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Samantha Scott has 8+ years of experience in content marketing, social media, and SEO and has worked in industries from wine to travel to tech. She believes that strong storytelling is of the utmost importance in marketing, both in the B2B and B2C space. Bringing brand voice front and center is her favorite part of the mutli-faceted world of marketing. Samantha is an avid social media user, with a sharp eye for what’s trending and how people interact on platforms both old and new. In her free time she enjoys creating mixed-media collage art, cosplay, and hiking.

Content Marketing Manager

See all blogs written by Samantha Scott, Content Marketing Manager at Meltwater ► Organic ★ Digital Marketing ★ Social Media Marketing ★

Author: Samantha Scott

We get it! You're busy scheduling content and engaging with your followers, so it can be difficult to make time to sit down and read about the latest Facebook algorithm update or how brands are leveraging TikTok. But, hey, it's also important to carve out time to learn about new ways to improve your social media strategy. So, put down your phone (we know: it's a big ask!) and indulge in reading about recent social media updates. 

Top Social Media and PR News Stories This Week

If you work in social media marketing, these are the stories you need to read this week!

TikTok Integrates With Spotify & Apple Music

More Posts Will Now be Eligible for Boosting on Instagram

Snapchat Expands Their Partnership with DoubleVerify

This could be interesting. TikTok has announced an integration with both Spotify and Apple Music that would allow users on those platforms to share a song on TikTok. Sharing is available for DMs, to the main FYP, and Stories. This move further solidifies TikTok as a music discovery platform, helping to highlight new and independent artists.

Instagram has expanded the types of posts eligible for boosting for more views and engagements. Now, most (not all) posts from Professional Accounts that contain GIFs or stickers are able to be boosted, providing brands and creators more ways to expand their audience.

Snapchat is expanding their partnership with DoubleVerify to provide more brand safety measures. The expanded partnership helps brands see placement insights, which help them monitor the kinds of posts they show up alongside. From DoubleVerify: “...AI-driven classification technology allows advertisers to align their brand promotion with appropriate and suitable content…”

CapCut Introduces a New “Commerce Pro” Package

Instagram has added a new filter in Direct Messages to help creators communicate with their fans and followers. The new messaging filters make it easier to sort messages into different categories, including: verified accounts, businesses, or fellow creators. You will also be able to sort messages by follower count if desired.

Threads has now reached 275 million users, according to Meta’s Q3 earnings call. The app has shown steady growth, though whether or not it will gain a meaningful foothold among brands, and continue to expand active user-ship, still remains a question mark. 

YouTube is introducing a slew of updates to their Studio app. Firstly, the Content Tab will now display all video formats which includes regular videos, Shorts, Lives, and playlists. The Comments tab has been renamed Community, and they’ve added a simplified way to quickly see audience metrics such as returning and most engaged viewers.

Popular video editing tool, CapCut, is launching a new paid version called “Commerce Pro.” Used in particular for editing TikTok videos, (CapCut is owned by ByteDance), the new Pro version is geared towards retailers looking to attract more sales through the app.

Open the Snapchat Camera Directly from iPhone Lock Screen

TikTok Partners With Distribution Platform, United Masters

YouTube Thumbnail Facial Expressions With the Highest CTR

Snapchat users will now have the option to access the Snapchat camera directly from the iPhone lock screen. It’s an interesting move for Apple that signals at the popularity of Snapchat, and the potential for closer partnerships between the two companies in the future. 

TikTok is once again leaning into their music legacy, announcing a new partnership with United Masters, a platform providing independent artists with distribution options. The partnership could go a long way toward providing additional exposure for musicians looking to expand their audience.   

It’s no secret that the thumbnail you choose for your YouTube videos can make or break your click-through-rate. YouTube worked with Kapwing to analyze the breakdown of facial expressions used in thumbnails by high performing YouTubers. The data could help provide simple ways to improve and tweak your YouTube strategy for better results. 

Now you can add polls to your YouTube Shorts, adding another way to encourage engagement with short-form video on YouTube. It’s a useful update, given that Instagram Stories has offered polls for years as a popular way to increase engagement and, previously, YouTube creators only had the ability to add polls in the Community tab on their profile.

Reddit has updated their keyword targeting options, expanding the ways that marketers can reach relevant audiences on the platform. Multi-placement ads are now available, as is “Dynamic Audience Expansion” which uses AI to predict additional users who are likely to engage with your ad. 

