How you can Conduct a Social Media Audit in 9 Straightforward Steps [2023]

Need to know which of your social media accounts contribute to enterprise outcomes (and which of them don’t)? 

Run a social media audit.

On this article, we’ll clarify what a social media audit is, present a step-by-step information on the best way to conduct an audit of your social accounts, and share some helpful social media instruments.

Obtain our free social media audit template so you’ll be able to comply with alongside.

A social media audit tracks, measures, and analyzes your current social profiles and the efficiency of the content material you publish.

Social media audits are vital as a result of most corporations have a number of accounts throughout totally different social media channels.

For instance, tech firm Lenovo has accounts on Instagram, Fb, X (previously Twitter), TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

All these accounts appear uniform and up to date, proper? However right here’s what their Reddit account appears to be like like (as of September of 2023):

Not as up to date. Their profile image options their emblem in a distinct coloration (blue, not crimson), and their final remark was about 4 years in the past (on the time of writing).

Conducting social media audits usually ensures you at all times know the next:

• Which platforms you could have accounts with so you’ll be able to preserve all of them up to date
• Which platforms your audience interacts with most
• Which varieties of content material your viewers relates with essentially the most
• Which accounts are contributing essentially the most to your corporation’s total advertising success

We advocate conducting an audit no less than as soon as each quarter. Particularly you probably have accounts on all the key social media platforms.

Fortunately, we have the proper template so that you can use. So you can begin (and end) your social media audit at the moment.

Obtain the template at the moment to comply with alongside.

1. Make a Complete Listing of Your Social Media Accounts

One objective of a social media audit is to take stock of all of the accounts you presently run. So you’ll be able to determine what’s working and what could be improved.

Begin your audit by itemizing all of your firm profiles. That manner, you recognize which accounts are claimed and below your management. And which of them must be deleted.

If you happen to’re uncertain whether or not your corporation is lively on a social media channel, seek for your model identify or merchandise to see if there’s an lively account.

Listed below are the platforms we advocate checking:

• Fb
• Instagram
• X (previously Twitter)
• TikTok
• Snapchat
• Pinterest
• LinkedIn
• Reddit
• Quora
• Tumblr

Motion: Now go to your social media audit template and add the accounts to the “Profile URL” column on the “Abstract” web page of your social media audit. 

Observe: If you happen to discover accounts you (or your staff) don’t bear in mind creating, add them to the listing anyway. And transfer on to the following step.

2. Discover Out Who Manages Every Account and Report Impostor Accounts

Now that you’ve got an inventory of all of your accounts, it’s time to seek out out which of them are official, that are duplicates, and that are impostors (if there are any).

If you happen to’re a one-person staff, this step is straightforward. You’re the solely particular person dealing with your social media accounts.

However if you happen to’re half of a bigger staff, realizing which of your staff is answerable for every account retains your accounts safe.

Motion: Ask your social media staff who’s answerable for which account. After which add their names to the “Abstract” web page of your social media audit.

If you happen to discover duplicate accounts, delete those you now not use. Duplicate accounts can confuse customers. And even make your account look outdated.

If you happen to discover malicious or spammy accounts together with your model identify, report them to the suitable social media platform. These accounts can harm your model popularity by posting incorrect info or scamming your followers.

Professional tip: Add your owned accounts to Semrush Social. It’ll offer you a single dashboard for all of your social media wants—scheduling and publishing posts cross-platform, analytics, and competitor analysis.

3. Test Which Accounts Are Verified 

Verification on social media means the platform confirms your model identification.

This helps stop fraudulent or imposter accounts, defending the authenticity of official model accounts.

Verification is often displayed as a test mark in your social media profile. 

Right here’s an instance of a verified Instagram account. It belongs to the Scandinavian biking model Pas Regular Studios.

Motion: Undergo your accounts and be aware which of them are verified. And add that info to your audit sheet.

If you happen to personal any unverified accounts, make an observation to start out the verification course of as quickly as you end the audit.

4. Revisit Your Social Media Objectives

Your social media objectives must align with your corporation’s wider targets and advertising technique.

That manner, you’ll be able to preserve all of your advertising channels centered on contributing to your organization’s mission.

For instance, if your organization desires to “improve gross sales by 10 occasions inside the quarter,” your social media objective could possibly be, “Get no less than 100 clicks on our hyperlink in bio each week.”

Ideally, you have already got a objective for every social media channel.

Motion: Add your objectives to the “Purpose” column in your audit’s “Abstract” web page.

However if you happen to need assistance creating your social media objectives, we propose utilizing the SMART framework.

That manner, you’ll be able to guarantee every objective is Particular, Measurable, Actionable, Related, and Time-bound.

Motion: After getting your objectives, add them to your social media audit sheet.

5. Test That Your Branding and Messaging Are Constant

Constant branding creates a singular, memorable model identification consultant of your corporation, tradition, and mission.

This helps customers relate to your organization. Which strengthens emotional ties, resulting in long-term buyer relationships. And elevated income.

