The new year is around the corner!
It’s time to take a fresh look at your social media operations and optimize for the new year. A social media audit is part of any social media strategy, but to give you some simple advice as to what you should do to further improve your social media presence, ask yourself the following 10 questions:
Social Media Platforms
- Are your activities on the various social media websites aligned with where your target customers are spending their time? Perhaps you should consider enlarging your presence to newer social media sites such as Pinterest, Instagram, or TikTok.
- Are you seeing positive ROI from the time spent on the platforms in which you are invested? If not, you need to consider either optimizing your current presence (i.e. doing something different) or resetting your expectations for said platform and perhaps spending less time there and more elsewhere.
Social Media Content
- Does your content continue to resonate with your social media following? If not, look at shaking up your social media writing.
- Is your content aligned with your business goals? If not, you need to re-consider your entire content marketing strategy, especially if you are not seeing increased website traffic from social media despite your increased following there.
Social Media Strategy
- Does your organization have clear objectives as to what you are trying to achieve through your social media efforts? If so, it’s a good time to look at how you did in 2024 and make sure you have a plan for 2025 that is aligned with your current corporate strategy. If not, it’s time for some soul-searching – and aligning your social media objectives with your corporate goals.
- Does your organization have a written social media strategy? What happens if the person in charge of social media for your company decides to leave? How will you educate internal employees company-wide on your social presence, as we evolve into the era of the Connected Company and social business?
Social Media Organization
- If you have hired someone who is in charge of your social media, or are outsourcing to an outside resource, can they provide you with a concise report as to what value they are providing your operation, and hopefully illustrate a clear ROI for their activities? If not, you need to either better manage them, train them, or consider alternatives.
- Assuming your company has a social media strategy, has your internal organization been educated on it? Do you have an internal communications go-to person that is in charge of your social in-sourcing efforts? Have you been taking advantage of your biggest potential social media brand advocates: your internal employees?
Social Media Branding
- If your company has branding guidelines, have you extended social media to them? Most branding guidelines were written before the advent of social media, but including information as to how your company will implement those guidelines in social is as critical as ever.
- What is your social media “voice?” Is it the “voice” of your Community Manager? Or do your tweets, posts, and blogs truly represent the “voice” of your brand? Social media is the best way to create a strong brand, but only if you have a consistent voice through all of your channels. When registering your domain name, make sure to check your domain name availability on social media platforms, so that your name matches everywhere.
Once you answer these questions, spend a little time revising your social media strategy for 2025. Don’t forget: Since social media is always changing and evolving, a social media strategy needs to become a living document, not something set in stone.
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