TikTok is continuing to highlight the value of in-stream shopping with a new push that includes Fall Deals and live streams from top brands. Participating brands include: NYX Cosmetics, Keurig, and Dyson. TikTok also announced this week that a new partnership with InMarket will improve conversion tracking based on location data.

Instagram is testing a new sticker for Instagram Stories that would enable users to engage in DM conversations with brands. It could be a useful addition to your social marketing strategy, as more and more activity on social media is shifting to private interaction. 

Google has released their Halloween Trends guide, showing popular Halloween costume, makeup, and decor searches around the United States. These insights could be helpful when planning your marketing and social media campaigns during spooky season! 👻🎃

New Facebook Layout Geared Toward Younger Users

TikTok Launches New Automation Options for Ads

Pinterest is introducing Pinterest+, a new way that marketers can tap into AI and other automation tools for easier campaign management. The automated system covers creation, targeting, and bidding and will make executing your campaigns a quicker process. Something to consider for the holidays! 

Facebook recently revamped some aspects of their layout, in hopes of appealing more to younger users. The new look includes new tabs for “Explore” and “Local”. “Local” brings together content from Reels, Events, Groups, and Marketplace. “Explore” showcases accounts you don’t currently follow, but may be interested in.

TikTok has launched “Smart+”, which allows marketers to fully automate their ad creation and targeting. It could be a very handy time-saving tool during the busy holiday season. From TikTok: ““Smart+ automates the performance advertising process across targeting, bidding, and creative to deliver the right ad to the right person to offer the best performance.”

Pinterest has released their Halloween Trends Report, detailing the most popular searches on the platform. These insights can help marketers as they craft their holiday campaigns, social posts, and other marketing activities. Of note is the fact that searches for “vintage Halloween” and “90’s Halloween” increased by 50% and 140% respectively!

TikTok has partnered with the Word Health Organization (WHO) to help raise awareness and combat misinformation through WHO’s Fides network — a community of healthcare and science content creators and communicators. 

Pinterest is introducing two new collaging tools facilitating more collaboration and cross-app sharing. First, they’ve added “Collage Remix” which allows users to add to existing collages made by other creators. They’ve also made it easier to download and share your collages on other social platforms. 

Snapchat has partnered with Google in a move to strengthen their AI features and functionality. The partnership integrates more aspects of Google’s AI system, Gemma, to power Snaps own “My AI” bot, enhancing its ability to process and understand more complex inputs and content types such as audio and visual. 

TikTok has introduced some Search Ads updates to help marketers get in front of more relevant eyes. In particular, you can now select specific keywords to better match user intent and interest on the search page. From TikTok: “This innovative new campaign type offers brands a unique opportunity to tap into the moments when users are actively exploring content”.

Looking for the latest social media news? Learn about the recent social media updates and campaigns that could improve your social media strategy.

Social Media News: The 5 Biggest Stories of the Week

Instagram marketing has truly caught fire recently, with more and more brands from global behemoths to tiny mom-and-pop shops, from online stores to brick-and-mortar outfits hopping on the train. So how do you jump into this already crowded mix and actually be successful?

With endless opportunities to build your brand, develop relationships with consumers, gain exposure, and make sales it’s understandable that you may be feeling overwhelmed with how to start your Instagram marketing strategy. 

Not to worry friend! You’re in the right place.

Optimizing Your Profile Page on Instagram

Instagram Marketing Tips to Beat the Algorithm

Put simply, Instagram marketing is how a brand posts, behaves, and interacts on Instagram for the purposes of brand awareness, gaining followers, and influencing sales. 

There are several strategies and tools available to marketers interested in using Instagram for promoting their products and services, and we’ll cover all of them today. 

Psst: are you a B2B brand? Check out these top examples of B2B brand profiles on Instagram and learn how to use Instagram for Business.

Every brand's Instagram strategy will be different depending on your style, the type of business you are in, and your goals. That said, successful Instagram brand accounts will all have this in common: a tight focus, clear visual coherence, and consistency with captions and hashtags.

1. Make sure you have a business account set up! 

Here’s our guide to Instagram for business that goes through creating an Instagram business profile. With a business account, there are some key features you’ll unlock and the best part is it's free and easy to set up! 

