Social Media Inventory Checklist: Are Your Social Marketing Efforts Outdated?

Nowadays, it’s tough to keep up with the latest social media marketing trends. I feel out of the loop if I don’t check out Social Media Today or Mashable every single day. There’s always something new to learn—and since social media is evolving at such a fast pace, it can be difficult to keep social marketing methods up-to-date.

When was the last time you took a good hard look at your social profiles, strategies and tactics? If it’s been at least six months, your social marketing efforts may be outdated!  Go through this checklist and take a social media inventory to see if you’ve covered all the bases for today’s most basic—but effective—social media marketing tactics:

Facebook

• Use a personal Facebook account to create a Facebook business page
• Brand your company Facebook page with a high-quality cover photo and icon
• Accurately fill out the about and basic info section and include industry keywords into the copy
• Make sure your business address is accurately placed on the Facebook map
• Invite your friends/customers to “like” your page
• Set up a consistent social media content posting schedule
• Compose a monthly content calendar
• Share content at least twice per week
• Share links to your company blog posts
• Occasionally share links to your website
• Ask questions to drive audience feedback
• Share relevant and engaging photos
• Provide feedback on your followers’ posts
• Periodically hold contests and giveaways to increase engagement and following
• Monitor what’s trending and get involved with the topic
• Use sponsored ads to promote your page and posts
• Monitor insights to improve your content

Twitter

• Create a company Twitter account
• Brand your company Twitter account with a high-quality background graphic and icon
• Include a short, enticing bio about your company
• Include relevant hashtags in your company biography
• Include company contact information in your background photo (phone number, website address, physical address)
• Follow a consistent posting schedule
• Create a monthly content calendar
• Tweet at least once per day
• Utilize relevant hashtags in your tweets
• Follow target audience members
• Engage with your prospects and followers at least once per day
• Retweet relevant industry information
• Research relevant hashtags to find users in your target audience
• Use advanced search to locate target audience members in specific locations
• Occasionally share relevant links that lead back to your website
• Tweet all company blog posts and utilize relevant hashtags
• Tweet your content at followers that would find it useful
• Use promoted tweets to reach new audiences

LinkedIn (Personal Page)

• Create a personal LinkedIn profile
• Upload a professional photo
• Include accurate contact information
• Link your company website and relevant pages where possible
• Showcase your company and your skills by uploading work examples
• Include an interesting summary about your expertise
• Explain in the summary how you and your company can help your target audience meet goals
• Include relevant keywords about your expertise and your company throughout your profile
• Include links throughout summary to any personal/company websites
• Include all relevant employment history
• Make sure that employment history is up-to-date and all positions have descriptions
• Ask your friends/colleagues to endorse you for your skills
• Ask your friends/colleagues to write personal recommendations
• Join at least ten industry-relevant groups
• Follow prospect companies
• Use status updates to share relevant industry content
• Share relevant industry content to relevant group communities
• Monitor groups and engage with those in your industry
• Use InMails to send relevant messages to prospects and foster new professional relationships

LinkedIn (Company Page)

• Create a company LinkedIn profile
• Brand your company LinkedIn account with high-quality icons and a banner
• Fill your biography with keywords and detail how you help your customers
• Include links to your website in your summary
• Include all of your specialties
• Include all of the correct contact information
• Compose a consistent social media content posting schedule
• Share content at least twice per week
• Share links to your company blog posts
• Occasionally share links to your website
• Ask questions to drive audience feedback
• Monitor page analytics and insights to improve content
• Use LinkedIn ads and sponsored updates to build your following and increase traffic
• Create a showcase page for each product or service

Google+

• Create a company Google+ account and create a Google+ business page (example: [email protected])
• Choose the most appropriate option to classify your business
• Accurately fill out all information and include links to your company website
• Include links to all of your other social platforms
• Include an enticing tagline about your company
• Brand your Google+ page with a high-quality cover photo and icon
• Invite your friends/customers to add your page to their circles
• Set up a consistent social media content posting schedule
• Compose a monthly content calendar
• Share content at least twice per week
• Share links to your company blog posts
• Occasionally share links to your website
• Ask questions to drive audience feedback
• Share relevant and engaging photos
• Join relevant communities and contribute relevant industry content
• Provide feedback to those who have your page in their circles
• Monitor what’s trending by clicking on “explore” and get involved with the topic
• Search hashtags to locate your target audience

While there are many additional tips and tricks for a good social marketing strategy, it’s essential to cover all of these basics to head in the right direction for success. The more time and effort you put into your social media, the better results you will get!