How a Social Media Audit Can Skyrocket Blog Traffic [Step by Step Guide]

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Have you ever done a social media audit of all your social media accounts in the last 12 months?

If yes, were you happy with the results? Did you make plans to improve your findings?

Was your answer no? Do you think it might be time to take a look at the effectiveness of your social media campaigns?

You may be thinking what on earth is a social media audit? If that is your question I will explain it a little later on.

In the meantime, from a 10,000-foot view posting stuff on social media may appear to be ‘working’.

However, because it does require an investment of time, resources and money it is important to take stock of your objectives.

In this post, you will learn what is a social media audit, why you need one and how to do one yourself to improve your results overall.

What is a Social Media Audit?

I am so glad that you asked because like you many years ago I had no idea that a social media audit even existed.

In a nutshell, a social media audit is the ability to do a review of all of your social media footprints or profiles.

These would include Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter and Snapchat.

The goal is to take a look at what is currently working, what is not working as well as how to improve going forward.

As simple as this sounds it does involve some research, looking at your blog or business goals and assessing your ideal customer.

One of the hardest things to do after an audit is to change a habit because it is not bringing in the desired results.

The Benefits of Doing an Audit

Some entrepreneurs who look at the definition of a social media audit may not quite understand the benefits of doing one.

So, let me give you an analogy in order to help you grasp the importance of doing a social audit.

Let’s say you decide to do a road trip from New York to San Francisco and you get everything ready to get there.

You have clothes, money to pay for food and accommodation, bits and pieces to keep you entertained as well as insurance.

However, you realise after 10 days of travel that you are not closer to your destination and you did not really map out the journey.

In other words, you have no idea how long it will take you to get there but you know it shouldn’t take more than 5 years!!

I know that may sounds ridiculous but it is the same with a social media campaign or strategy.

If there isn’t a specific plan in place and you are on social media because everyone else is doing it then a social media audit is probably a great way to help you with your goals.

What you Need for an Audit?

Well, the first thing you will need is a big list of all your social media accounts.

You will also need the analytics of each account over the last 12 months if possible.

Another thing that you will need is a copy of your ideal customer avatar so that you can see if you are targeting the right audience.

Your analytics should include the following:

1. Likes
2. Clicks
3. Comments
4. Retweets
5. Shares
6. Reach
7. Impressions
8. Mentions
9. Followers

Every social media profile will have a different group of metrics. You will also need to log into Google Analytics to see click-throughs and/or conversions.

Get a free social media audit template to help you gather the analytics your need.

How to Conduct a Social Media Audit (Step by Step)

One of the first things you need to do when conducting a social media audit is go to each social profile and ensure it is up to date.

Facebook Audit

If you have a Facebook business page check for the following items.

1. Branded cover photo in place
2. Profile logo or image
3. Verified page
4. A relevant call to action button (Learn more, message me, buy now, etc.)
5. About us section is complete
6. Automated response for enquiries
7. Contact details are up-to-date
8. Complete all other information
9. No outstanding queries

Twitter Audit

A Twitter account is different to a Facebook business page so here is what you need.

1. Branded cover image with a call to action
2. Profile logo or photo
3. Completed bio with hashtags
4. Link to your website or other social account
5. No outstanding direct messages

Instagram Audit

Instagram is a totally different when compared to Facebook and Twitter so this is what to do.

1. A relevant profile photo or logo
2. Link to your website or landing page
3. Up to date bio with a call to action
4. An awesome username that’s on-brand
5. Hashtag, email address in bio
6. Appropriate emojis in bio
7. No outstanding direct messages
8. Ensure that your Facebook Page is connected to your Instagram business account

LinkedIn Profile Audit

I did two posts in the past outlining how to conduct a LinkedIn profile audit and it is probably the most difficult of all social accounts.

Here is a brief outline of what you need to do.

1. Complete your name (photo needs to be professional)
2. The Headline should have customer benefit (include keywords)
3. Update your current position
4. Enter location
5. Choose the appropriate industry
6. About or summary section should have a summary of how you help your ideal customer
7. The featured section should have links to blog posts and popular social posts
8. Your experience should be in reverse chronological order with the most recent first. The points should be about how you helped potential clients or grew the business
9. List your educational achievements
10. Include your certifications
11. Remember to add any charity work

Pinterest Audit

Unlike the other platforms Pinterest is really a search engine so there isn’t any real engagement.

However, it is important to update your profile with these items.

1. Update Display name to include brand and keywords
2. Ensure username is on-brand
3. Your photo should match other social platforms
4. The profile should say how you help clients and include keywords
5. Include an email address if needed

Before completing all these profiles it would make sense to ensure that the bios and profiles match your business goals.

It should align with your monthly, quarterly and annual goals seamlessly.

