Social Media Audit Guide
A social media audit is one of the easiest ways to gain insight as to how you, or a competitor, is performing on different social media platforms. The purpose of an audit is to dig deeper and analyze every aspect of the social media account, from a general overview right down to individual posts being made. Hootsuite has an excellent social media audit template filled with detailed steps to get you started.
As for Appalachian Insights, an audit was conducted on a research collaborative competitor, the
University of Michigan’s Research Twitter page. The benefit of conducting an audit on a competitor’s page is to see exactly how they are interacting with their audience. If your competitor is receiving a lot of interaction on posts and gaining a lot of followers, it could be beneficial to follow in their footsteps. If your competitor is lacking on social media, steps should be made to avoid their mistakes.
When conducting a social media audit there are four main sections that need to be established.
1. Overview
2. Audience
3. Individual posts
4. Conclusion
The purpose of the overview in an audit is to put into perspective exactly what the social media page is designed for. Included in this section is when the page was created, the mission statement of the brand, the number of followers, as well as a general indication of how the page has been performing lately. All of these aspects will provide good context as to what the social media page is trying to achieve.
Arguably, the most important factor while conducting an audit is knowing exactly who your audience is. Recognizing the different demographics of followers that a social media page has gained can be quite valuable when it comes to reaching out to potential followers, as well as knowing the type of content to post. Distinguishing your audience’s gender, language and geographical location will be extremely useful and can be obtained with advanced level of analytics such as Meltwater .
When it comes to the individual posts on a social media page, it’s easy to get wrapped up in how many likes, shares, or retweets it receives. While conducting your social media audit. it’s essential to recognize why these posts are receiving these interactions. Make sure to research the characteristics of each post, such as which ones are gaining more interactions than others. If posts that include an image, a link to an article, and a captivating body of text are receiving the greatest amount of interaction, then those are the types of posts that need to be made on a daily basis.
The conclusion of the social media audit is to provide an in-depth evaluation of everything that you have learned about the social media page. This is your chance to provide insight as to what should be continued while posting and to wrap up your findings. Included in the audit should be a list of social media practices that you recognized as being beneficial and that you will now embrace.
As mentioned earlier, social media can make or break a brand. The social media audit is a simple, yet effective way to gain insight about you or a competitor’s social media account. So, make sure to do your research and to figure out which social media techniques work best for you and your brand.
“My name is Brendan Durkee, and I am part of the social media department at Appalachian Insights. Believe it or not I have never owned a pet, my parents are super OCD and never allowed me to get one. Follow me through my capstone journey- @Bdurkee421"
