Log in
Noticed you’re on an iOS device. Get our mobile app for effortless planning on the go.
Log in with planable.io
Noticed you’re on an Android device. Get our mobile app for effortless planning on the go.
Log in with planable.io
Planable is the best client-facing social media tool we've ever used and we've used a lot.
NOTE: You can now officially schedule your Google My Business posts with our integration! Check it out for yourself – it's free. Google My Business (renamed Google Business Profile in November 2021) is one of the most popular free social media platforms for local...
Mar 28, 2025
Wake up, social media bestie. It’s time for a social media audit, or, as I would call it, a reality check.
Social media audits are essential for any brand that cares about its social media results. They reveal what’s working, what’s failing, and how to improve. Managing multiple platforms and feeling chaos creeping in? Struggling with engagement? The answers lie in social media auditing.
In this guide, I’ll share why social media audits are helpful, go over some social media audit examples, and explain how to conduct one for yourself using social media management tools and your skills. Let’s go!
A social media audit is a detailed review of your social media accounts to assess performance, audience engagement, and overall strategy. It involves analyzing key social media metrics and audience behavior to see what’s working and what needs improvement.
As Sandar Segura, Paid Media Supervisor at Rocket Digital, puts it:
Social media audits provide a global view of what is being communicated on the channel and what the behavior is among users, as well as accelerating decision-making ahead of time by identifying engagement patterns, reach, trends, and competitive offers
To put it briefly, you can’t make data-driven decisions if you don’t have the data.
We all have an idea of how a social media strategy is supposed to work. But sometimes, it just doesn’t — or it does, but not as efficiently as we imagined.
A social media audit gives you clarity on where your brand actually stands online. A solid audit can:
Find out what resonates with your target audience so you can refine your social media content strategy.
Not all social media platforms perform well, and that’s ok. See which channels aren’t delivering and decide whether to adjust your strategy or reallocate resources.
Ensure your social media marketing strategy directly supports key business objectives like lead generation, brand awareness, or sales.
Gut feeling is great on socials. Guesswork — not so hot. A social media audit gives you actionable insights to refine your approach and improve future campaigns.
Check if your messaging, visuals, and tone stay uniform across all social media platforms.
Regular audits keep your ducks in a row and help your social media team make better decisions for better results.
A social media audit digs deep into social media engagement, content performance, and overall impact. Here’s what to include in your audit to cover all the bases:
Check if your logos, bios, and messaging align across platforms for a strong, recognizable brand. They might differ slightly, but keep them consistent.
Analyze key metrics like reach, shares, and engagement to identify top-performing and worst-performing posts. Try to find a reason for each.
Understanding audience demographics helps with content ideas. Review demographic data and interactions to understand who follows you and how they engage.
Compare your performance with competitors to spot trends and opportunities for improvement. This can also help you set more realistic social media KPIs.
Track how much website traffic and sales come from social media.
Measure how quickly and effectively you reply to comments, messages, and mentions.
Ensure you post consistently without overwhelming or ghosting your audience.
Use data to optimize your content strategy and measure success over time.
A social media audit is quite a journey. Since we’re looking at the big picture here, there are many things you don’t want to overlook.
I’ve done quite a handful of social media audits and created the step-by-step social media audit checklist below to keep things running smoothly.
Start by identifying every social media account linked to your brand, including inactive or duplicate ones.
You’d be surprised how many outdated profiles are floating around — especially if you’re auditing for a not-so-social-savvy business.
Decide whether to update, merge, or delete accounts that are no longer relevant.
Your brand should feel cohesive across all platforms. Inconsistencies weaken recognition.
Check how Duolingo’s profile pic is consistent across brand accounts.
Here’s what to check:
While bios may differ slightly per platform, your core branding should remain the same.
Not all content performs equally.
Review top-performing posts and evaluate engagement metrics. What formats, topics, or styles work best? If short videos drive the most engagement but carousels get more saves, consider that insight.
Planable’s analytics dashboard
Likewise, spot underperforming content. Is it the wrong timing, poor formatting, or an unengaging topic? Use insights to adjust your strategy and focus on what actually resonates with your audience.
Your social media engagement depends on understanding your audience. Analyze:
A strong social media presence is backed by active engagement that goes both ways. If your target audience doesn’t interact with your content or gets replies after way too long, it’s a sign to rethink your social media strategy.
Likes and shares are great, but how about social media driving tangible results?
