30-Day Social Media Audit: Upgrade Your Social Media in 15 Minutes a Day

30-Day Social Media Audit: Upgrade Your Social Media in 15 Minutes a Day

30-Day Social Media Audit: Upgrade Your Social Media in 15 Minutes a Day

Your social media should be seen as an extension of your website, blog, and brand. This means that it also needs some TLC and an update every now and then. Just like your bedroom gets messy, your social media does too.

So this month, we’re going to take a good look at our social media, pull on our figurative yellow rubber gloves, and start scrubbing our social media presence clean.

(And trust me–this is the good kind of audit. Not the dreaded ones done by the IRS. I think you’ll come to find that audit is one of my favorite words.)

I’ve created a checklist for you so that you can print it, keep it on your desk, frame it, staple it to the wall, or whatever else you want that will help you to keep up. Download it by clicking the image below.

30-Day Social Media Audit: Upgrade Your Social Media in 15 Minutes a Day

Now let’s get started!


Day 1: Account for all of your accounts.

Bahaha, see what I did there?

Okay yeah, that was lame. Whatever.

The first day of the audit, you need to create a spreadsheet (in Excel, Google Drive, or even just pen and paper for all of you old fashioned people who still know how to write) with all of your current and past social media accounts. Make sure that you have all of your passwords in your spreadsheet or another safe place so that you don’t ever forget them. (You probably won’t even realize how much of a lifesaver this is until you actually have a passwords document.)


Day 2: Deactivate all old accounts.

Do you have Twitter accounts from back in ’07 when Twitter was only used to follow famous people and nobody tweeted except everybody secretly did? (Only weird shit though.)

Yep, you should probably get rid of those. You might not want your next date stumbling across them when he Googles you.

Don’t be an online hoarder and clutter the interwebz with your old crap. Clean up after yourself and deactivate those old accounts.


Day 3: Check for copycats.

Make sure that no one else is using your brand name without your knowledge/permission. People are weird and they like to pretend to be other people online. Use http://knowem.com to check your unused social media sites for copycats.


Day 4: Reserve your brand name.

Lucky enough not to have any weird copycats yet? Be sure to reserve your brand name on all social media networks, even ones you don’t use or ever even plan to use, just to make sure that you never get any.


Days 5-10: Make sure that your profile is complete and up-to-date.

I have one day reserved for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and LinkedIn. I don’t want this audit to be ridiculously overwhelming, so we’re keeping it simplified and breaking it up into chunks. Don’t use one of these social networks? Then you get a freebie day! (Bonus points if you still find something to make your social media better.)

Facebook:

  • Make sure you’ve created a personalized URL for your Facebook Page
  • Fill out your short and long descriptions
  • Add your URL and location (for brick & mortar businesses)
  • Fill out any other fields that apply to your blog/business

Twitter:

Instagram:

  • Write a description
  • Add your URL

Pinterest:

  • Write a description
  • Fill out everything under account settings
  • Add/verify your URL
  • Add Rich Pins

Google+:

  • Fill out all parts of your “story,” or your tagline, intro paragraph, and bragging rights
  • Add your top communities that you’re involved in
  • Add your URL
  • Add all other contact information necessary

LinkedIn:

  • Fill out your headline
  • Write your summary
  • Include all necessary work experience, especially if you’re a freelancer/solopreneur
  • Add your skills
  • Add your URL

Day 11: Match your social media handles.

Make it easy for your followers to find you on other social networks by making sure that all of your social media handles/names match. For example, my Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and LinkedIn usernames are all “ChloeWest28”.


Day 12: Check out your influencers.

This is one of my favorite parts. Take some time out of your day to look at all of the social media profiles for 3-5 of your favorite influencers.

Create a list of everything that they do that you absolutely love and a second list of the things they do that you don’t love or that you would do differently. Take notes on the things that you want to incorporate into your own social media strategy.


Day 13: Find the best social media platforms for you.

You don’t need to be on every single social media platform. Determine the best ones for you to be on and focus your energy on. Use this post to help you decide.


Day 14: Create your social media goals.

”Winging it” isn’t a phrase that should ever be used in the same sentence as your social media strategy. You need to have clear goals in mind for any business/ marketing plan and your social media marketing is no different. Without defining what exactly it is that you want to accomplish, you’re not going to be able to get there.

