A 7 day social media audit of brands Zara vs Aritzia

PREL3378 – Social Media Monitoring, Analysis, Tracking and Reporting
DUE: February 6, 2021
Value 20%
Choose an organization and one of its top direct competitors and monitor their social media
channels for a week (seven days). The initial organization should be one that comes from an
industry that you have become aware of from recent publicity, and/or that uses social media.
Choose two of their active* social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Blog).
Follow the same social media channels on the competitor site.
Confirm your organization selection in the Discussion Forum set up in the First Section of your
Moodle course called: Social Media Audit: brand choices for auditing
Monitor organizational messages over the seven-day period. Besides the social media
channels, make note of the organizations other social and digital strategies. Are there podcasts,
forums, video and photo sharing sites?
For each social or digital media channel audited, analyze the messages
• What is the purpose of the post/message?
• Who is the intended audience?
• What are the key themes/messages (content)?
• What are the desired outcomes? (What does the organization want the audience to
think, feel or do?)
• When and how often are they posting? How effective is what they are posting?
Analyze the reactions and responses.
Monitor the comments, replies, likes, retweets. Does the organization do a good job of engaging
its key publics? What could the organization do to better engage its key publics? Is the
organization utilizing different message strategies on its different channels? What about their
visual interest strategies? What about their demonstrated use of the social media channel’s
unique features?
Engage
Send a Tweet, comment or question that should reasonably elicit a response. Remember to use
their organization’s social media account handle and hashtags if relevant. Does the organization
respond proactively and promptly?
Track
Prepare a summary of the week’s traffic and replies.
• What was the tone of the messages? Positive, neutral, or negative and why?
• Was anyone identified as a spokesperson for the organization?
• Were words and images effectively used?
• What was the impact?
Evaluate
Comment on each of the organization’s effective (or ineffective) use of social media. Consider
the original organization and the competitor. Who is doing a better job on social?
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Report
Write a report summarizing your findings and observations. What, if anything, do you think the
organizations could have done differently? Were there any factors that may have influenced the
delivery of the messages or the responses to the messages? Did the organization respond
promptly to feedback? Were issues or problems promptly and professionally addressed?
Support recommendations you make with best practice advice from at least six credible
sources and cite them. Provide visual interest, for example tweets or posts, as evidence to
support your report content and recommendations. Remember to treat tables and visuals as
Figures.
Format for report Use business style report writing format, NO first person writing
*active –posting daily (if not discuss with your instructor before proceeding)
Useful Resources:
A sample template follows. Do not use this template as your final submission format, it is a tool
to monitor and access your audit. This audit template, or another you make or choose, must be
attached as support for your report and be legible (In the Appendix). Please note that many
different formats exist for Social Media Audit templates. Feel free to search and explore them. I
expect your insights and recommendations are backed by credible social media expert advise
(a minimum of five, plus your textbook for a total of six)
Credible online resources, for advice/citing, examples:
• Social Media Examiner
• HubSpot
• Hootsuite
• Sprout Social
• Buffer
• Moz
• Sprout Social
• TechCrunch
• Mashable
• RazorSocial
• Others?
Suggested approach to recommendations is to read up on current “best practice” advise on
anything from how to get more engagement, how to use
• How to engage User Generated Content strategies (UGC)
• Best Time to Post on Social Network by Hour
• Should you cross-post?
• Best Days to Post on Social Media
Social Media Traffic by Date and Hour
• Don’t Post and Ghost
• What do the latest blogs from the SM experts say? Trends?
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More resources for learning about Social Media Audits.
How to conduct a social media audit:
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-audit/

Local social media experts (former NAIT marketing grads – now business owners)
• Top Draw: https://www.topdraw.com/blog/page/2/
• Kick Point: https://kickpoint.ca/blog/
• Beverley Theresa: https://hellobeverley.com/
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Grading Rubric/ Marking Sheet
Assignment: Social and Digital Media Monitoring, Analysis, Tracking and Reporting
Name of student: ____________________________________
Dimensions 20-18
Accomplished
13-12
Competent
11-10
Developing
10 or below
Completeness and accuracy:
All components completed
Professional presentation
Spelling and grammar correct
Thoughts clearly expressed
All components completed with
sophistication
All components completed Attempted or missing
Analysis:
Interpretation of the media in
light of your understanding of
what is “best practice” in
public relations from credible
sources.
Sophisticated analysis Sufficient analysis Insufficient or flawed
analysis
Synthesis:
Terms and concepts from the
text, from class, content
experts, prior learning and
experience integrated.
Integrated with sophistication Included Insufficiently included or
missing
Critical thinking:
Criticisms expressed with tact
and diplomacy
Attention to “what if?” or
“what’s missing?” or “what
could go wrong with the
media?”
Consideration of media
mishandling of messages
Comment on the accuracy and
tone of the media, Neutral?
Fair? Balanced?
Integrated with sophistication Included Insufficiently included or
missing
Creative thinking:
Fresh and inventive thought
Fresh and inventive language
Unusual approach
No clichés
Humour used
Imagination evident
Integrated with sophistication Included Insufficiently included or
missing
APA in-text
Citations & References
Includes at least six* in-text
citations and includes a
reference list with the text and
at least five other sources.
Includes less than six
In-text citations or includes a
reference list without the text
and/or with fewer than four
other sources.
Missing a reference list
and/or missing in-text
citations
*See page 1 & 2 of assignment to clarify expert source examples for “best practice”