To prove your social media ROI, track where your traffic comes from and how it converts. Are people coming from this particular platform signing up, booking demos, or making purchases?
If engagement is high but conversions are low, tweak your calls-to-action and landing pages. A lot of traffic with little action means something (or rather someone) isn’t clicking.
Your social media doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Competitor analysis helps you spot opportunities and set social media goals with industry benchmarks in mind.
You don’t need to copy competitors, but if their content shines where yours struggles, learn from it.
It’s not about posting too much or too little. What you should aim for is consistency.
Check your posting habits. If your audience expects daily updates but you post once a month, that might be a problem. Most platforms favor frequent, consistent posting — at least once a week is where the conversation starts.
Content calendar dashboard in Planable
Use a social media calendar to balance different content types and match them to the right platform. What works on LinkedIn may flop on TikTok, and vice versa, so ensure you have it all sorted in your content calendar.
Use data-driven insights to refine your social media strategy. Make your next steps clear, measurable, and actionable to ensure your audit leads to real improvements.
What’s the point of auditing if you don’t act on its findings?
A social media strategy isn’t set in stone. Platforms evolve, trends shift, and audience behavior changes. That’s why regular social media audits are a must.
Sandra Segura, Paid Media Supervision at Rocket Digital, recommends auditing at least quarterly to stay aligned with business goals and market trends. She adds:
However, the platforms are fast-moving, and it’s considerable auditing monthly. Regular audits help identify what’s working, spot underperforming content, adjust strategies for better engagement, and track your competitors
How often you should audit depends on your business size, industry, and activity level:
Best for large brands or businesses that rely heavily on social media. Help track fast-changing trends, test new strategies, and quickly adapt to platform updates.
Ideal for businesses with steady social media activity, especially if the social media strategy seems to be working as intended. Help review trends, improve engagement, and adjust strategy every few months.
A good option for brands that post regularly but not too often. More of a sanity check that ensures content and audience insights stay on track.
Work for small businesses with limited social activity. Help review overall performance and make long-term strategy adjustments.
Do an extra audit after big social media campaigns, rebrands, or platform updates to stay on top of changes. Or, if your current strategy is falling short, put it under a microscope outside of schedule.
No matter how often you audit, staying consistent keeps your strategy sharp.
Planable is an all-in-one social media management tool that helps agencies and brands stay on top of their content and performance. It includes social media analytics tools for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Youtube, Pinterest, Threads, Twitter, and Google Business Profile, making it easy to track key metrics and engagement.
Planable’s social media analytics dashboard
Besides analytics, Planable helps schedule and publish posts for nine social media channels, plan campaigns, and collaborate with teams. The content calendar lets you visualize posts, while the approval workflows keep everything organized.
Why use Planable for your social media audit?
If you need an audit tool that also streamlines daily social media management, Planable is a great pick.
Google Analytics helps measure social media-driven traffic, engagement, and conversions. It shows how many visitors come from social media and what they do on your site.
For a detailed social media report, make sure to pull this info:
Google Analytics is kind of scary but essential if your ROI-driving conversions happen outside social media.
Sprout Social’s social media analytics tools go beyond basic. The platform has very detailed reports on engagement and audience sentiment, as well as tons of other things like employee advocacy and competitor analysis.
Suitable for big marketing agencies or companies that rely heavily on social media, Sprout Social offers:
Sprout Social helps improve your social media presence with very fine-grained analytical data.
Depending on depth, expertise, and tools, a social media audit can be free or cost thousands. Many social media audit tools offer free reports, while freelancers and agencies charge anywhere from $100 to $5,000+. You can always run one yourself, but be cautious of being too prejudiced.
A basic audit takes a few hours, while a detailed analysis with reporting can take days or weeks. Using a social media audit template speeds up the process by keeping everything structured and easy to track.
Use social media audit tools to automate data collection. Start with a social media audit template to check branding, engagement, and content performance. Focus on what’s working, what’s not, and what needs improvement. Keep it simple, actionable, and data-driven.
Regular social media audits are like sanity checks. They allow you to see whether your social media strategy is working and regroup if it isn’t.
Analyze, refine, repeat — and don’t fear saying goodbye to things that don’t spark joy in your social media presence!
Content marketer with a background in journalism; digital nomad, and tech geek. In love with blogs, storytelling, strategies, and old-school Instagram. If it can be written, I probably wrote it.
Create
Schedule
Plan
Analyze
Collaborate
Engage
Approve
