Sync your social media story

So last week we talked about why you might need a social media audit, and this week, we’re going to give you the steps to do one!

First steps:

via GIPHY

  • Google your name, your organization’s name, the name of campaigns you’ve run in the past. Do the same on all the major social networks. Make a note of all you find.
    • Top tip: Use https://namechk.com/ to see what social platforms have your organization’s name as an account holder
  • Consider platforms that you aren’t using anymore – is it time to archive and delete your Tumblr page, for example?

How to perform your audit

  • Create a spreadsheet, listing columns such as Platform/Followers/Most popular posts/whatever is relevant to your goals.
  • Take a thorough look at all the accounts you found in your initial search. Note which ones need updating.
  • Make sure each profile section is complete and correct, as well as correct handles, pinned posts etc.
  • What post best reflects the image you want your potential contacts/customers/boss to see?
  • Which post doesn’t reflect the image you want them to see? Consider the overall narrative you are portraying, and delete those non-reflective posts.

Incidentally, this might be a good time to mention again I’m working on a webinar on this very topic. Stay tuned for more details soon!

Rock and roll, it’s time to fill in your spreadsheet:

via GIPHY

  • Facebook has applied a whole load of personal data restrictions in the past few years, so it’s pretty much impossible to get analytics for personal accounts. You can get around this by setting up a ‘page’ and running your professional profile through that.
    • If you’re running a page on behalf of an organization, make sure you have Business Manager [https://business.facebook.com/]
    • Use the overview to see general data about your page, and the drop-down menu to see your most popular posts.
    • What has been the most successful? Note the style of post and key stats [reach/engagement] in your spreadsheet
    • Go to Insights and use the People and ‘Your fans’ tabs to learn about who is coming to your page, eg gender mix and location.
    • Add all the info to your spreadsheet
  • Instagram – sign up for a business account to get the most analysis.
    • Check out Insta Insights (the little bar chart icon next to your username). This gives a basic overview of your account activity
    • Use ‘Followers’ to learn about your followers – especially days/times when they are most active. You can use this to time future posts
    • Use ‘View Insights’ on individual posts to see how successful they have been
    • Add all the info to your spreadsheet
  • Twitter
    • Go to the ‘Analytics’ option
    • ‘Tweet Activity’ will show engagement, clicks, reach, etc, as well as ‘Top Tweets’
    • What trends can you notice?
    • Note it all down in your spreadsheet!

All your social platforms will have similar analytics tools – use this for YouTube, and any newsletter service like MailChimp. Do your research and note your results!

Now you can use your analysis to inform your future posts and your advertising!

There are also useful tools online to help:

Hootsuite for example has a really handy widget for checking ROI on social spend, while SproutSocial has a list of 10 of the best social media analytics tools (naturally, they put their own one first).


Good luck, and don’t forget to let me know how you get on – tweet @taratw with your tips! And share this post if you found it helpful!

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