10 Point Checklist For A Social Media Audit

Conducting a social media audit is a key part of a social media marketing plan.

We can waste time and resources trying to improve things that don’t need improving while neglecting the things that we really need to work on.

A social media audit is a great way to take stock of where you’re at and identify what you can improve on going forward.

List All Your Social Accounts

Create a simple excel spreadsheet and list all your social accounts, including those you set up but haven’t used in a while.

Check that you only have one business profile on each platform.
Make sure you know all the passwords for your accounts and have access to the accounts and associated emails.
Keep your passwords secure and set up a system for changing them regularly.
List all account administrators.
Do you need to change access or permissions for someone who no longer manages your accounts?

Update Your Information

Have you pinned outdated information to the top of your timelines?
Have you fully completed your About sections? Do they contain all the information a prospective customer or client would need to find out about your services?
Do your social profiles include a URL that leads back to your website?
Are your bio details accurate?
Do you need to add or change any of the existing information?

Review Your Images

Are your header images clear and compelling?
Do your cover photos needed updating? Are you still showing that summer picture now that it’s winter?
Is your image resolution good? Are you using the correct image dimensions for each social platform? Find the most up-to-date image sizes here.
How about your bio picture? Are you happy it conveys a professional image? Is it clearly visible on all devices?
Are you making good use of keywords?
Do you need to include a new call-to-action?

Check out my guide to creating professional graphics

Check For Consistency Across All Platforms

Are you consistent in how you use your brand images across all platforms?
Do background colours, logos, and other images follow your branding?
Are all descriptions and URLs uniform?
If you were your ideal customer, would you be able to identify with your brand on social media in terms of image, tone, and voice?

Claim Your Vanity URLs

A vanity URL is the user name that you assign to your social media accounts which uniquely identifies you. Before you create your vanity URL, your social media profile is given a default URL that includes a string of random numbers.

Have you claimed your vanity URLS on Facebook and LinkedIn? For more information on claiming your vanity URL visit these pages at LinkedIn and Facebook.

Dig Into Your Audience Demographics

How well do you know your audience? Finding data on your existing audience will help you identify who you’re currently reaching and if they are within your target market. Use Google Analytics and built-in audience analytics features such as Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics to dig into detailed demographic data, including countries, occupations and interests, and the gender split of your audience.

Where do they like to hang out online?
What content is most relevant to them?
What kind of information are they looking for?
How do they like to consume that information?

Download my free audience persona template here

Audit Your Posting Activity

Social media is all about engaging with the right audience on the right platform at the right time. Are you sharing the kind of information your audience finds useful? Are you sharing at the right time of the day? Audit how often you are posting on each platform and List which times you are posting and the results you are getting.

Schedule posts according to effective times of day:

o 6-10 times daily for Twitter

o 1-2 times daily for Facebook

o 1-3 times daily for Instagram

o Update Instagram Story

o 1 time daily for LinkedIn

Recommended Reading: When Are The Best Times To Post On Social Media In 2020?

Evaluate Engagement Rates

Determine where you are getting the most engagement and make a decision about whether to continue efforts on all platforms, or to reduce your efforts to concentrate on just one or two platforms. It’s important, especially if your resources are limited, that you’re focusing your social media efforts in places that will generate the most return for your efforts.

How engaged is your audience with you on each of your social networks?
Do your interactions seem to be coming from your target market?
Are most of your conversions coming from one network only?

Study Your High Performing Content

Review your high performing content across all social networks.

Which content worked best for you? Create more of this content in the future.
Can you re-purpose this content and use it again.

Audit Your Competitors

Compare your competitors’ digital footprint against your own. While it’s tempting to go straight to vanity metrics such as follower numbers, it will be of more benefit if you skip the quantitative analysis for qualitative.

Look at the type of content your competitors are creating. How often are they sharing it?
How have they chosen to use brand images?
Which influencers are they interacting with?
Are they active on networks you aren’t?
Take note of what they are doing well, and where they are lacking.

Recommended Reading: Six Tools To Help You Perform A Competitor Audit

How often should you do a social media audit?

I recommend you do a comprehensive audit on your accounts twice yearly to consider any major adjustments to your strategy. In the intervening time, keep an eye on your analytics and metrics on a monthly basis. Use a reporting system to keep track of monthly changes and review these when it comes time to do your twice-yearly audit.