Come up with three concrete goals that you want your social media to achieve. Do you want to increase social traffic by X%? Grow your following by X followers each month? Make sure that they’re realistic and specific goals.


Day 15: Create a social media editorial calendar.

My favorite way to do this is in Google Drive, however I have also created a printable calendar in the past to tack onto my cork board.

However, I think the easiest thing to do is to create a Google Doc, insert a 7×4 table, and then paste in all of the images and URLs I plan to share that week. That way, when you go to schedule them, you only need to copy and paste each post into the update box.

Easy peasy.


Days 16-20: Brand your social media.

Here’s another twofer. Or fivefer I guess. One day for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+. Lucky for you, I’ve already written the ultimate blog post on branding your social media. Go here now.


Day 21: Define your target audience.

Who is it that needs your stuff, whether it’s a product, service, or just hella awesome content? And I mean really needs it. One of the first ways to fail in a business is by trying to market to everyone. In fact, the best way to really know who you’re targeting is by creating a customer profile and getting extremely precise with who you know needs what you’re offering.

Demographics:

  • Age:
  • Gender:
  • Education level:
  • Income level:
  • Job rank (entry-level, senior, CEO, etc.):
  • Industry/niche:

Behavior:

  • Personality:
  • Interests/hobbies:
  • Passions:
  • Likes/dislikes:
  • Favorite book/magazine/TV show/movie:

Location:

  • What website(s) does he/she spend the most time on?
  • Where is his/her favorite place to hang out?
  • Where does he/she live (rural vs. urban, etc.)?

Business:

  • Where does he/she research a product/service he/she is interested in?
  • What is his/her problem and why does your product/service solve it?
  • Why would he/she want to follow you on social media?
  • Where are you going to reach him/her?
  • What does he/she want to see online?

Day 22: Determine your social media voice.

Promoting yourself is weird. Use this post to find the most natural way to speak over your social media.


Days 23-28: Go back in time.

One day each for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Evaluate the past three months of your posts. Are there any posting patterns? What was your strategy? Did you see positive results from your past posts?

Create a list of all of the things that need to be changed or upgraded in your content strategy.


Day 29: Unfollow irrelevant accounts.

This is one of the biggest decluttering jobs that we’re going to do. Save the best for last (or almost last), I always say!

Sure, unfollowing people can be sad. It’s kind of like a breakup. Maybe you used to be close. You used to love what they posted. You used to have things in common. But people change and sometimes you just need to let go.

It’s okay. Press that unfollow button and move on.


Day 30: Scheduling.

Schedule out your social media content for the next week. Put your rad editorial calendar to use and create your posts then schedule them. (My personal favorite scheduler is Buffer.)

Add an hour into your schedule at the beginning of each week for creating and scheduling content. (It’s a good idea to bookmark, save, or add to your editorial calendar any links/photos that you’ll want to share in the future.)


I really hope you’ll join me as we amp up our social media game! Keep an eye out for my daily reminders on Facebook and Twitter and use the hashtag #SMaudit to update everyone on your progress!

13 Comments

  • Allison

    Wow, this looks great, Chloe!! Loving all the details you put into this. Day 4 was a big one for me since my Twitter is under my own name instead of my brand name. I kept forgetting make another account to reserve it until today, so thanks for that reminder! :)

    • Chloe

      Thanks so much for your comment, Allison! I'm glad this was helpful! :)

  • amy

    such great advice! day 29 is so important, sometimes we spend so much time following things that aren't important to us. it's nice to embrace a less chaotic approach! :)

  • Miss Angie

    This looks awesome. Pinning this!

  • Tiffany

    Great list Chloe! I'm actually working on day 29 in particular. Early on in my business, I would follow random accounts that I had no interest in simply so I could get a follow back. It's definitely time to let those people go.

    • Chloe

      I know what you mean! It totally clogs up your feed with things you don't care about. Good luck!

  • Natalia

    I'm in total need of a social media audit! Thanks for putting this together in a way that makes it all feel do-able!

  • erin {a lowcountry wedding}

    this is really a great post. I haven't audited my accounts in so long that it's probably a great time to put this plan into action. thank you!

  • Alissia Haggard

    Love this list! Perfect for starting off the New Year right!

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