What a Social Media Audit Entails, with the example of a Social Analytics Firm in NetbaseQuid

Introduction
In the current globalization error, it’s a common requirement for businesses to devise a social media strategy that can turn their platforms’ traffic into measurable results. In most cases, it does not happen, or it does at slow rates. Probably a business changed ownership, and its social presence remains as it was run before, or there has been no commitment to consider what works and what does not. Whatever the reason, social media audits are imperative to understand whether marketing strategies match business goals

How it is Conducted

Social media audit involves some basic details.

1. Tracking All Social Media Accounts

Companies need to record all their social media accounts, particularly the active ones, to separate them from inactive profiles. This recording is used to separate a company’s real accounts from imposters and fraudsters that masquerade in their name. After tracking, the next critical step is to develop a program to monitor the accounts, aimed at disowning any fake accounts that arise continually. Tracking is also used to identify different networks where a company’s social presence is minimal or zero and evaluate the need to have one according to social strategy.

2. Ensuring All Accounts are Complete and Branded

After tracking and monitoring accounts, social media accounts’ profiles are completed and branded accordingly. This branding ensures that all communications and products promoted on social sites align with a company’s social strategy, for instance, by redirecting links and vital keywords. The other important aspect of social media audit is to ensure uniform handles, making it easier to redirect customers across different platforms.

3. Note the Best Posts

Companies identify posts that perform the best by attracting maximum traffic and generating the highest reviews. This identification is critical in analyzing patterns of such posts and using them as the benchmark while preparing future posts. Businesses use engagement as the standard metric at this level, representing the number of customers’ interest in a post.

4. Evaluating Performance and Tracking Results

Performance evaluation is critical after matching posts with the best-performing ones, implying that a social media page should increase traffic with time. After evaluation, results are compared against other results for a previous period. Businesses track results as a guide to improve their social media strategy depending on performance and expected results. As part of tracking results, businesses determine the return on their investments by comparing changes in sales, profits, and other metrics compared to improved social media presence.

In an audit template, a company can compare the different performance metrics to evaluate its social media presence. For instance, four commonly evaluated sites are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Businesses should then determine the number of followers they have from all the sites and the frequency of activities on the sites. Such performance metrics enable businesses to make more informed decisions.

Running a social media page is not as simple as it may sound. Therefore, social analytics companies, such as NetbaseQuid, conduct social media analytics to engage in a comprehensive social media audit for companies’ social media pages. Partnering with firms such as Coca-Cola and Lloyds Banks exemplifies the essence of such an audit for a company’s performance