If It's April It Must Be Time For Your Social Media Audit

Early April, it's the time of year when you're struggling either to finish (or start) your taxes. It may be an unfortunate time to discuss "audits," but a good reminder to conduct an annual review of your business' social media presence and activity. If you're not yet on social media, it's an even better reminder that you better be.

These days it's not enough just to be on social media. You need to do a good job and also an eye on your own presence.  Social media platforms are unrelenting beasts that need to be fed with new content, constantly.

Your own social media needs and profile is unique to you and may change from time to time, but here are some of the elements that should be included in your social media audit.

• Up-to-date Profiles: Are your bios and corporate information accurate? Prospective clients look to your social media accounts as a source of information, and things can change a great deal over the course of a year. It's important that you keep your information up to date.
• Pay Special Attention to LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the first stop for many people seeking or verifying information about your company. You want to make sure that your profile is complete and that it's accurate.
• Using Your Accounts: Are you actually using your social media accounts? The only thing worse than not having a social media account is not using it. If your last post is from 6 months ago it shows that you're not on the ball in terms of your social media and marketing efforts. If you're not on the ball in this very public forum, what does that say about the way you run your business?
• Using the Right Platforms: Each social media platform serves a different purpose and demographic. If you're serving a young audience, you need to be on Snapchat. If you're in B2B you need to focus on LinkedIn. Facebook is becoming more important in the professional world and Instagram is now a must.
• Content for All Audiences: Many people mix aspects of their personal and professional lives online. I think that can be a plus, and do it all the time as the barriers between personal and professional have blurred. BUT, and it's a big one. Is the content on your social media sites suitable for all audiences? Remember (and this is a consideration that goes beyond the professional) your friends and family as well as prospective clients and perhaps future employers have a window into everything.
• Monitoring Social Media: I often hear the refrain: "What's the ROI on social media?" It's often hard to figure out the precise link between social media activity and sales or client conversions, but it is a legitimate question. You need to know how you're doing. Keeping track using one of the myriad of measurement tools out there can help to give you a sense of what you're doing right, doing wrong and what you can be doing better.

There are certainly other things that you should be looking out for and monitoring in your company's use of social media, and it's worth taking the time to devote some serious thought to it in the same way you review other aspects of your sales and marketing programs. Unlike death and taxes, conducting a yearly (or ideally a more frequent) social media audit is not inevitable. It's not even required. But it should be.