Social media marketing is all about fun and play until it’s time to measure your results, right? Fear not: social media auditing is your best business.
Don’t let the name scare you – the IRS is not going to kick your door. Regular audits will help you understand what’s going on across all of your platforms and how each one aligns with your marketing goals. And if you use a simple template, this is not a time-consuming and complicated process.
Keep reading to learn how to conduct an effective social media audit from start to finish. We’ll even show you our handy (and free) social media audit template to make it really easy.
What is a social media audit?
A social media audit is a process used to measure the success of your social strategy across different accounts and networks. The audit identifies your strengths and weaknesses, as well as the next steps needed to improve.
After the audit, you will have everything you need to optimize your social media marketing strategy.
You will learn:
- Your most effective platforms,
- What does your audience want to see on each network,
- Who is your audience (demographics, etc.)
- What helps grow your audience (and what doesn’t)
- How each platform contributes to your goals,
- What new ideas will help you grow,
- And what to focus on next.
How to Conduct a Social Media Audit in 7 Steps
If you’re ready to get started right away, download the free social media audit template above and follow the instructions.
You might think you know all your social media accounts by heart, but chances are you’ve forgotten one or two. So, start by listing all your social media profiles, including the inactive ones.
Where to find this information:
Search every major social network for your brand and product name. You may find some unexpected results such as old test accounts. Oops.
Then make a plan on how to deal with any nasty accounts you find. Old test cases created by your company probably won’t be too hard to get rid of, but finding old login information can be a challenge.
Find any imposter accounts or others infringing your copyrights? The legal department will most likely have to intervene. However, write down the steps needed to deal with each fake account. For some, this can be as simple as contacting fake account holders or reporting the social media account it’s on.
Once you’ve tracked down all relevant accounts, set up a social media monitoring program to keep an eye on new impostors.
In addition to your current social media presence, think about the accounts you don’t already have. For example, are there any social platforms that you haven’t considered? Should you be there?
Of course, you don’t have to be on every network. But an audit is a good opportunity to add new ideas to your social strategy for the future. At the very least, you should reserve your business username on new platforms so no one gets ahead of you.
Where to enter this information:
List basic account information in the Summary tab of the social media audit spreadsheet.
Don’t worry if you don’t already have information for each column on this tab – we’ll continue to fill it in as we go through the audit.
2. Check your branding
Review each profile to ensure they match your current brand style guidelines. Check your profile and banner images, hashtags, copy and phrases, brand voice, URLs and more.
Here are the key areas to consider for each social account:
- Profile and cover images. Make sure your images reflect your current branding and meet the image size requirements of each social network.
- Profile / bio text. You have limited space to work with when creating your social media bio, so make the most of it. Are all fields filled out correctly? Does the text match your tone and voice guidance?
- Username. Try to use the same username on all social networks. Having more than one account online is acceptable as long as they serve different purposes. (For example, our Twitter accounts @Hootsuite and @Hootsuite_Help.)
- Links. Is the URL on your profile pointing to the correct website or landing page?
- Pinned posts (if applicable). Rate pinned posts to make sure they’re still relevant and relevant.
- Examination. Is your account verified with a blue checkmark? If not, is it worth a try? We have guides on how to get verified on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter if you’d like to continue.
Where to find this information:
The best way to make sure your accounts are brand related is to act like a member of your audience.
Visit each of your social media profiles and see how your posts look to your followers. Don’t forget to click on any link to see if it needs to be updated.
Where to enter this information:
Use the information from the summary tab to start creating and populating platform-specific tabs in the social media audit spreadsheet.
After this step, you will be able to fill in the handle, bio, hashtags, profile link, confirmation, channel owner, and last post columns. We’ve highlighted them in the image above!
If you find unbranded content or profiles that need to be updated, be sure to note it in the notes section.
It’s time to audit your social media content. For each social profile, list the five most popular posts. Then copy the post links to your social media audit template so you can easily review them later.
What makes a “most effective post”? Well, it depends. If you want to find the content your audience likes the most, we suggest ranking posts by engagement level. You can choose another key metric to focus on, such as link clicks or conversions.
Review your top posts for templates. Then ask yourself:
- What type of content evokes the desired response for you? Photo posts? Video? Feed, stories or videos?
- What attracts you most: candid, behind-the-scenes content or polished and professional posts?
- Do people react the same across all networks? Does specific content perform better on one platform than others?
- Do people interact with your posts if you ask a question?
- Do your featured posts align with your brand’s current voice? (If not, and they’re playing well, it might be time to re-evaluate that voice.)
Use the notes column in your audit document to write down your thoughts. We’ll come back to these notes later!