It's important to note that a business account on Instagram still does not grant you all the features available to accounts with 10,000 followers. But you will be able to track insights and analytics, and include CTAs like “contact” “call” or “Reserve” on your profile.  

2. What are your business goals for Instagram?

Before you start the fun of creating Stories and posting photos, Instagram marketers need to have a clear set of goals, guidelines, and KPIs.

An understanding of what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts on Instagram will help you hone in on the kinds of photos, captions, and stories you post, in addition to informing your share ratio and engagement style. Here’s some ideas of goals that Instagram can help marketers achieve:

Make sure you utilize the Shopping feature and share product releases, sales, and contests to your Stories. You could also promote your posts to get in front of more eyes.

Look at ways to build word-of-mouth and UGC, such as sharing to your Stories when you’re mentioned, making sure you prominently feature a branded hashtag in your bio so people know how to get featured, and it would also be a good idea to partner with nano and micro-influencers. 

Are your competitors killing it on Instagram with massive engagement and follower numbers? Clearly, they are getting something out of the platform and have invested time to make that happen. 

Look closely at the hashtags they use, the type of content they post, and which Instagram marketing tools they seem to utilize the most (are their Stories an afterthought or the main event? Perhaps they do more long-form IGTV posts). You can then either invest in the same features or expand into the spaces they're not paying attention to. Check your analytics on a regular basis to see how you measure up with competitors.

After you have your goals laid out, it’s time to determine your target audience, which will further inform the kind of content you post.

A good place to start is following hashtags related to your industry and see what kinds of content your consumers and competitors are posting. 

Well, like any marketing strategy, you'll get out of Instagram what you put into it. If you allow yourself time to build a following, engage with that following, work with the right influencers, utilize Instagram shopping if you're an e-commerce site, use ads if it's in your budget, and create solid, visually cohesive content, then Instagram will yield benefits for your brand. We'll go into these strategies and more below.

Don’t skimp on optimizing your Instagram profile. It might not seem worth it given how small a space it is. People just go straight to the pictures right? 

Well, maybe, but your bio, profile photo, CTAs, website link, and Instagram Stories highlights tell a lot about you. In today’s world of distracted consumers, you don’t want to give them any excuse to move on from your profile without following. 

It’s a small space, but it’s super important. This is where you tell people who you are and what you do in very few words. Social media copywriters, this is your time to shine. 

Top Tips For Optimizing Your Instagram Profile

The character count for an Instagram bio is 150. You need to cover who you are, what you do, and any other descriptors you wish to attach to your brand. Often brands use this space to highlight current campaigns or their support of a current social justice issue such as BLM. If you have a branded hashtag, the bio is a great place to put it. Be sure to check out our 100 Instagram Bio Ideas to stand out !

Tip: Emojis are a great way to breathe life into your bio. And for you more wordy types, it’s a great way to increase the character count you have to work with! Instead of “Listen” you can use the ear emoji, instead of “we specialize in video production” you can use the slate or camera emoji.

Remember you only have one link, so if there are other things you do that you’d like to call attention to, your bio text is the place to do that. 

For example, Rebel Girls is an educational girls empowerment site and they have a number of different types of media they specialize in, from books to podcasts. So they use their bio to call attention to that.

Your Highlights row (circular icons that, when clicked, bring the user to a saved Instagram story or group of Stories) gives visitors to your Instagram profile a quick glance of the kinds of Stories you post. They can select ones they find interesting to get a better idea of how your brand uses Instagram Stories. 

Tip: Instagram Stories Highlights are typically categorized or themed. You have very little space to title each Highlight, so stick to one or two words if possible. 

There are no hard and fast rules for the best Stories Highlights format, however, most brands favor an icon consistency approach. 

For example, Rabbies Tours uses the light blue from their logo and a clear symbol for each Highlight:

And Bombas chooses brightly colored abstract patterns for their highlights:

By contrast, Royal Opera House has a less cohesive look, utilizing a combination of text covers and pictures of people. They also have two stories with the same exact image and date, which can cause confusion.

Instagram is infamous for being stingy with link opportunities. (Another reason some marketers may be incredulous about its usefulness). For this reason, the link in your bio is extremely important. While a website homepage is the most common link to include here, you could also use the space to promote a product release, campaign, contest, or special announcement. 

