SOCIAL MEDIA ANNUAL AUDIT: YOUR GAME PLAN FOR SUCCESS

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1 SOCIAL MEDIA ANNUAL AUDIT: YOUR GAME PLAN FOR SUCCESS Conducting an annual audit of your social environment, road map and infrastructure is key to preparing the business, social and content teams for success. We have designed this checklist to pro-vide tips and advice that can inform your next social audit. There is no quick fix, and there is no one size fits all ; so by providing a framework of what to think about and why, we hope to inspire and empower you to set about your own process in reviewing and revisiting your social game plan. SETTING OUT ON YOUR SOCIAL AUDIT Your social strategy was born from business needs, marketing goals and a competitor review. Now, with time and data on your side, it s time to audit your effort with this in mind. There are four key areas that need your attention: 1. CONDUCT A HEALTH CHECK AND CREATE SOCIAL BENCHMARKS 2. REVIEW ACTIVITY AND REFRESH YOUR 3. AUDIT, CUT AND ADOPT NEW TECHNOLOGY 4. UPDATE YOUR SOCIAL STRATEGY With these key areas in mind, divide and conquer as you check off the actions that help round out your attention in each of these areas.

2 CREATE SOCIAL BENCHMARKS 1. REPORTING: Establish a consistent and regular reporting cycle. Being on the pulse of your social activity is the key to progressive optimisation and it is crucial that you allow for regular, comprehensive and integrated reporting. 2. BENCHMARKS: Set benchmarks and KPIs that align with the business. Assess your social and website data in parallel to determine the role and value of each channel. Use this data to create your benchmarks. 3. GOALS: Define goals for social success in each channel. All channels work in different ways so view them independently. BUT, manage your channels holistically to ensure a consistent, valued and integrated marketing story. Be critical and clear with your objectives - your benchmarks, KPIs and overall goals will set the pace for your marketing activity. 4. COMPETITORS: Keep an eye on your competitors and the broader landscape. Conduct reviews of the landscape frequently and look at other industries also to see who is using technology or platforms in an innovative way. Your social evolution is dependent on how well you know your brand and can translate it into a meaningful experience. 5. LISTEN: Listening needs to form a greater part of your strategy. Selecting a robust and integrated listening platform can bring strength to your social calendar.

3 REVIEW AND REFRESH YOUR 1. REFRESH: Revise and refresh your social playbook - a GPS for the social business. Look at the data (past and present) to determine what worked and what didn t. Refine processes, streamline activity and move forward with invigorated direction. Assess existing channels - be ruthless as you choose to cull channels completely or ambitiously switch channels into a different gear. 2. POLICIES: Update your social and business policies. If the business changes so should your policies so review your house rules and engagement guidelines. Integrating social processes into broader business flows will assist in bringing continuity in messaging across different departments and set a clear social destination. 3. CRISIS FRAMEWORKS: Review your risk mitigation and escalation process. Social channels evolve and with the emergence of new features like Direct Messaging in Instagram or the customer service Messaging Plugin from Facebook, you need to listen more and be ready to respond everywhere. 4. OPTIMISE CONTENT FORMATS: Your content mix needs to be relevant to what your audience is looking for. Historic data shows what worked and what didn t while social listening will help unveil what they would like to see. Your playbook is your guide rail for everything that happens in the year ahead, so make sure it is relevant and on trend. 5. PAY TO PLAY: Paying for social reach is the name of the game. With access to highly targeted audiences, it pays to make an impact with the audiences you do want rather than relying on organic or untargeted activity. Content deserves to be seen, and the money will help that happen.

4 AUDIT YOUR TECHNOLOGY 1. ASSESS: Just as social channels evolve, so do the management UPDATE: Consider a mix of free and paid technology and opt 4. SECURITY: Review and update all your channel login tools. Review the technology you have employed and gauge its value. Consider interviewing stakeholders and people on the ground who use the technology daily. IDENTIFY: Speak to your vendors about their roadmap to evolve tools and run an audit on newly available tools. Emerging technologies often integrate with more channels and newer social functions and bring cohesion to the mix. for tools that offer greater efficiency and productivity. A good paid tool can often save the team time while integrating better with reporting requirements. credentials. Reset all internal and external access grants. Put simply, clean the slate and secure your social environment.

5 REVIEW AND REFRESH YOUR 1. ALIGNMENT: Revisiting objectives is imperative at frequent intervals, and the New Year is a great time for this. Revisit the over arching strategy and refine your approach and goals even further. Designing your social strategy to complement the business strategy (and vice versa) will see deeper integration between the online and offline, with the opportunity to create richer, deeper engagement experiences for your audience across your marketing mix. 2. OBJECTIVES: A revision of the strategy is accompanied by a revision of goals. Your benchmarking exercise will give you information that can be used to determine benchmarks and new KPIs. Being strategic with your goals will give your reporting strong direction and enable better ROI reporting. 3. OPPORTUNITIES: As business and social media evolve alongside one another, it is important to look for new opportunities. In 2015, many brands chose to withdraw activity from Google+. Clearing the deck with a fresh view on channels and the role that each can play will strengthen the strategic approach for social and the business. Some of the more successful brands embrace the view that less is more. 4. REPORTING FRAMEWORK: Interview stakeholders and loop back to your revised strategy - your reporting methods will help inform on progress and success. Representing clear and measurable objectives in reporting is important. 5. MOBILE VS DESKTOP: Audiences are becoming increasingly mobile. Use this information to optimise your content. Your audit is about simplifying, reducing, creating and maintaining a clear framework for your social media activity. Deep dive your audit and revisit your data regularly to ensure the wheels of optimisation are always in top gear. If you would like to know more about Amicus Digital and how we can help you with your Social Media Audit, drop us line on +61 (0) or enquiry@amicusdigital.com.au