Performing a social media audit is crucial for understanding your current social media presence, identifying areas for improvement, and developing a strategy to achieve your goals. Here's a step-by-step guide.
Define Goals
- Decide what you want to achieve with your social media audit.
- Define the purpose of your social media audit. Are you looking to increase engagement, improve brand visibility, or assess your competitors? Understanding your goals will shape the audit process.
List Platforms
Write down all the social media platforms you use. List all the social media platforms your business is currently active or inactive on. This could include Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Snapchat etc.
Collect Data
Collect relevant data for each platform. This may include:
- Follower counts
- Engagement metrics (likes, comments, shares, retweets, etc.)
- Reach and impressions
- Demographics of your audience
- Posting frequency and times
- Top-performing content
- Referral traffic from social media to your website
Analyze Content
- Look at what posts work best and what your audience likes.
- Review your past posts to understand what type of content performs best.
- Identify trends in engagement and audience response.
- Evaluate the consistency of your messaging and branding across platforms.
- Ensure that your profiles are complete and up to date with accurate information. This includes things like profile bios, Instagram highlights, profile descriptions, links found in bios etc…
Know Your Audience
- Understand who follows you and what they're interested in.
- Use analytics tools to gain insights into your audience demographics, interests, and behaviors.
- Determine whether your current audience aligns with your target audience.
- Identify opportunities to better engage with your audience.
Check Competition
- See how your competitors are doing on social media.
- If you don’t know who your competitors are, take some time to identify them.
- Analyze the social media presence of your competitors.
- Compare their follower counts, engagement rates, content strategy, and audience demographics to yours.
- Identify areas where your competitors are excelling and areas where you can differentiate yourself.
Review Branding
- Make sure your branding is consistent across platforms.
- Ensure consistency in branding across all platforms and that it aligns with the MTU Brand Guide and Social Media Field Guide.
- Evaluate the tone and voice of your messaging.
- Determine if your messaging aligns with the MTU brand values and goals.
Check Compliance
Ensure your profiles are up to date and follow the MTU Social Media Policy.
Make a Plan
- Set goals and create a strategy to improve weak areas.
- Based on your analysis, develop a strategic action plan to address the areas for improvement.
- Set specific, measurable goals for each platform.
- Define strategies and tactics to achieve those goals, including content creation, audience targeting, and engagement techniques.
Take Action
Implement your plan and make the changes needed to update your content and your strategy.
Regularly Update
- Schedule regular audits to keep improving your strategy.
- Use each audit as an opportunity to refine your approach and drive continuous improvement.
By following these steps, you can conduct a comprehensive social media audit that provides valuable insights and lays the foundation for a successful social media strategy.
Questions about conducting a social media audit? Reach out to the UMC Social Media Team at social@mtu.edu.