Most people by now are used to seeing “link in bio” in Instagram captions, and brands have become accustomed to regularly updating this link to correspond with the most recent post. 

Tip: Because of how Instagram’s algorithm works you do need to be careful about associating your bio link with anything time sensitive. If you publish a post about a limited-time offer, directing users to your bio link, by the time some users see that post, the promotion may already be over. For time-sensitive promotions, a “swipe up” link from Instagram Stories would be more appropriate.

Instagram has slowly rolled out more and more opportunities for linking through their other features, such as IGTV and shopping posts.

The profile photo on Instagram is round and 320 x 320 pixels. It should represent your company or brand clearly. Most businesses on Instagram use a circular version of their logo. Whether you use a photo of a person or object or a graphic, the basic rules to follow are: not too busy, not too close up, good quality, and in focus.

Remember when we said a business account is the first step for an effective Instagram marketing strategy? This is one of the many reasons why! A business profile allows you to post CTAs to your profile, giving your followers easy ways to get in touch.

The basic CTAs available are: Call, Email, Order Food, Book Now, Reserve

The question on everyone’s mind is always, “How do I get more Instagram followers?” Particularly that coveted 10,000 mark that unlocks even more benefits. 

Welcome to the chicken and egg of successful Instagram marketing. You can’t have engagement if you don’t already have a following. But it’s difficult to grow a following without engagement. So how do you start?

Like any other social media platform, Instagram requires a content strategy. Putting out content daily with no idea what your audience wants or needs is a futile attempt at social media marketing. 

This is why establishing who your audience is an important first step for your Instagram marketing strategy. Once you understand this, you can then craft posts catering to what they’ll respond to. As always, track your analytics carefully as soon as you start posting. The sooner you get an idea of what people are responding to, the sooner you can hone your Instagram content.

2. Partner with influencers and brand ambassadors

Another tactic to rapidly increase your followers is to partner with someone who has a similar audience as you, but with more engagement. Gone are the days where a celebrity endorsement would be the only choice. Today, micro-influencers can be just as or more impactful, and they’re a fraction of the cost. 

Approach someone who is operating in the same space as you and decide on how a partnership can be mutually beneficial to both parties. Often offering micro-influencers products, discounts, or coupon codes for a feature is well-appreciated and can save you marketing costs. 

The key here is value – both brand and influencer have to be providing value to each others’ audiences for a successful influencer strategy to work.

You could be forgiven for confusing all of Instagram’s video features since there are a lot! Reels were introduced worldwide in 2020 and have grown exponentially in popularity for their huge audience-building potential. Reels are accessed by the middle button of your bottom navigation bar on Instagram, so they are already prominently featured. 

The important note for brands is that Reels showcase your content not to people already following you, but to adjacent audiences, based on their interests and the kinds of posts they already engage with. Reels are designed to be similar to TikTok videos and are shared frequently between the two platforms.  

In contrast to Instagram Stories, Reels offer more editing and effects options. They can be shared to the Explore page, your Stories, and as a post. One of the many unique features (depending on how you look at it) is if you use your own audio, it can be repurposed by others for their Reels.

Tip: Check out our full guide to repurposing content for more insights.

For example, one of the most popular audio tracks is the “Happy Dog” song, originally created by TikTok user “deejaymoo41” and has been reused thousands of times by Instagram and TikTok users:

Happy Guy Happy Dog - TikTok Compilation

Promoting your Instagram handle and page on other platforms is one of the most effective but under-utilized tactics. You might already have a large email list and you almost certainly have a website. Use these channels and more to tell your audiences about your Instagram account. 

On your website, your header and/or footer should have your social buttons, and your handle should be in your email signature. For the brick-and-mortar sector, a “follow us” sign with your handle up in a window is an effective method.

Now that you have a following, the next step is to encourage engagement — the critical component of your social media marketing success. A big following is meaningless if it is low-quality. 

Here are some top tips for driving engagement:

1. Post content that sparks conversation.

Engagement might be difficult to achieve by the cold hard numbers, but the concept is simple: post content that people not only enjoy but also talk about. This means they leave comments, share to their Stories, and tag their friends (a simple “@mybestfriend thought you’d like this!” is HUGE when it comes to increasing both your follower count and your engagement analytics). 

