I know I don’t have to tell you that the end of the year is here! What does that mean for your social media? Well it should mean you’re developing a social media strategy for 2013.

You have a business plan for your business right (if not let me know and that will be an entirely different blog post)? And every year, maybe in January, you sit down and make a new business plan for that year. Well, you should do the same thing with your social media. You need to have a strategy in place to really make your social media work for you.

Social Audit

The best way to start with a new social media strategy is to perform a social audit. A social audit lets you see how far your brand is reaching and which social media outlets are the most effective.

Take a look at this info graphic.

What I like about this social graphic is you can see your brand in the middle and how many different avenues it can go to. Looking at this graphic you can see how your social media is involved in  each of those circles of influence. That is why it is so important to perform a social audit.

A good social audit can help you see:

1. If you have brand management issues
2. What your online reputation is like
3. If there are customer service problems
4. Hot topics that you can utilize
5. Any gaps you can fill

In your social audit make sure you include all forms of your social media: blogs, posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and any social media groups you are in charge of.

Strategy and planning is the way to make social media work for you. Sit down today and perform a social audit. Use the info graphic above to aid you. Then, when you are done, post here and let me know what you learned. The more we share, the more we profit!

Stay tuned for 2013 Social Media Strategy Part 2: Sharable Content