What are the key elements of a social media audit checklist?

1 Platforms and Profiles

The first step of your audit is to list all the social media platforms and profiles that you use or own, including any secondary, niche, or inactive ones. For each profile, you should check that the username, URL, and display name are consistent and aligned with your brand identity and voice. Additionally, verify that the bio, description, and contact information are accurate, updated, and optimized with relevant keywords and hashtags. Furthermore, confirm that the profile picture, cover photo, and other visual elements are high-quality, engaging, and reflect your brand personality and values. Finally, make sure that the verification status, privacy settings, and security features are in place and functioning properly.

2 Content and Engagement

In the next step of your audit, you should evaluate the quality and effectiveness of your social media content and engagement. This includes posts, stories, reels, videos, live streams, podcasts, blogs, and any other formats you use. For each type of content, it's important to consider the frequency, timing, and length of your posts to make sure they are optimized for each platform and audience. Additionally, make sure the tone, style, and language are consistent and appropriate for your brand voice and goals. The content should also be relevant, valuable, original, creative, and diversified across different formats and topics with clear calls to action. Lastly, you should track the content performance in terms of reach, impressions, likes, comments, shares, views, clicks or conversions.

3 Audience and Competitors

The third step of your audit is to understand your social media audience and competitors. This means looking into the demographics, psychographics, and behavior patterns of your followers, fans, customers, prospects, influencers, advocates, and any other segments that you target or interact with. It's important to check if the preferences, needs, pain points, and expectations of your audience are addressed by your content and offers. Additionally, you should assess if the feedback, reviews, testimonials, and referrals of your audience are positive, authentic, and visible. It's also important to consider the size, growth, and retention rate of your audience as well as benchmarking and analyzing the strategies, tactics, and results of your competitors. Lastly, you should assess and prioritize the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your social media presence.

4 Tools and Resources

The fourth step of your audit is to review the tools and resources that you use or need for your social media management. This includes software, hardware, budget, team, and other assets that support your social media activities. For each resource, you should assess if the features, functions, and benefits are sufficient for your objectives and tasks; if the costs, risks, and limitations are manageable; if the integration, compatibility, and security are reliable; if the budget allocation is efficient; if the roles, responsibilities, and skills of your team are clear; and if the training, communication, and collaboration of your team are frequent.

5 Goals and Metrics

The fifth step of your audit is to define and measure your social media goals and metrics. This includes determining short-term and long-term outcomes, indicators, and targets that you want to achieve and monitor. For each goal, make sure it is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART), and aligned with your overall business strategy and vision. The metric should be relevant, reliable, and accurate for measuring your goal, tracked and reported regularly and consistently. Additionally, the target should be realistic, challenging, and motivating for your goal and adjusted based on your performance and feedback.

6 Action Plan

The final step of your audit is to create and implement an action plan based on your findings and recommendations. This includes tasks, timelines, responsibilities, and resources that are needed to execute your social media plan. For each action, ensure that it is clearly defined and described in terms of what, when, who, how, and why. Additionally, prioritize and sequence the action according to its urgency and importance. Assign and delegate the action to the appropriate person or team. Support the action with the necessary tools and resources. Monitor and evaluate the action with relevant metrics and feedback. Lastly, review and revise the action based on the results and learnings.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?