When considering the conversational aspect remember these key points: 

Today’s social media users, particularly younger audiences, love brands that are authentic and values-oriented. Instagram is the perfect platform for breaking the fourth wall and showing behind the curtain a bit. Consider behind-the-scenes videos and candid shots. Let your followers get to know the people behind the brand. Note: As we mentioned before, visual cohesion is a key to Instagram success, so for showing a more unpolished side, consider posting BTS content to your Stories and Reels.

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With a business account, there are some key features you’ll unlock and the best part is it's free and easy to set up! 

It's important to note that a business account on Instagram still does not grant you all the features available to accounts with 10,000 followers. But you will be able to track insights and analytics, and include CTAs like “contact” “call” or “Reserve” on your profile. 

1. Make sure you have a business account set up

Have a clear set of goals, guidelines, and KPIs.

An understanding of what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts on Instagram will help you hone in on the kinds of photos, captions, and stories you post, in addition to informing your share ratio and engagement style.

After you have your goals laid out, it’s time to determine your target audience, which will further inform the kind of content you post.

A good place to start is following hashtags related to your industry and see what kinds of content your consumers and competitors are posting.

3. Who is your audience?

Creating an Instagram Marketing Strategy

Make the most of Instagram marketing with our guide. Grow followers, increase engagment, and encourage sales through marketing on Instagram.

How To Be Successful With Instagram Marketing

Happy Dog Compilation

The general social media management consensus is that videos are more engaging than any other form of social media post, across the board. Video is fairly standard on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, and X, formerly known as Twitter, has also seen a massive increase in video content. In fact, video views on Twitter increased 62% from 2019 to 2020 (Hootsuite).

But how do you post videos on Twitter/X and why should you? Read on for everything you need to know.

Can You See Who Views Your Twitter Videos

Posting videos on Twitter/X helps you to:

Include longer messages (there's no character limit on a video!)

Video is a great way to break up your content stream with movement and action. Twitter videos start playing automatically as you scroll by making them jump out more at the user. 

They’re also a clever way to get around the limiting character count. Because while the max length of a Twitter video is still short (2 minutes, 20 seconds) this is eons in the social media world. (Really. Remember when Mr. Rogers watched the clock hands tick for an entire 60 seconds without saying a word? A producer's dead-air nightmare, yes, but a great lesson on how long a minute actually is!) 

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, posting videos on Twitter/X increases engagement metrics like impressions, helping take your social media marketing strategy to the next level.

Tweets with video currently see 10x more engagement than those without. (Social Media Today, 2019)

People watch 2 billion videos on Twitter each day. (Wordstream, 2020)

X, formerly known as Twitter, hosted 1,300 live-streamed events, 80% of which streamed to a global audience. (Omnicore Agency, 2021)

Tip: Learn more about Twitter impressions and reach.

Yes! Videos that are 2 minutes, 20 seconds or less will play automatically (without sound) as users scroll their home feed or your profile feed. The accepted formats are MP4 or MOV.

MP4 or MOV format is the accepted format for Twitter videos.

If you are getting an error message when trying to upload videos to Twitter/X, such as “your media file could not be processed” it’s probably because it’s either too long or in the wrong format.

Most video editing software, from iMovie up to Final Cut Pro, makes it easy to export videos into a multitude of formats. If you're producing Twitter video ads or anything beyond shooting with your phone, you'll probably have to export to the proper format. But anything shot on mobile should already be in the right format to upload.

Tip: Check out our in-depth social media video size guide for more information.

The maximum length you can upload to X/Twitter is two minutes, twenty seconds, though Twitter recommends an ideal length of around fifteen seconds. Note that Twitter videos that are 60 seconds or shorter will loop, similar to a Gif or an Instagram Reel.

Can I upload a video that is longer than 2 minutes?

No. Currently, there is no way for users to post videos longer than the max 2 minutes, 20 seconds. 

You have 4 different options for sharing a video to X, formerly known as Twitter: 

record and edit videos from directly within the Twitter app. This makes sharing very easy and quick, but you may find you have fewer options and control over video quality. 

Open the Twitter app and tap the camera icon from within the Tweet composer. Swipe right to the "video" option and press the "record" button.

This is probably the most common. Record and edit a video on your phone, or other mobile device such as an iPad. Then select that video when composing your tweet. Your most recently shot videos will appear when you tap the “add image” icon within the Tweet composer.