Where to find this information:
You can use the built-in analytics tools for each social network to sort and find the most popular posts by your chosen key metric:
- In Twitter analytics
- In Facebook analytics
- In analytics on Instagram
- In TikTok analytics
- In LinkedIn analytics
- In Pinterest analytics
- In Snapchat analytics
But wait: this could take forever. Instead, make life easier and use Hootsuite Analytics. You can find the most popular posts for all your social accounts in one place with just a few clicks.
Hootsuite Analytics is a great all-in-one tool to get a quick look at your data. You can even schedule regular custom reports sent directly to your email.
In Hootsuite Analytics, each report has a flexible, customizable interface. You can drag and drop an unlimited number of “tiles”, each displaying a metric of your choice. So you can easily view your key metrics and adjust your social strategy on the go.
Where to enter this information:
Once you’ve identified the most popular content for each platform, add a link to that post in the highlighted column in the audit table.
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of each channel
Now it’s time to evaluate how each social channel contributes to your overall marketing goals.
If you haven’t already created a mission statement and a few key goals for each social account, now is the time.
Multiple accounts may have similar goals, such as driving web traffic and conversions. Others may be solely for customer service or brand awareness purposes.
For each channel, list its goals and track your progress towards them. For measurable goals like traffic or conversions, write down the actual numbers.
How many site visits came from Instagram? How many sales came from Facebook Page visitors? If the goal is customer service, write down your CSAT score and see if it improves over time. Be specific.
For purposes without quantitative data, record supporting evidence. If your Facebook account is for brand awareness, has your following increased? Have you increased your organic or paid reach?
We want to clarify the purpose of each of your social channels and measure their effectiveness.
Where to find this information:
Finding relevant information will depend on the goals you set for each channel.
Tracking customer service goals or brand awareness? Try using social listening tools to collect data from real customers.
If you are measuring traffic or conversion goals, you can use Google Analytics. You can view the traffic breakdown by channel (plus a lot more information) by going to Acquisition -> Social -> Network Referrals.
Tracking social media conversions is not an exact science, although it is easier on some channels than on others. You will need to set up the Meta Pixel (formerly Facebook Pixel) to track Facebook conversion data, for example, and many networks have their own tracking codes. Many e-commerce platforms also have built-in social feed tracking.
Moving from platform to platform can be tedious (so many tabs!), but you can make your life a lot easier by using a social media management tool like Hootsuite Analytics.
And you don’t have to take our word for it either – our own social team uses Hootsuite to conduct their own social media audits.
“I use Hootsuite to do social media audits for our own channels because it has all of our analytics and all of our channels in one place. This makes it very easy to browse through our various posts and networks, understand what works and what doesn’t, and make my recommendations for changes for the future.”– Nick Martin, Head of Social Listening and Engagement at Hootsuite
Where to enter this information:
Add the mission of each platform to the corresponding tab of the audit table, and then go to the “Performance”section.
Your mission statement will outline the purpose of each platform and identify the most important KPIs.
For example, if your mission for Instagram is “Increase brand awareness and drive traffic/leads”, you’ll probably want to include metrics such as audience growth rate and website traffic from social media. Specify!
Optional:
Take it a step further and compare the performance of each channel against your top competitors.
Scroll down to the SWOT analysis section of your audit worksheet and use the data you collected in this step to list your internal strengths and weaknesses. Your posts may be getting unusually high likes and comments, but you’re producing fewer videos than your competitors. Record!
Then take a close look at your competitors. Did they fail to capitalize on the new feature? Are their accounts growing faster than yours? These are opportunities and threats for your brand, so make sure you pay attention to them.
If you want to do an even more thorough competitive analysis, check out the related blog and free template.
5. Know your audience on each platform
Now that you know how each account helps support and grow your brand, it’s time to dig deeper to understand who you’re talking to on each platform.
Audience demographics are a good starting point. For example, Instagram gets a lot of attention for its e-commerce features, but the reality is that consumers spend the most money on TikTok. Similarly, Facebook is the most popular platform for people aged 35-44, but YouTube is the place for the 18-25 group.
While your audience may differ from the norm, we’ve compiled all the key demographics for each social network to get you started:
- Demographics Facebook
- Demographics of Twitter
- Demographics
- Demographics of TikTok
- Demographics
- Demographics of Snapchat
- Demographics
- YouTube Demographics
Learn the demographics of your unique audience on each platform, and use that along with the types of posts they prefer to create buyer personas. (Don’t worry, we have a free buyer persona template to make it easy for you.)
Where to find this information:
You can find demographic information in each platform’s own analytics. However, it’s much faster if you’re using the generic audience reports in Hootsuite Insights.
This enterprise grade tool can give you an instant overview of millions of online conversations in real time.