What to do with Your Social Media Analytics

After you get access to your analytics it is time to take a look at them in more detail.

Here is what you need to look at for each profile placing the totals for each quarter.

Facebook Analytics

As you can see, for the Facebook audit to be complete you need to grab all the analytics and look at the engagement, click-throughs and leads or conversions.

You are basically assessing what worked compared with what did not work.

The goal here is to do more of what is working or improve on what got engagement.

Twitter Analytics Audit

Twitter analytics are readily available on the platform and you have the ability to export it as a csv file.

You will notice that the analytics are different when compared with Facebook.

Although both Facebook and Twitter have follower activity I left them out because there is a huge ‘follow -> unfollow’ culture on these platforms.

Pinterest Audit

Just like Twitter analytics, Pinterest has this awesome feature that allows you to download or export your analytics by date range.

The good thing about Pinterest is that it is super easy to measure what’s working because of the statistics.

If your pins are not getting impressions it simply means that you need to improve your Pinterest SEO.

You may notice that you are getting a lot of impressions but nobody is clicking.

It just means that you need to change the message on the pin to get the click.

Profile Demographics

One of the most important steps when conducting a social media audit is to look at your profile demographics.

Some platforms are much better than others when it comes to uncovering a breakdown of your audience.

Pinterest has audience insights which can be easily found when looking under the same tab as analytics.

Here’s is an example of Pinterest audience insights.

Remember the goal here is to ensure that your messages are reaching your ideal audience.

While it is difficult to manually tweak your audience you can change it over time by engaging with profiles that match your ideal client avatar.

Twitter removed their audience insights earlier this year which is a complete disappointment.

In the meantime, here is an example of Instagram insights which is only accessible via a mobile device.

Now that you have a fair understanding of what is involved and what is needed to conduct a social media audit what will you do next?

Look at Your Objectives Again

In my experience, the most difficult part of conducting a social media audit is aligning it with your objectives.

The truth is if you are not really sure about your objectives or even who your ideal client is supposed to be then get those right first.

Let me explain what I mean in a little more detail.

If my objective is to have a social media account to grow my brand awareness, create interest in my services and help my prospects include me in their shortlist of options then that’s a good start.

I need to be really clear about my bottomline. If you are one of my regular readers then this may look familiar.

The Buyer Journey

Having a social media profile helps your potential buyers to learn more about you by increasing brand awareness.

If they are your ideal client then your messages during the awareness stage will resonate with them and they will engage with your content.

This means that they show interest and add your brand to their shortlist of potential solutions when they are at the consideration stage.

Social Media Messaging

It is time to look at your messaging under a magnifying glass. Does your messages resonate with your audience.

If you conducted your social media audit and you find that your ideal client is not engaging with your content then it could be the message needs tweaking.

Carefully look at the message and ask yourself who does it speak to and at what stage of the buying cycle.

Does it fall into any of the 5 categories in the buyer’s journey and is it in the right format?

In other words, it may not make sense to create a 40 minute video to drive awareness of your brand.

Cut the video down and make it 1-2 minute presentations so that you can pique the interest of your potential client.

If all of this sounds way too complex for you to do then remember to take a look at these social media services to get the help you need.

How to Increase Website Traffic

Set SMART goals and objectives for your blog or business to grow your audience using social media.

After completing a social media audit here are a few things that will happen.

1. You will know what messages work well with your audience from the metrics
2. A key understanding of your ideal client will help you tweak your messages to match their fears
3. The key metrics will tell you what time of the day and which platform brings you better results
4. You will use the right creative every time to get better engagement
5. Better engagement will mean that your audience will respond to you more and they are more inclined to click-through
6. Deliver real value on your landing pages so that they will return for more content

Hopefully, this was helpful in showing you what needs to happen to improve your social media results month after month.

Summary

Wow!! That was a lot to cover in one post but you know what, it was worth it so you know what is involved and if you can do it by yourself.

Just in case you skipped down to the bottom of this post here is a summary of what was covered.

1. What is a social media audit
2. The benefits
3. Why do an audit
4. How to conduct an audit
5. Social media analytics
6. Profile demographics
7. Business objectives
8. Social media messaging
9. How to increase website traffic

The good news is that it is possible for you to do it all by yourself following the steps outlined above.

My personal experience is that it can be difficult if you don’t know your ideal avatar.

It can also be difficult when you are unsure about your business objectives because you really need clarity in this area as well.

Remember to grab the done for you Social Media Audit template by simply entering your name and email address in the form provided.

What has been your experience using social media marketing? Have you ever done a social media audit?

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Have you been thinking of creating a presence of Facebook for your blog or business? Grab this resource that shows you how to create a Facebook Business page.

Are trying to understand the difference between Facebook and Pinterest? Take advantage of this post that compares Facebook vs Pinterest.

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