This is basically the same as “import”. To upload a video to Twitter/X, choose the “share to Twitter” option from within your photo app on mobile. The X/Twitter app will then open and you can compose your Tweet or add other media.

Another video option from within the app, Twitter now supports Live video, much like Instagram. You’ll see the Live option when you press the camera icon in the Tweet composer.

So what can you do in 2 minutes to captivate and engage the doom scrollers, the casual scrollers, and the easily distracted scrollers? Here are 4 key best practices to keep in mind when creating video content for Twitter.

While videos on X/Twitter begin playing automatically, they are muted. Don’t depend on users to press the unmute button, so one of the top things to remember is to use captions. Also try to focus on clear, enticing visual cues. Avoid anything that’s too busy or complex.

This Rothys ad, for example, includes a voiceover but the messaging is clear from the words on the screen:

2. Showcase your logo or product within the first 3 seconds

Don’t miss out on the chance to let people know who you are. You are contending with tons of other posts and notifications. Make sure your message is clear, concise and attention-grabbing. 

Remember the video is the star. So keep the post copy short and sweet. Use emojis for more visual cues. According to Twitter for Business “Videos with minimal Tweet copy versus longer Tweet copy have 13% higher brand and message recall”. Use hashtags strategically within the post copy to make your video posts discoverable from Twitter searches.

4. Think about the term “video” broadly

Videos on Twitter, particularly when they’re used for ads or as promotional tweets, don’t need to be complicated or even have sound at all. Remember that videos 60 seconds or shorter will loop, like a Gif or Boomerang. Consider this simple yet mouth-watering ad from OhHo Candy:

Can You See Who Views Your Twitter Videos?

The view count will show up on your videos, so you will be able to see how many people watched. However there is no way to see the individual names or handles of the people who viewed, and nor will users be able to see this information.

Want or need to share a Twitter video with someone outside the Twitterverse? This is a two-step process and easy to do.

If you want to download a video from X/Twitter to your phone or computer, you’ll need to use one of two recommended websites: SaveTweetVid or TwitterVideoDownloader. 

Both services have the same functionality: copy and paste the direct link for the Tweet into the appropriate field and click “download.”

And that's it! If you're interested in learning more about how Meltwater can help you up the ante in your Twitter marketing, fill out the form below to get in touch.

Thank you! A representative will be in touch with you soon.

Learn the steps and best practices for uploading videos to Twitter, now known as X, using the correct formats and optimal video length.

How to Post Videos on Twitter/X

Guide to Posting Videos on Twitter

OK, let’s be real: “social media audit” doesn’t exactly sound like an enjoyable prospect in the field of social media management. In fact, it sounds a bit scary. Like someone knocking on your door with a menacing badge, here to audit your accounts and give you a laundry list of things you need to do to fix them.

So let’s call it something a wee bit more fun like social media spring cleaning!

A social media audit is a great opportunity to revisit the nuts and bolts of the social media machine that you’ve built for your brand and make sure everything is still shipshape.

Our Social Media Audit Checklist outlines the 10 steps required to conduct a thorough audit. Download the free template to check each step off as you make your way down the list.

Tip: Learn how to perform a full content audit.

A social media audit is a check-in opportunity for you to understand what’s happening on each of your social media channels. This is the time you set aside to:

Learn what’s working and what’s not about your current strategy

Use a social listening tool to check what your competitors are posting on social media

Refresh your profiles with new cover photos, descriptions, etc.

Analyze metrics and view the performance from the past weeks, months, or year

And, finally, update your governance structure and admin permissions  

One of the main goals of an audit is to determine what’s working and what’s not. (Note: your conclusions should be based on any previous social media KPIs you had in place. If they don’t fit anymore, use this audit to make updates). 

During the process, you’ll learn how you’re measuring up on social through analyzing engagement metrics like impressions, comments, and shares of your content. You may also want to take this time to set up a Google Analytics report to look at how much traffic or goal completions are being generated by visitors directed to your website from social.  

You can also use a social media audit to check who you’re following and do some spring cleaning there as well. The general rule is you want to be following fewer accounts than are following you. 

Maybe you’re still following an old partner that you’re no longer in business with. Or your boss's wife’s cousin's Instagram that is devoted entirely to her cat. 😳 Look, we know Snuggles is adorable, but does he fit with your brand? (If so, lucky you!).

