By: Connect360 MultiMedia

A social media audit is a thorough assessment of how you manage your brand online.

It should examine which platforms you are using, the nature and quality of the content that you are distributing on those platforms, and the strength of the engagement that you generate.

However, to conduct a proper examination, you cannot merely look at your own content across social media platforms. You have to look at two other important parties as well: your consumers and your competitors.

Listen to the voices of consumers. In the nonprofit context, these are your donors, prospective donors, volunteers, prospective volunteers, champions of your cause, or in the case of membership organizations: members, prospective members, and friends and family of members. They could even be those suffering from the illness associated with your cause, and their friends, family and colleagues. The possibilities are endless. Determine who your consumers are and listen to what they are saying about your organization and your cause.

What are consumers saying about your brand? If you listen closely enough, you can use what people are already saying about your brand on social media as a way of building your social media strategy. For instance, if there is a particular aspect of your cause that resonates greatly online, emphasize it.

Your competitors’ voices should ring loud and clear, as well.

How are competitors managing their brand on social media? Here are a few things to look for:

• Which platforms are they using? Are they the same as the ones that you are using, or are they active on other platforms?
• How much engagement are they generating? Do they have more “followers” and “likes”?
• What type of content are they sharing? How does it compare to your content?

Use this information to inform and build your own social media strategy. You can see what works for others, and make determinations as to how to employ those strategies to support the growth of your own brand and brand presence online.

After conducting an audit, you should have a good understanding of your current use of social media and how to best enhance your social media strategy going forward. Choose the best platforms and build a strategy for those platforms.

When executed successfully, a social media strategy can be used to expand engagement, reach and conversions, as well as to build brand awareness, convert potential members, convert potential donors and corporate sponsors.

There is no limit to how much you can use social media to promote your organization’s mission.

For additional information on social media audits, this recent article from the Harvard Business Review is a wonderful resource: Conducting a Social Media Audit.

Connect360 MultiMedia is a Capitol Communicator sponsor.