Social Media Auditing
So we are all on social media. You’re on one right now reading this blog post, but have you ever wondered about the statistics behind each social media post that you come across? Statistics regarding how well a post is doing in terms of engagement with others, the follower count with the number of likes, the purpose of the post, etc. A social media audit explains just that.
A social media audit is a systematic examination of social media data which entails one gathering data, analyzing and interpreting it, and repeating it over time to measure change. It includes the company behind the social media posts in question, the competitor data, and consumer engagement data. They generally answer the 5 Ws of the internet. Who is the company, consumer and competitor? Where is the channel and environment that is being used? What is the content and its sentiment? When is the content being posted and how often? Why is content being posted and how well is it performing? What would you rate it?
I was able to perform my very first social media audit recently by looking at the BMW & Mercedes Benz brands and while it was not a hard task to perform, it was quite interesting. By performing my first social media audit, I was able to see how much a company cares about their social media platforms. The two brands in question I looked at had quite disappointing social media platforms in all aspects. Their content was not very frequent and did not create much engagement in general. This was across most major platforms like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. It got me thinking though, how important are social media platforms to certain brands? With brands like Mercedes Benz & BMW, I’d say they aren’t very important. Mainly because these two brands are already such household names that everyone and their mother knows about. They have no reason to make a name for themselves and get themselves out there on social media that much because they are already established. When talking about luxury vehicles, they are usually the first cars that come to mind.
I’d argue that luxury brands like BMW & Mercedes Benz mainly attack television more with commercials and featuring their cars in movies and television, but social media does not seem like a priority to them. I feel that they will continue to have longevity without focusing on social media. Could these brands capitalize more on their social platforms? Of course, but do they need to? As of right now, I’d argue no. Another observation I noticed with my daily browsing on social media is that consumers love to share their cars, or dream cars online, without the company that makes the car even acknowledging them. Its promotion that they don’t even have to pay for.
Social media auditing is a crucial technique in understanding how different users and brands handle their social media with their outreach and engagement. After performing one, I have noticed that I have been more mindful of how well or poorly certain brands are handling their platforms and thought of ways that they could improve. I implore you to take a look at your favourite pages on social media and ask yourself questions regarding their posts and how well they are being handled. You might get some interesting results.