More and more firms are offering social media audits these days-including our own-aimed at taking a fresh look at your social media strategy and the effectiveness of its execution.With the ever-growing popularity of social media, and emergence of new platforms all the time, it's important to take this time for appraisal. As with anything, when you're looking at your own social content every day, you don't always see it the way a stranger, or a potential customer, sees it. Whether you do it yourself or consult with outside counsel, here are a few elements that should be included in every social media audit:
- Engagement numbers. How many followers do you have? How many are you following? What is your post count? These numbers are the foundation for later analysis.
- Content balance. Is all of your content self-promotional? We recommend the 50/30/20 rule: 50% informational posts, 30% engagement and interaction, and just 20% self-promotional.
- Analyze every platform. Twitter and Facebook are king, but they're not the only relevant platforms. Evaluate your presence on YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and other sites, even if the conclusion is that maybe you shouldn't be there quite yet.
- Killer visuals. Are your profile picture and cover photo telling the right story? Do you share enough photos and infographics to capture the attention of your audience, and help them learn something new through visuals? Visuals and graphics become more important every day.
- Consistency. In many ways, consistency is essential. Your logo, voice and messaging should be uniform across all platforms. The frequency of your posts and responses should be dependable, too.