A social audit is also good for refreshing your profile's look & feel, checking on your competitors, auditing permissions, setting up analytics reports, and more. 

The best place to start a social media audit is with the numbers. 

Create a simple spreadsheet to record analytics like follower count, engagement metrics, and how many posts you send per week per social media account. Then, you’ll know which social channels to focus on first for updating and optimizing. You can also get fancy by using our template deck for social media reporting!

Going forward, you should plan to use this spreadsheet or deck on a regular basis to track your progress. A weekly metrics report of your engagement numbers is recommended if you want to get granular, but monthly is fine too. The main point is to build learnings over time and get some statistical significance around what your followers like and don’t like.

Once you have the numbers in front of you as a baseline, be clear about your goals. 

Tip: Don’t do a social audit just to do it. Make sure you have some idea about what you want to learn, so you can proceed confidently with any changes.

Get ready to take your social marketing strategy to the next level this year with these simple but fruitful social auditing steps: 

1. Audit permissions on all your social media profiles

When was the last time you took a look at who had permission to manage your Facebook Page, Instagram feed, or third-party app that posts across multiple sites? 

The reality is that a lot of us use multiple sites, tools, and logins — and this makes the permissions piece a tricky one, as employees change roles or leave companies. 

Only those people that need permissions should have permissions on your social media channels. Login to everything and make sure that your permissions are up to date and in-line with your current employees and their job descriptions. Update passwords if necessary. 

Tip: Learn how to conduct a Twitter audit to spot fake followers.

2. Revisit your branding, language, and positioning

Has it been more than a year since you changed out your X (formerly Twitter) header image or Facebook banner? If so, it’s probably time for a refresh: no audit is complete without a design update. 

When you look at your social media profiles, think about what they are telling the world about your company. What’s the brand story? It’s possible that your corporate positioning has changed since last year, so an audit is where you can update this.

Make sure your new choices still reflect and evoke your current brand personality and values

Your social media bio should give visitors to your profile a quick snapshot of who you are and what you do. It’s the ideal place to include a branded hashtag or campaign hashtag, and link to other brand accounts (a good idea for global brands).

When writing your bio for social media, remember to keep it short and sweet for X and Instagram. These are great channels for using emojis, have a bit of fun, or put some edginess into describing your product or service.

Patagonia, for example, uses far less than the character count allowed on Instagram for a simple but powerful message:

Facebook and LinkedIn are where you have a little more room to go into detail, and business pages tend to be more professional in tone.

Lastly, double-check the website URL you’re linking to from your bio. This is especially important on Instagram due to the fact that you can’t link from posts, so “link in bio” lingo is commonplace for promoting specific campaigns, products, or landing pages. But it can be easy to forget to change it back to your homepage once a campaign is over.

Guess what? No matter how tempting it may be you don’t actually have to be on every single social media platform. Your social media strategy will suffer if you spread yourself too thin. 

Is there a channel you were once active on but is barely maintained due to either team bandwidth, lack of knowledge on how to use it effectively, or a disengaged following? Now might be the time to cut the cord. 

While this may seem to contradict what we just said, hear us out. 

Think ahead for your marketing strategy. If there is a channel you’d like to use but don’t have the manpower to invest in right now, you should still claim your handle as a business account on that platform. This is particularly important if your business name is a common word or combination of words. 

The best place to start a social media audit is with the numbers. Create a simple spreadsheet and record analytics like follower count, engagement metrics, and how many posts you send per week per social media account. Then, you’ll know which social channels to focus on first for updating and optimizing. 

Going forward, you should plan to use this spreadsheet on a regular basis to track your progress. A weekly metrics report of your engagement numbers is recommended but monthly would be fine too. The main point is to build learnings over time and get some statistical significance around what your followers like and don’t like.

Once you have the numbers in front of you as a baseline, be clear about your goals. Don’t do a social audit just to do it. Make sure you have some ideas about what you want to learn, so you can proceed confidently with any changes.

Get ready to take your social marketing strategy to the next level this year with these simple but fruitful social auditing steps.

How to Do a Social Media Audit

10 simple steps for an effective social media audit. Spring clean your channels and keep your social strategy strong!

Samantha Scott

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