5 Steps: End-of-Year Social Media Audit

A dream without a plan is just a wish.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

If you believe either (or both) of the above statements to be true, and you’re a social media manager (niche, we know), you’re in the right place.

The Sunwest social media team takes this time of year to reflect on what the past year has taught us and plan a path ahead. We’re sharing our top tips in this five-step, end-of-year social media audit to help your brand plan and prepare.

Take Stock. First things first: Be sure you have a comprehensive list of all your social media accounts. That includes your usernames/handles as well as login information (make sure it’s saved somewhere safe!).

Strengthen Your Passwords. Speaking of login information, when was the last time you updated the passwords for your social platforms? Here’s a better question: What would you do if your company’s social media accounts were compromised? It might shock you to know how quickly your password can be hacked. The more complicated your password – and the more often you change it – the better chance you have at outsmarting hackers.

Update Basic Info. Ah, the oft-forgotten “About” section that’s hardly ever revisited after your initial profile setup. When a significant change occurs at your company, it’s important to update your social profiles as well. Did your company move to a new location, change its phone number or hours – or even its name? Perhaps your bio/about blurb needs to be updated to reflect the new services you offer. Take this time to review all your contact information and general company information across your social profiles.

Refresh Static Assets. Those cover photos can get stale fast. You should change them at least annually to keep things fresh. Not to mention, social platforms love to keep social media marketers on their toes by changing the ideal sizing requirements for profile & header photos every so often. We personally have Sprout Social’s “always up-to-date” sizing guide bookmarked on our browsers and think you should, too.

Analyze the Past to Strategize for the Future. Here’s a New Year’s resolution we can all get behind: Learn from the past to inform your path forward! Review the past year’s analytics across your platforms, including content performance, audience metrics, and other KPIs that are relevant to your brand.

Pro tip: The Sunwest social team finds it most insightful to identify top-performing content and least-engaging content. Sometimes, posts that have the least engagement can help inform your strategy the most. Identify any trends that could guide your strategy for next year.

It’s also a great time to decide if you should increase or decrease activity on the channels where you currently have a presence. Perhaps you want to embark on a new platform – or throw in the towel on a platform that hasn’t historically provided much ROI for your brand. More isn’t always better – as they say, it’s better to excel at a few things instead of trying to accomplish everything with mediocre results.