Social Media Audit Questions
Social media can be used to achieve various objectives: Building brand awareness, becoming influential and authoritative, building customer relationships, increasing leads, and much more.
To engage in social media effectively, it’s fundamental to conduct a comprehensive content & social media audit to help define and guide your strategy.
The purpose of this audit is to answer the following questions:
Where are digital conversations happening that are influencing your target buyers?
Who are the people who drive the digital conversations?
What are the conversations about, and how are they influencing target buyers?
How does your company match up to influencers in your space?
What types of content should your company share to improve their bottom line?
Part 1. Competitive Analysis
Let’s start by looking at the online competitive space. A social media campaign should be driven both by opportunities, gaps, inspiration from competitors, as well as audience needs. A fundamental part of this information is competitive research.
Who are your Main Competitors?
What Social Media Platforms are they on?
For each of your competitors, go through and answer the questions below.
Overall Social Strategy
In this part, you’ll take a brief look and summarize your findings as you take stock of who your competitors are and what they’re doing on social media.
Is the branding consistent?
Are they sniping (following a very deliberate, targeted strategy) or spraying and praying (haphazard social sharing, no clear strategy)?
What percentage of the content is curated vs created?
What percentage of the content is topical vs generic / popular?
How often do they “Sell” on social?
Do they run contests regularly?
How do they acquire new followers?
How much of the content is a news flash vs engagement and interaction?
Integration Audit
Next we want to look at how they’re connecting their website with their social profiles.
Are the website and social profiles integrated?
Are social profiles integrated with each other?
Content Audit
This is a general audit based on the content found on their blog and across their social profiles.
What types of content do they share?
How effective & engaging is their content?
How well does it fit the needs, passions and pains of their target buyers?
What feedback do they get from followers concerning updates
Blog evaluation:
- Do they have a blog?
- How often do they blog?
- What kind of content do they share?
- What kind of posts get the most likes, shares and comments?
- Do they use Multi-media?
- Are posts shared on social media?
- What are some prominent content pieces?
- Do they have an editorial calendar?
An In-Depth Look by Platform
Profile Elements
- How does their look impact overall marketing effectiveness?
- What does their image say about their brand?
- Can page visitors quickly determine brand personality?
- Is the profile comprehensive and complete? Does itimention all of their services, unique value propositions, and other important information?
Content Strategy
Frequency: How often do they post?
Types:
What type of content do they post?
Questions? Videos? Text? Memes?
Any frequently discussed topics?
Do they use hashtags? If so, how?
Patterns: What patterns have you seen emerge from their content style?
Interests: What do they include in their 4 visible tabs?
Hashtags: Are hashtags being used appropriately?
- Tracking: are tracking URL’s being used?
Popularity
Reach/Popularity
Followers/Fans/Subscribers
Following
Klout
Sentiment/Engagement
Are mentions positive or negative?
How many comments / post?
Are there replies to questions / polls?
What posts have the most “Likes”, shares and comments?
Platform-Specific:
Facebook:
What tabs are visibly displayed?
What apps/widgets do they use?
Twitter:
Do they retweet and favorite other accounts?
Pinterest:
How many Boards?
Are boards niche-specific or general?
Google Plus:
Do they regularly use hangouts and events?
Others:
Instagram
Tumblr
Slideshare
Once you’ve completed the audit for your top 5 competitors, go through and answer the questionnaire for your own site and social presence.
Part 2: Opportunity and Gap Analysis
Now that you’ve surveyed the social space, perform an analysis based on your findings.
Campaign Structure & Approach
Summary of what has worked in social media for competitors
What are potential gaps & social media opportunities?
What campaigns, content, and promotions have worked for competitors?
How can you use existing networks, content, and websites to improve shareability?
Using data from your social media audit, you are now ready to create your social media marketing strategy!
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