Social media is an incredible tool business owners can use to connect with ideal clients and customers, showcase their brand values and generate new leads. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok have transformed the marketing world and given companies a new place to build loyal communities around their brand.
However, these platforms will only boost your marketing efforts if you use them correctly. It takes more than a few graphics and posting each day to make a true impact on social media. In order to grow your pages and connect with your audience, you need to focus on the data behind each piece of content.
Social media analytics will help you and your team determine what’s working and what’s not when it comes to your content strategy. This data allows you to make better decisions regarding where you spend your time and energy, helping you see a stronger ROI in the long run.
If you’re ready to step up your social media game and take full advantage of these platforms, it’s time for you to conduct a social media audit. Taking a deep dive into your social media pages will help you determine if these networks are truly helping you build lucrative relationships. At the end of the day, social media is only worth the time and effort if it’s helping you meet your end goals.
Here’s a breakdown of how you can begin to audit your social media:
Metrics to Track
When it comes to your social media audit, you’ll want to take a data-based approach. Looking at a variety of different metrics will help you in visualizing what’s worth your time and what needs some extra attention.
Think about your leading indicators and your lagging indicators here. Leading indicators will help you predict your future success, whereas lagging indicators detail how you’ve performed on social media thus far.
You’ll want to start by tracking your leads from social media on intake forms in order to analyze a variety of metrics detailed below.
Conversion Rate
One of the most important metrics to track, your conversion rate is the number of users who take action on your page out of the total visitors to that specific page.
For example, let’s say you share a post on Facebook that encourages people to sign up for your email list. You leave a link to the sign up page in your post that users can click on to enter their information.
Imagine that 100 users visit the page, but only 37 convert to email subscribers. You’ll use the formula below to calculate your conversion rate percentage.
Conversions (in this case, email subscribers) / Total clicks x 100 = Conversion rate percentage
(37 / 100) x 100 = 37%
This metric will be extremely insightful when it comes to determining whether or not your content is compelling and high-value. The most relevant posts will have high conversion rates, so make a note of this as you’re conducting your audit.
Reach
Your post’s reach will indicate how many people have seen your content. You can calculate your post reach percentage by using the formula below.
If your reach is low, there’s a good chance your followers aren’t interacting much with your content. The less they engage with your brand, the less likely they’ll see your posts in the future as well.
Think about ways in which you can vary your content and make it more engaging for your audience.
Reach formula: Total reach of post / Total followers x 100 = Post reach percentage
Engagement Rate
Your engagement rate is indicative of just how compelling your post was to your audience. This metric details how many actions, such as likes, shares and comments, your post received in regards to your total following.
The more engagement, the more your content is actually appealing to your followers. If your engagement rate is high, this proves that you’re not wasting your time when it comes to content creation. Calculate your engagement rate by using the formula below.
Total engagement actions (likes, comments, video views, shares) / Total followers x 100 = Engagement rate
It’s important to note that successful engagement rates vary depending on the social media platform. Facebook is known for lower rates, around 1%, whereas Instagram is known for higher rates, around 3-5%.
Comments
This metric is quite easy to track, as you’ll simply need to take a look at how many people took the time to leave a comment on one of your posts. An easy way for your business to receive more comments is by adding a question to your caption.
For example, an event planner might share a blog post with tips on how to throw the perfect surprise party, while asking their audience if they’ve ever had a surprise party thrown for them before. This encourages their followers to leave a comment telling their own story, upping the brand’s engagement rate while doing so.
Just remember that if you’re going to ask a question, make sure you also take the time to respond to the comment you get on your post. This positive feedback also shows Instagram that you’re an engaging account that is invested in your followers.
Likes
Another simple metric, likes are a way for your business to understand if people are actually appreciating the content you share. Simply total the number of likes on each post and compare them against one another. The more likes, the better. Make note of which pieces of content got the most likes and why this might be. Is there a style of post that is performing better for your audience? Perhaps it’s time to create more of that kind of content?
Shares
When it comes to social media, the more shares you get, the more you’re able to widen your reach. This is a high-value metric as it indicates that your audience found your content compelling enough to save and revisit later. You want each of your posts to be shareable, as they’ll then be put in front of entirely new audiences that you may never have reached before.
Take a look at which of your posts were shared the most:
- Is it because you encouraged your followers to share these posts?
- What types of content got the most shares – videos, carousels, single photos, reels?
- Pay attention to this metric to figure out how to create content that gets re-shared.
Followers
Though many entrepreneurs get caught up in the number of users that follow their accounts, keep in mind that it’s always quality over quantity when it comes to followers. If a business has 10,000+ followers but only around 1,000 are actually engaging with their content and buying their products, then those extra 9,000 followers are simply ineffective when it comes to meeting their business goals.
On the other hand, if an account only has 1,000 followers but their engagement rate is soaring and they’re constantly signing new clients, that’s an indication that their 1,000 followers are highly valuable. That small account has a much more effective audience than the competitor who has 10,000 followers and constantly hears crickets online.
Pro Tip: Don’t get too invested in the number of followers you have. Instead, focus on growing your pages full of people who are actively listening to what you have to share. Vanity metrics tend to steal the show, but they’re often not worth the stress.
What You’ll Learn
After you’ve tracked each of these metrics, you’ll want to use them to analyze each post and if it was successful or not. Look at which pieces of content had the highest engagement rate, as this means the post actually resonated with your audience.
Think about which captions also received the highest amount of likes, shares, comments, etc. The best captions tend to have about 50-200 words in them, written from a place of service. Remember that your content should be valuable and help solve your ideal client and customer’s problems.
These metrics are also indicative of which images performed the best on your social media pages. Did an infographic have the highest engagement rate? Or did a video receive the most comments? Dig deep here and figure out what works for your brand visually.
You’ll also want to pay close attention to the posts with the highest metrics and what time and day they were shared. Experiment here and use your analytics to see when your followers are actually online.
You might find that posts shared early in the morning did well, while posts shared mid-afternoon were left with little engagement. Make note of this and be sure to share content when it’s more likely to be seen.
After the Audit
Once you’ve completed your audit, there are a few steps you’ll need to take in order to continue creating impactful content:
- First, you’ll want to create a quarterly scorecard to keep track of the metrics discussed above.
- Sit down with your team once per quarter to analyze your findings.
- How can you alter your social media strategy moving forward?
Succeeding on social media often takes the creativity and effort of an entire team, so be sure to keep your members in the loop when it comes to content creation. These reports will give everyone insight into how they can help improve your brand’s online presence.
You’ll also want to organize brainstorming meetings when it comes to content ideas. Take time each week, month or quarter to gather ideas and implement them into your strategy. Be sure to follow your content themes or pillars, while being open to editing them should they not resonate with your audience.
A social media audit is a strategic way for you to look at the big picture when it comes to your social media accounts. Take the time to conduct one and you’ll learn more about your audience, what kinds of content convert best for your business and how you can continue building a loyal community around your brand.
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