Four Tips For “Spring Cleaning” Your Social Media Accounts

Though it may not feel like it yet, spring is (technically) in the air and if you are anything like me, you can’t wait to say farewell to this lengthy winter we’ve had. As we prepare to pack away coats and boots and open up the shutters to welcome the approaching warmer weather, it’s also a great time to start thinking about spring cleaning, especially for your social media channels.

I’m talking about more than a quick spritz of Febreze. After all, you don't want to leave digital dust bunnies accumulating in the corners. The reality is that, without a thorough clean up, your social channels can get stagnant.

Here are four tips to help you pull on those rubber gloves and buff up your social and digital personality.

1)      Take out the trash: It is good social media hygiene to make sure you are following and being followed by the right people but, with an overwhelming number of social participants, how do you know who to keep and who to toss? Check out sites like Friend or Follow, JustUnfollow and FollowerWonk, which help you analyze your followers more carefully and figure out if people are following you in return. There are countless other social media tools, and Inc. recently published a helpful list of the top 8 here. You might have thousands of followers, but if they are infamous Twitter bots – what value does that add to your social media credibility?

2)      Assess the mess: While it is nearly impossible to monitor and track the success of your social campaigns in the moment, it is good practice to look back and review them every few months. Measurement and analytics can be provided through sites like Hootsuite and even Twitter itself.  By evaluating your past campaigns, you can determine whether the approach you're taking is giving you the best outcome to help you maintain stronger tactics and cut out the weak methods.

3)      Polish your assets: Take the time to revamp and freshen up your profile by updating your pictures (personal, cover and background) on all of your social sites. It is also a great opportunity to revise your personal bio or update company descriptions.

4)      Don’t be afraid to renovate: We can easily get stuck in the practice of posting the same type of content, following the same people and sharing on the same platforms. In fact, Twitter celebrated its eighth birthday by introducing a tool to show you your very first tweet on the platform. For some of us, looking back on our first tweet shows how far we’ve come using Twitter and how it has evolved as a critical communications platform. But it is equally important to look forward to maintain a strong digital position. In 2014, we can expect more brands to act as publishers. Today, content publishing solutions like TekGroup and Pressfeed, help companies integrate online newsrooms into their content strategy. Another trend is the rising popularity of specialized or niche social media platforms. For example, new anonymous apps Whisper and Secret are creating buzz and advertisers are trying to figure out how to take advantage of that. But it may or may not make sense for you or your brand to join them. Stay on top of the latest and popular trends and then assess whether it’s a worthwhile social investment or merely a passing fad.

Even though spring is fast approaching, it is never too late to get a head start on a thorough, social spring cleaning. Create a list of goals, establish a timeline and watch your social media blossom.