Kick Off the Year With a Quick Social Media Audit (Free Worksheet)
For last few years, I have started the new year with a social media audit to assess the previous year’s results. It’s a quick and easy process and provides useful insight for your social media strategy.
How to Perform a Fast and Easy Social Media Audit
Before you start, you have to know your
social media goals. What are you hoping to accomplish through your social media efforts? For example, it could be brand awareness, increase in sales, increase in followers, or email list growth. Keep your goals SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
Next, review your
social media numbers. Review analytics for the past year in all of your social media accounts—including your blog and email marketing—and jot down key data, such as follower growth and top-performing posts. Compare the results to past years’ data, as well as your current goals.
Lastly,
revise your social media plan for the new year. Review your results and use the data to refine your social media strategy for the upcoming year. For example, did a particular type of Facebook post or email newsletter subject perform well? Make sure it’s incorporated into this year’s content calendar.
How to Find Social Media Data
Not all outlets allow you to download a year’s worth of analytics, so you may have to do some digging. In addition to each outlets’ built-in analytics, here are few other handy resources for reviewing social media analytics:
Doing this short exercise will allow you to see what worked last year, helping to refine your social media goals and strategic plan for the new year.
Make it Easy by Using a Worksheet
I usually track my yearly social media data in
Evernote (you can also use a Google or Excel sheet) but this year, I created a handy worksheet where you can input your social media data and see your progress at-a-glance.
Download my
Yearly Social Media Audit Worksheet (PDF). If you find it useful or have suggestions, please let me know!
