Social Media Audits: Exploring and Understanding
Social media audits are time-consuming but essential when it comes to social media and marketing. Developing and implementing an effective digital marketing strategy will help companies and individuals to optimize their social media accounts. In my social media audit, I focused on a multi-purpose communication app for schools.
Through social media audits, an individual such as a consultant for example, or a small or large business, can invest efforts and funding into the right social spaces that will yield a greater return on investment (ROI) and help with meeting their specific key performance indicators (KPI). In this audit, reviewing the numerous social media accounts in use is helpful to see the alignment of their mission with the type of content being shared and how each network can be leveraged to reach a specific target audience.
Focus on the Customer: Consistent Social Care
Having a dedicated system for social care is essential for responding to any customer concerns or questions that may be posted on social media. On Facebook and Twitter, people expect more interactions and there were more comments posted on these networks when completing my social media audit of the “school app.”
Through their networks, I could tell that having a solid following, meeting goals, establishing relationships, and building a level of trust are part of their mission. These are also keys to enhancing customer satisfaction and encouraging customers to share the product or service with others. Businesses build trust and loyalty by responding in a timely and professional manner. If there are too many networks to manage, then it is wise to review which are the highest performing and focus more efforts on those spaces.
The company I chose provides multiple ways for customers to reach them for support (social networks and website email, chatbot popup on site which is responsive). You can also tell that they are genuinely invested in their product and its mission through the videos and content created.
Determining what works
With a social media audit, consistency in the user name, mission statement, purpose, and keywords used, are all important. Evaluating the number of followers, the content shared, the frequency of posts, and the engagement rate with posts, are some of the most important parts of the audit. With this information, the company or individual can then evaluate which types of media are working, which networks are performing the best, and take a closer look at the type of content and media that are driving the most interaction and engagement.
In completing my social audit, looking carefully across each network, there were clear indicators of what is the most successful for this brand. The types of posts (daily and weekly videos of real situations), the consistency in branding, and the use of visually engaging content in the posts.
Number of Followers
““Build it, and they will come” only works in the movies. Social Media is a “build it, nurture it, engage them, and they may come and stay.”
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The key to success
The company is very active on most networks and consistently creates visually engaging and humorous, real-world examples that resonate with the target audience of educators and families. A clear message with consistent keywords and hashtags, a recognizable brand (favicon), and colors, makes them stand out against competitors.
Logo of the company and coloring are consistent.
The key to their successful post and social presence is that they post content that will hook the audience, spark curiosity, resonate with the user/follower, and build recognizable and trustworthy brand awareness through these spaces. Having access to this information is helpful for making better-informed decisions when deciding on the type of content (blogs, posts, videos) to share and how to best engage with your intended audience.
Insights gained
Looking at each network for this brand provided me with a clear picture of the effectiveness of their social media strategy and insight into their overall marketing efforts. It is a challenge to track the metrics for each platform. There are many variables and choosing whether to focus on likes, views, engagement, expanded views, and conversions, all of which are important to measure the effectiveness of the digital marketing strategy.
For a good marketing strategy, dedicating time to plan for consistent branding with logos, fonts, colors, and styles is key as well so that it is recognizable to the intended audience and current users/customers. The company chosen is very consistent in its posts across each active platform.
For this company, there is a flow to the type of content and the frequency with which it is shared. Instagram and TikTok are authentic, and relevant, and have quality graphics, videos, and posts that will help to build their brand. They show their true selves and the experiences they recreate will resonate with people, which helps to drive their mission even further.
What makes them stand out above competitors, is their type and authenticity of the content. Their use of TikTok for example enables them to differentiate themselves and gives them a competitive edge over competitors on social media. Several TikTok videos had 220K, 117K, and 110K views which I believe is due to the authenticity of the team sharing experiences in humorous situations that resonate with their target audience. Both Instagram and TikTok accounts are the highest performing, followed by Twitter and then Facebook. Facebook has more than 4,000 followers which I believe is highest because parents and families are more likely to engage on Facebook than the other platforms.
LinkedIn did not have as much activity as the other networks. Pinterest and YouTube accounts were mostly inactive and are not contributing to the brand’s social media strategy. These efforts and the content could be transferred to the other higher-performing networks or housed on the main website.
Strengths and Recommendations for Other Brands Based on this Audit:
Creating and consistently sharing high-quality content will drive traffic and generate more leads.
Regularly monitor each social media account for questions and comments to provide responsive social care.
Use analytics to track audience, demographics, engagement rate, and reach to optimize the digital marketing strategy.
Know the target audience and create content that resonates more authentically and drives greater engagement with them.
Conduct social media audits regularly and adjust as needed, indicated by KPI.
Success in digital marketing takes ongoing review and analysis of social media presence and comparative analysis with competitors. Leveraging the right spaces will increase online visibility, build trust, and improve customer satisfaction.
““The most successful marketer becomes part of the lives of their followers. They follow back. They wish happy birthday. They handle problems their customers have with products or service. They grow their businesses and brands by involving themselves in their own communities.”
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