Tips on Digital Spring Cleaning Social Media For Small Businesses
Your approach with cleaning up your social media is akin to gardening. The reason I like to describe it like that is because social media posts are like flowers—some are evergreen, some turn out to be invasive, and others need to be repotted.
Social Media In The Grand Scheme Of Things
In my mind, your website is like a house—it’s where you want people to go and have an experience, with the hope that they keep coming back for your services or products. SEO is like the electricity, satellite, cable, technology, etc. in your house that makes it discoverable—literally putting you on the grid so to speak. And your social media posts are the flowers and shrubbery outside, that attract attention and make others regard your house well.
A little pruning once a year does a social media feed good!
For many, it’s incredibly refreshing to take inventory and repurpose the old, delete the unwanted, and deep clean the rest. For others, it’s a dreaded task, but it’s important.
Review ALL Of Your Online Accounts
This sounds intimidating, especially given the number of applications most of us use, but it’s a critical part because bad actors will often target neglected accounts to try and pilfer information or execute phishing campaigns. Your #1 goal in all of this is to protect your business, your data, and your reputation.
- Make a quick list of all of your social media accounts, then delete or deactivate any that you don’t use anymore.
- Update what information has changed or profile items that need polishing—basically do a deep clean of the stuff people see right away.
- Evaluate who is an admin on your accounts and remove who shouldn’t be or change role levels.
- Scrub your influencer outreach—eliminate the dead weight and make room for new partnerships that drive your bottom line.
Do A Digital Deep Clean
Now here’s where you roll up your sleeves and get to work!
As you dust off old things always be taking notes—looking for opportunities, seeing where you can improve, and what you need to stop. The last thing you want to do is waste valuable time, resources, and budget on something that no longer makes good business sense.
And the most important thing you’ll get out of the process of cleaning up your social media presence is learning when to keep something online and when to make it ephemeral.
- Delete old photos or posts that may not align with your brand now.
Tip: It’s really important to have a clear current brand identity because keeping your tone and content consistent and on-brand is critical to establishing a strong relationship with your followers and customers.
Example: Cleaning Up Your Facebook Business Footprint
- Sift through your posts more quickly by clicking on the Albums tab at the top of your Facebook page. You’ll see all the images your business has ever shared on Facebook, and if there are images that you quickly spot as not on-brand, not high quality, or whatever criteria you’re looking for, click through and then click on the date that the image was posted; this will take you to the entire post, not just that one image.
- Take a look at past post performance for ideas and to identify which posts just need tweaking or which would serve you better if removed.
Tip: If you observe that a piece of content did not perform well the first time it went live, promote it again—Shake up the variables to test what works (i.e. try posting at a different time of day than before; boosting it with Facebook advertising; or sharing on a new social channel).
- Figure out where your audience REALLY IS.
Have you earned great returns on one of your social media channels, like Facebook? Look at your data closely to find out where your audience really is and where you’re getting the most engagement. Here’s an easy way to figure it out: If people aren’t watching your videos, aren’t leaving feedback, responding to your calls-to-action, and requesting more content on a regular basis—consider expanding to other social media platforms.
Depending on where you identify your target audience spends the majority of their time, you can explore Facebook and Instagram for live streaming opportunities, or Instagram and TikTok for daily stories where your viewers can easily follow along and engage in real-time conversation with your brand.
Example: Finding What Others Have Posted About Your Business On Social Media
- Similar to the strategy I mentioned in part 1 of this series on How To Clean Up Your Online Presence, you want to use the boolean method (“Your Business Name”).
- On Facebook, on the left hand-side you can select different filter options. I would recommend starting with Date Posted, then use the drop down and start with the most recent year. It’s up to you, but pace yourself, enlist help from those you trust, and choose what’s easiest or makes the most sense for you.
Brush Up On The Competition
It’s been said that comparison is the thief of joy. While true, in business it’s critical to be aware of what your competitors are doing so you stay in business too.
To determine where and how your competition is gaining traction among your shared target audiences, get familiar with their social media practices. Observe their organic and paid posts, and how they engage with followers. From there, don’t be a copycat, but if any part of their approach inspires you, use the takeaways to update your own content creation and engagement strategy.