The short answer is “very.”
They are among the core components of a great social media presence, and they are so important that they must be done on a regular basis.
Think of social media audit and social media strategy as two sides of the same coin. One deals with the myriad ways in which you can achieve your social media goals, while the other measures how well those strategies are performing and if they actually work.
In many ways they are pretty much like a regular car tune-up or a regular check-up with your doctor; it ensures that your business is healthy and functioning as optimally as it could.
If you don’t already incorporate both in your online presence, then you are missing out! Here are a few reasons why Digital Offsider thinks you should.
Why is social media strategy is important?
Much like a blueprint for a building or an itinerary for a trip, social media strategy A social media strategy is more or less a road map for your brand goals—whatever that form may be (increased engagement, improved CTA ratio, etc.). Every brand has its own goals, and a social media strategy ensures that your brand is moving in the direction you want it to. They determine what needs to be done in order to meet your goals.
You wouldn’t compete in a sport without a game plan in place, would you?
Read: CREATING A SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PLAN IN 5 EASY STEPS
What about a social media audit?
On the other hand, social media audit determines whether or not your strategies are actually working. It tells you in which aspects of the strategy you fell short, what needs to be improved on, what needs to be adjusted. More importantly, it determines whether or not you need a new or a different strategy altogether.
Different platforms have different metrics. To be able to ascertain how well your online presence is doing depends on your knowledge about these metrics. For example, Instagram recently updated its algorithm to determining posts’ engagement; it has given posts’ shares and saves more weight, whereas before a post’s likes and saves reigned supreme. The more a post is saved and shared, the more visible it is on people’s feeds and explores pages.
So while different platforms share some aspects when it comes to their metrics and algorithms, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to auditing your social media, and they must each be handled differently.
Moreover, an important aspect of a social media audit is that it shows you which platforms do well, and which ones needs to be improved on. You want to maintain a social media performance across the board to make sure that you are optimizing your online presence.
In tandem
In brief, social media audit and strategy are essential factors in improving your social media presence. One cannot function properly without the other and vice versa. Without a solid social media strategy in place, and the appropriate audit, you will just be flying blind.
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