Reimagining Social Discovery with Audits As A Service
Social Media Audits are hands down my absolute favorite Chatterkick service. While businesses were handing over the keys to their assets and strategy in the early Chatterkick years, we were really forced to learn, develop, and strategize on the fly with minimal background knowledge. There is so much data available that we were still able to make strategy pivots when necessary, but we were pouring extra hours into doing industry research when we added a retainer client. Those hours were bursting out of the margins as we were doubling and tripling the amount of time it should take to execute scope in the earlier months.
The audits were born and developed on a car ride to Omaha with Beth. In fact, I’m pretty sure I still have the note writing down all of our ideas. By launching an audit service we could create the opportunity to get paid for our research time which was so valuable. Having a foundational understanding of the client's goals, past success and barriers with the audit allows us to hit the ground running with a retainer or campaign. And another great benefit is that these projects are an absolute amazing skill development tool. I’m obsessed with metrics. Marketing, especially social media, really allows me to bring the creative and analytical side of my brain to work together harmoniously. The art of the science, or even science of the art, seriously makes me drool.
Want to know more about the social media strategy and discovery plans? Check out this page I built at Chatterkick’s website.
The Packages
A Mini Audit: I gain access to their social profiles, web analytics, and take a look at 1-2 competitors to put a basic scope/strategy together so that they know how to get the most bang for their buck with a Chatterkick partnership.
Ask Chatterkick Experience: A one-on-one training session where I sit with the client and give coaching advice on how to amplify their voice, easy wins, and answer any questions they have.
Discovery Plan + Strategy: This is my favorite. It’s a real in-depth audit that takes me around 15-30 hours. I execute a competitor audit, identify platform opportunities, advertising strategies with a suggested budget, and really aim to build a social media guide. It really depends on what the client is looking for, here are some of the projects I’ve done:
Industry Audit For Saas Company
Creating Grassroots Engagement For Economic Dev
Give My Business A Social Media Grade For A Tech Service Company
Is My Other Agency Doing A Great Job For Dentist
How’s My Internal Team Stacking Up For Auto Service
Digital Strategy Development For Consumer Packaged Goods
Google Advertising Optimization Ideas For Pet Service
Digital Recruitment Strategy Development For Food Processing Manufacturer
Strategy Audit And Creative Idea Development With Live Workshop For Systems Software
New Student Acquisition And Engagement For Community College
Brand Inventory Audit For Private College
Agency Value Review And Strategy Opportunities For Driver Recruitment At Trucking Company
The Audit Journey
I lead a Client kickoff meeting to identify the questions and purpose of the audit. Typically they have questions they’d like me to dig in and research. This is where we determine if the goal is to bring the strategy in-house, seek outside partnership (hopefully Chatterkick, right?), or a combination of the two.
For 2-3 weeks, I lock myself in my office (theoretically) and get nerdy. I set up the design and structure for how I’m going to present the data. I design all of the delivered plans and audits myself. Then I really start diving into the metrics seeking outliers, data that supports or differs from the client vision, and gaps/opportunities in the strategy.
The more intense audits I’ve completed have been 20-30 pages long. After I have identified all of the data to support the client’s questions and goals, I go through the design with a fine-tooth comb. One thing that’s exceptionally challenging about designing the document is that it’s really tough to see the numbers and sources in the same light. I’ve almost over synthesized the data at this point, but then I can almost wholly look at the content from a design perspective.
Execute a review of findings with key decision-makers. These meetings can be intense and can last anywhere from one to four hours. I’ve learned so much from this portion of the process over time. I hate public speaking, it really freaks me out. I still sometimes get red during these conversations with the back and forth questions, but wow, I’ve had to develop a vast glossary or guidebook on how to explain my findings. The expertise level is all over the board, depending on who is in the room. I find it most comfortable to get really nerdy and dive into talk about algorithms or niche data discoveries. Sometimes those chats just are really not helpful. Sometimes clients just want to know when to post, what to say, and what tools they should use to make content.
Help develop the next steps. Often, these audits and discoveries turn into some sort of partnership with Chatterkick. While that’s an ideal outcome, and 73% of them have converted for us, our positioning is really to add as much value to the client as possible. I create the final document in this process to cater to the client needs. If it’s a social media playbook that they take in house and execute, awesome! They know who to call if they get stuck or want my opinion on how it’s going. I love help building internal teams, provide innovation and strategy, and cheer them on along the way.
