The Art of Audits

-

While there are many steps in creating a social media marketing strategy. Today I will be focusing on the second step! This crucial step is all about creating an audit, social listening, and developing a SWOT analysis. Until this chapter of the textbook, I was very unfamiliar with audits and what they were composed of. Believe it or not, there's several elements that are crucial to creating audits about a specific brand. Let's dive in! 

To start, social media listening is a type of audit that monitors the internet to determine what is said about a particular brand. This could be good or bad. It may have to do with how the brand is perceived by the public. When you think of your favorite brand, it's likely going to be something positive. If it wasn't your favorite brand, you would think negatively! For example, when I think of Taco Bell, I think of unappetizing food that's going to hurt my stomach after I eat it. Everyone won't have this same sentiment toward Taco Bell which is why it's important to see the multiple perspectives of the brand.

In an audit, it's important to determine which social media platforms need to be monitored. Some companies may have a podcast or blog that could generate valuable brand information. The key words and topics that customers are talking about also need to be recorded. What platforms are customers engaging with the most? What are the flaws of the products? 

Creating a spreadsheet for all the data collected would be useful. Record the platforms the company uses, how much engagement they receive on each, the type of content being outputted and customer reviews. When reviewing each social media platform, it is important to note which posts do better than others.

The final step in the process is to create a SWOT analysis. In this example, the SWOT analysis would be used as an overview of the company to outline their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. By defining each of these components, it helps to develop a clear strategy. It allows growth and improvement! The strengths of the company would be what they are doing well. The weaknesses could be areas that need to be improved on. Maybe they are receiving bad customer reviews because of products tarnishing. Opportunities could be if the brand had the chance to extend their product line. By contrast, threats would be risks, such as competitors. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses are internal, whereas the opportunities and threats are external. 

The beauty of audits lies in how impactful they can be when developing a proper marketing strategy. By reviewing and analyzing company performance or engagement, audits provide a clear way to track what's going well and what could be improved on.


Comments

  1. Nathan HerbertFebruary 11, 2026 at 8:59 PM

    I liked how you explained audits in a simple and easy-to-follow way. The Taco Bell example made your point about social listening clear and relatable. You also did a good job connecting audits to the SWOT analysis and showing how they help create a stronger marketing strategy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emma KeyFebruary 12, 2026 at 1:16 PM

    Danika, I really enjoyed how you wrote about Audits, and the beauty of them. I think that they are fun to research about, and I would love to learn more about them. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stick Jumping

-
Image
 A lot of people may be questioning why I trust a stick to launch me into the air just to clear another one, and that's just the hidden beauty of pole vault! Before I get into why I chose this rather out of the ordinary event, you may be wondering, what is pole vault? In simple terms, it’s just trusting a stick to propel me over a bar. However, the event of pole vault is much more complex and technical than just that. Pole vault in the sport of track and field is categorized as a field event in which athletes run down a runway using a fiberglass, flexible pole, to propel themselves over a horizontal bar that varies in height.  Ever since I was young, I have lived for an adrenaline rush. I always said, “the taller, the faster, the better,” as nothing seemed to scare me. I grew up playing every sport under the sun, track and field being one of them. I can remember when I was around five years old, my parents signed me up for a youth running team. I would show up to practice and...
Read more

The World of Social Media Marketing

-
Image
As the second semester of my freshman year begins, a class titled principles of social media is on the schedule! While I was originally not supposed to be in this class, I believe it will be fun, and I will share some important notes along the way! Each week we are asked to look over the upcoming chapter and compose a critical analysis of reading blog over a specific part we may find interesting or what to focus on. For chapter one, I will dive into social media marketing! As a marketing and sport management student with a minor in social media, this section of the chapter spoke to me the most. I have recently found a passion for marketing in social media, especially if it involves sports. Being able to combine my interests of marketing and social media is something I am all for. It was really cool to be able to read about this topic and understand how brands could do better. In terms of social media marketing, businesses must develop a strategy. If a particular business can’t acco...
Read more

The Survival of Spring

-
Image
In theory the spring semester may sound like a breath of fresh air or even the start of something new. Potentially a new wave of motivation and a clean slate! Somewhere between going over the syllabus to the week of midterms, it’s pure survival mode. This is the reality of my semester this year. The fall semester ended up being an easy transition into college. I took six classes which I was able to manage, and I wasn’t drowning in homework. I had track practice during the week and an occasional club meeting at night. I was able to build my routine and schedule very quickly, getting into a rhythm early on. For the spring semester I really wanted to take six classes again. Looking at my schedule, they seemed manageable and wouldn’t require too much work. People warned me that with indoor track starting and my on-campus job, it may be too much to handle. While I took their advice, I was set on knocking out some classes in order to have lighter semesters in the future. On Monday, Wedne...
Read more