Looking for ways to improve your social media strategy? You may want to consider performing a SWOT analysis to identify its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats!
As a brand on social media, every decision you make and every post you publish contributes to a wider, long-term goal. Without a proper strategy in place, you may find it difficult to ever reach your full potential.
Whether you’re unsure what makes a successful campaign or simply aren’t satisfied with your growth on social media, a SWOT analysis can provide you with insightful information about what works well, and perhaps what doesn’t.
In this guide, we'll go through the basics of a social media SWOT analysis and how doing one may help you to create a more effective social strategy.
So, what is a SWOT analysis?
SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Think of it as a research tool which helps you to identify what you are doing well, where you could improve, the possibilities that are available and the potential risks that may occur.
What are the benefits of a SWOT analysis?
A SWOT analysis is especially useful when you need to evaluate performance. It can also provide you with a better understanding of your long term goals and improve your overall marketing strategy.
How can I perform a social media SWOT analysis?
To complete a social media SWOT analysis, you will need access to the insights on your social media account. You should then follow these four steps:
Identify your strengths
Start by pinpointing what you do best on social media. Identify your highest performing posts and also determine what you are doing better than competitors. At this stage of the analysis, you may want to consider the following questions:
- Is your branding recognisable throughout social media?
- What type of content does your audience respond best to? Single images, carousels, reels etc.
- Do you maintain an appropriate and consistent tone of voice throughout the copy?
- Are your posts catered specifically to your target audience?
- Is your content valuable and informative as well as promotional?
- Which posts have the best engagement and why?
- What stands out the most on your account, the graphics or the copy?
A big well done If you’ve ticked all or even some of these boxes! Now onto the next step of the analysis…
Find your weaknesses
At this stage, you should have discovered all the good things about your position on social media. It’s now time to identify areas where your performance may be lacking. Use your insights to answer questions such as:
- What are your competitors doing better than you?
- Do images receive similar, better or worse engagement than videos?
- Are you posting consistently?
- Where does your audience interact the most: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter?
- Have you received negative comments or messages on any platforms? What triggered those reactions?
- Do your analytics reveal anything interesting about posts which didn’t perform well?
Identify your opportunities
A SWOT analysis is a pretty convenient way to discover the opportunities that are available to you on social media. At this step, you may be thinking about future campaigns and potential growth. Here are some ideas for you to explore:
- What social media trends may be beneficial to your brand? How can you use these to target your audience?
- Are you using the latest social media tools? Consider popular features such as Instagram reels, TikTok lives and Facebook shopping.
- Does your brand have the potential to build an online community? Consider working with a like-minded influencer who may improve your social visibility.
- Have you been focusing on organic content only? If so, you may want to consider a paid social strategy.
Think about potential threats
In the online world of business, there will always be potential threats. Even if they don’t seem relevant right now, it’s important to be aware so you can prepare an effective solution. Think about things like…
- Changes to any social media algorithms that may impact your online visibility.
- New and upcoming competitors. How will you compete?
- Unfollowers: How can you convince your audience to stay loyal?
- Oversaturated or dying markets: How can you sustain interest?
How can a SWOT analysis improve social media performance?
Once you’ve completed the research, you can then use your results to create an effective social media strategy. Here’s how it goes…
Develop your strengths
Now that you know what works best, you can further amplify your strengths by making them an essential part of your social media strategy.
For example, your top posts might be Instagram reels, yet you have only published a few. To improve your performance, you should now try to incorporate more videos into your weekly strategy.
Learn from your weaknesses
After you have identified your weak spots, it’s important that you create a plan to improve. As the saying goes, you learn from your mistakes!
For example, if you own a female clothing brand but your insights reveal a 60% male audience, you may want to consider working with a relevant fashion blogger.
Assess your opportunities
It's now time to test the waters! After you have discovered potential opportunities on social media, consider doing a test run.
For example, you may want to put a new focus on Facebook adverts, as opposed to organic content. When you analyse the results, you may discover that it was effective in terms of engagement, ROI, or both! Depending on the outcome, you can then begin to experiment with new objectives and create a successful paid social strategy.
Plan for potential threats
We recommend always planning ahead, even if the risks seem to be a big ‘what if’. This will allow you to respond effectively when or ‘if’ it becomes a serious issue.
For example, you may notice that a few people have unfollowed you after your latest post. By keeping on top of the numbers, you can begin to better understand your audience.
And there you have it! The ultimate guide for conducting a social media SWOT analysis!
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