Social Media Audit

Social Network/Platform Review

As part of your governance program, you should have (at least) an annual review of every Social Network/Platform to determine your corporate strategy for that platform. For your primary platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) you should conduct a platform review at least twice per year.

Social Media Audit Process 

Many companies conduct social media audits on an annual basis but may miss some key elements of the audit. Skipping or forgetting even a few steps in the audit process can damage a business’s ability to mitigate against risks on social media. 

The first step to completing an audit is to gain a clear picture of a brand’s web presence. Consider each site or page as a corporate asset; the asset elements are everything that is set on that site once you populate the profile. (This includes profile description, avatar, image, apps, profile metadata, referenced website, etc.) 

This is the first information a customer sees about you, the corporation, or the brand and this space is where you have control over maintaining brand and regulatory compliance standards.

A complete social media audit covers four distinct phases. They are: 

• Discovery –– the process of identifying all corporate-owned, third-party, and fraudulent sites related to a business’s brand. 
• Network Audit –– the process of reviewing each of a company’s accounts on social media networks and determining whether they align with overall social media strategy. 
• Brand Presence Audit –– the process of reviewing social media profile content, i.e. logos, avatars, cover art, business information.
• Content Audit –– review of content strategy and the protocol for creating, approving, and posting branded content. 

Within the discovery phase businesses should seek to identify the following types of points-of-presence (POPs) related to their brand:

Corporate Web Presence

• Corporate POPs that may have been created without your knowledge.
• Platform-generated place pages. Platform auto-generated pages from Wikis. 
• Community-generated sites.
• Brand review on new Social Networks to ensure all brands have a reserved page/account (to prevent brand squatting). 

Third-Party Web Presence (such as employees or partners)

• Employee VIPs such as CEOs and other executives that have a following on social media.
• Employees that claim a relationship to the brand (especially if in a regulated industry).
• Licensed representatives (such as independent agents).
• Advocates claiming a relationship to the brand.
• Others (such as partners, retailers, etc).

Infringing Properties (infringing on IP, counterfeiters, phishers, etc).

• Third-party POPs using your brand names, IP, or other identities that are considered malicious (such as counterfeiters, phishers, haters, etc.).
• Send infringing and counterfeit POPs to legal counsel.

During the network audit phase, businesses should take stock of how their social media accounts mesh with current trends on social media networks. In some instances, companies may need to shut down accounts that have fallen out of prominence –– though they should retain the rights to their account name and information.

The networks can change rapidly and it's worth the time to review what has changed in the past year including:

• Options to pages or accounts (what has been added and what has been taken away). This past year, Facebook made a lot of changes. Do you know what they are?
• License agreement, privacy policy, rules for engagement, data use by the network
• API, API access
• New opportunities such as new page types, communities, and access to markets.
• Demographics of current installed base and active user percent.

Corporate (Internal) Brand Presence Audit

Once you have an inventory of what you've discovered, you then need to review the asset elements of each account or page. The corporate branded accounts should take precedence. These are company sites: product sites, program or campaign sites. Remember, this audit process is to manage corporate risks and to identify any inconsistencies within profiles, information sections, pictures etc. This is not an ROI audit on marketing campaigns or ad spend. 

Third-Party Web Presence Audit

These are sites for your employees, partners, communities, etc. Corporations can't control them in the same way they can internal accounts, but they do need to provide guidance, especially in a regulated business or if the business has a formalized employee ambassador program. The same list from above applies, with the addition of reviewing any contractual agreement or policy specific to the third-party.

During this stage, companies should review their content posting processes. Determine which local employees are responsible for posting content and how corporate can ensure compliance within the content. (This step is, again, particularly important for businesses within regulated industries.)

Mistakes in the auditing process are fairly common, but the repercussions are anything but. Make it a point to avoid these potentially damaging social media audit mistakes: 

• Limited Knowledge of Attached Tools: forgetting to note which apps and SaaS tools are attached to POPs. Problematic because security breaches can occur through these apps.
• Missing URLS: social media networks often create alternate URLs for business pages that are different from the original UID or “vanity URL.” Employees may be unwittingly using this alternate URL, but not monitoring that use.
• Not Monitoring Self-Generated Place Pages: Facebook creates self-generated place pages. If left unmonitored, businesses risk losing control over them. In some instances, users have posted complaints or even inappropriate comments on these pages.
• Failing to Keep Tabs on Third-Party Accounts: Employee accounts, affiliates, and other third-party accounts can have an effect on business brand reputation.