Search by any topic or keyword and filter by date, demographics, location and more. You will be able to identify influencers or brand advocates, understand how your brand is perceived by the market, and receive immediate alerts if and when your mentions skyrocket (good or bad).
Hootsuite Insights can tell you a lot about your audience and what they think of you. If you want to learn more about your unique audience, Insights is the only tool you need.
Request a demo of Hootsuite Insights
Where to enter this information:
In the audit table, scroll down to the Audience section for each platform and add any relevant demographic information.
Be sure to include the number of followers you have now and the percentage change over the past year.
Did you find something interesting in your social listening audit? Be sure to check it out here. For example, if the positive (or negative) attitude towards your brands has increased, you should keep an eye on it.
Now that you know where you are, think about how you can improve your social media performance. It’s time to go back to the notes you made earlier!
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Which platforms bring the most results?
- Are there any new social media platforms you should be using?
- Are you neglecting any platforms? Do you need them at all, or would it be better to abandon them and focus on more effective ones?
- What types of content are working best right now? How can you make more of this?
- Does your content resonate with the expected demographics of your audience, or has a new potential character emerged?
Think about new content and campaign ideas based on what you learned from the main content in step three. For example, if a video is a big hit, write down a specific strategy to use it more in your marketing. It could be “Post 3 new Instagram videos per week” or “Remake an existing long video into short 15 second social media clips.”
These decisions don’t have to be permanent. Successful marketing depends on testing and experimentation to find what works for your audience. Don’t be afraid to take risks. A regular social media audit will let you know if you are on the right track or if you need to move in a different direction.
Write each new strategy and idea into your marketing plan. (Don’t have one yet? We have another great template: this free social media marketing plan document.) Your marketing strategy is a living document, so keep it up to date.
Where to find this information:
Your brain! Use all the data you have collected so far to generate new ideas. Keep goals for each platform in front of you so you can tie your updated marketing plan to them. Don’t forget to let others know about the marketing plan update so everyone is on the same wavelength.
Once you’ve completed your audit…schedule the next one! Stick to a regular schedule. Quarterly is fine for most companies, although you may want to check monthly if you have many campaigns or channels.
Regular audits link your team’s day-to-day marketing work to your company’s goals. Over time, you will refine your social strategy and learn how to best interact with your audience.
Where to enter this information:
Once you’ve had a chance to review your data, add the new targets for each platform to the targets section of your auditing table. Be sure to set a date for when you will return and evaluate your progress.
Congratulations! Your audit table is now complete! To make it easier to view the results, complete the rest of the information on the summary tab.
Free Social Media Audit Template
A spreadsheet is the best way to keep track of audit information on social media (and everything in life).
If you have been following the news, then you know that we have created a ready-to-use social media audit template for you. Upload it above or create your own with the following fields:
Account details:
- your login
- Link to your profile
- About/bio text for account
- Any hashtags that appear in your bio or that you will use regularly
- URL to use in your bio
- Whether your account is verified or not
- The internal person or team responsible for managing the account (also known as the “owner”- for example, the social marketing team)
- The mission of the account (for example: “Promote corporate culture through employee photos”or “Provide customer service”).
- Details of the current pinned message (if applicable)
- Date last posted (to help you identify underutilized/abandoned accounts)
Performance details:
- Total number of published posts
- Total Engagement: Engagement Rate, CTR, Views, Comments, Posts, etc.
- Change in engagement rate since your last audit
- The top five posts for each platform based on engagement (or your chosen KPI).
- ROI of your campaign (if you run paid ads)
Audience details:
- Demographics and customer profiles
- Number of subscribers (and change +/- since your last audit)
Goals:
- 2-3 SMART goals you want to achieve by the next audit
- Did you achieve the goals you set for this audit or change course (and why)
Now you know everything you need to conduct your own social media audit. Go and analyze!
Frequently Asked Questions About Social Media Auditing
What is a social media audit?
A social media audit is a process used to measure the success of your social strategy across different accounts and networks. The audit identifies your strengths and weaknesses, as well as the next steps needed to improve.
Why is social media audit important?
A social media audit will help you check how your social media efforts align with your business goals.
An audit will show you what content and platforms are performing best, who your audience is and what they care about, and where to focus your efforts next.
How to start a social media audit?
Start a social media audit by listing all your accounts and then go through each account to check its performance. To see the process, scroll to the top of this blog.
How long does a social media audit take?
It depends on the! You can do a quick social media audit in as little as 30 minutes, but if you want to take a deep dive into each of your accounts, you can set aside a few hours.
What are the stages of a social media audit?
Auditing social networks is quite simple. Just follow these steps:
- List of all your accounts
- Check your branding
- Determine the most effective content
- Evaluate the effectiveness of each channel
- Understand your audience on each platform
- Take action and set new goals