.

Check the content of each profile and make sure it is consistent with the overall marketing strategy. Communication should be the same unless that communication is platform-specific – for instance, a drawing only for Twitter users.

Step 5: Consider the market

Certain markets gravitate towards different platforms – for instance, Pinterest is comprised of mostly women (anywhere from 72 percent to 97 percent), while Google Plus is mostly men (71 percent). Ecommerce leaders should look at the market each profile attracts and evaluate if this market reflects a brand\’s goals and strategies.

This also means examining the interaction between viewers and posted content. Are viewers more engaged on one profile than another, and if so, why? Which marketing techniques are more successful?  Similarly, check the tone of consumer comments. Are they complimentary, or are customers not happy with the offered product? Proper customer service extends online as well, and issues should be dealt with quickly and privately.

Step 6:  Set goals.

Once profiles are consistent and evaluated, it\’s time to look forward. Decide what\’s important for the coming months and what can be improved upon. Set concrete goals such as increasing followers, comments or responses by a certain number or percent. Once completed, save the results of this audit for future reference.

Step 7:  Dispose of unnecessary profiles

Sometimes a profile underperforms. Follower count or engagement may be low or the platform may not be popular. In this case, shut down the profile and focus marketing efforts elsewhere.

Step 8:  Identify unauthorized profiles

Unfortunately, there may be instances where a company finds fake profiles written in its name. Hootsuite, a profile management service, advised making a note of these profiles and taking steps to shut them down. Sending the creator a message may do the trick; if not, check the site\’s terms of service, FAQ or help section to see what can be done.

Social media audits are certainly very involved, but completing one can ensure branding is consistent and online marketing is effective. You can trust Digi-Guru as an expert social media agency Cape Town.

Contact Digi-guru to do a health check on your business today so you aren’t missing opportunities to improve your presence and strategy

Contact us: info@digi-guru.co.za
Visit Us: www.digi-guru.co.za