Listed below are the important thing components of your profile that it’s best to test for consistency:

• Profile image. Your profile image ought to visually characterize your model. Firms often use their emblem, whereas private manufacturers often use private footage.
• Cowl or banner picture. Your cowl picture offers you one other alternative to speak your model identification. It’s often cohesive with the profile image, as they seem collectively.
• Bio or description. Your social media description ought to talk vital info in your model voice. It ought to inform potential clients who you’re, what you do, and how one can assist them.
• Username or deal with. Your username must be or embody your model identify to make your accounts simply searchable on all platforms.
• Hyperlink in bio. Hyperlink in bio refers back to the clickable URL in your social media profile. Not all social media accounts have this, however most do. Make sure that the hyperlink nonetheless works.

Motion: Test every factor listed above. And ensure the data is identical throughout your whole social accounts. Add these items of data to your social media audit sheet.

If certainly one of your accounts has a distinct profile image or hyperlink in bio, make an observation in your audit sheet to edit these accounts later.

6. Maintain Your Branded Hashtags Constant

Branded hashtags assist set up your social media content material. And are a possibility to construct model identification and seek for user-generated content material (UGC). 

For instance, Calvin Klein created the model hashtag #MyCalvins. 

The hashtag is immediately recognizable because the Calvin Klein model. And encourages audiences to tag social media posts utilizing the hashtag to point out off their purchases. 

This not solely helps Calvin Klein’s model consciousness, but in addition offers them immediate entry to UGC, which builds viewers belief and drives buy motion. 

Motion: Assessment your branded hashtags throughout your accounts. Replace or refine as wanted. Add any used branded hashtags to the social media audit template.

7. Analyze Channel Efficiency

social media analytics helps you determine profitable methods and areas for enchancment. 

Understanding the way you’re performing in opposition to your social media KPIs helps you do the next:

• Know the channels and content material varieties that obtain your social media objectives
• Decide the best channels on your model technique
• Uncover the posts that drive engagement and resonate together with your viewers 
• Study what’s and isn’t working in your social media campaigns
• Develop an understanding of viewers focusing on and funneling 

Professional tip: Skip the handbook calculations with the Social Analytics Software.

Merely join your social account with Semrush to get viewers insights, together with when your audience is on-line, the place they’re, and a bit about them.

You’ll additionally get engagement knowledge. Like what number of impressions you get, what your put up attain is, and what your engagement charge is over a time frame.

Listed below are the important thing metrics to trace, whether or not you’re utilizing the software or doing it manually.

Impressions

Social media impressions are the variety of occasions somebody sees your put up. Whether or not they carry out an motion or not.

For instance, you could have 50,000 followers on Instagram. They every see your content material twice. That’s 100,000 impressions. 

You will discover this quantity inside the Social Analytics software.

Or inside every platform’s analytics web page. For instance, that is the place you could find the variety of impressions in YouTube Studio’s Analytics tab:

Motion: Add your variety of impressions throughout all owned platforms to the “Profile Efficiency” part of your template. 

If You Have Few Impressions:

• Add related hashtags to your posts to extend visibility
• Create participating content material that encourages repeat viewings
• Preserve a daily posting schedule and share content material at peak occasions

Professional tip: Add your social accounts to Semrush’s Social Poster to pre-schedule as much as 2,000 posts for Instagram, Fb, X (previously Twitter), LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google Enterprise Profile.

It additionally tells you when your audience is most lively.

Attain

Social media attain signifies what number of distinctive views your put up generates. 

For instance, if the attain of your Instagram put up is 33,000. Because of this 33,000 distinctive customers noticed the put up.

Attain and impressions sound related, and it is easy to confuse the 2 phrases. Consider the 2 metrics like this: 

Impressions: The variety of occasions your put up was seen.

Attain: The variety of distinctive customers who noticed your put up.

Impressions are sometimes increased than attain. As a result of one person may view your put up a number of occasions.

Motion: Add your social media attain throughout all owned platforms to the “Profile Efficiency” part of your template. 

If Your Attain Is Low:

• Share high-quality, visually interesting content material
• Assess whether or not the platform is the precise match on your audience
• Share evergreen content material related to your area of interest

Engagement Price

Engagement charge measures viewers interplay in your social media posts. For instance, what number of occasions your viewers likes, feedback on, shares, or saves your posts.

The next engagement charge tells you that your viewers is eager about your content material.

The formulation for calculating engagement charge is (Complete Engagements / Attain) x 100.

For instance, if a put up receives 600 engagements and the attain was 15,000 folks, the engagement charge is 4%.

You will discover your whole engagements and attain for all of your social accounts in Semrush’s Social Analytics Software.

Or by going to every particular person social media channel’s analytics pages. 

To view your Instagram analytics web page, first you’ll want to change to a Enterprise Account or Creator Account. Then, click on on the hamburger icon within the prime proper nook. Select “Insights.”

And also you’ll see one thing like this:

Motion: Add your engagement charge to the social audit sheet as quickly as you’ve calculated it.

It’s vital to research engagement charge in relation to your social media objectives and the scale of your viewers. 

A bigger social media following sometimes means a decrease engagement charge. Moreover, totally different industries and platforms fluctuate in common engagement charges.

For instance, a B2B viewers on TikTok is much less prone to interact than a B2B viewers on LinkedIn.

If Your Engagement Price Is Low: 

• Make sure that your messaging resonates together with your audience
• Carry out a deep dive in your viewers. Do you perceive their preferences, ache factors, and pursuits? 
• Interact together with your viewers, reply to feedback, and ask questions

Followers

Follower depend evaluates the potential attain of your social media efforts. And analyzes the expansion of your social media presence over a particular time frame.

Nonetheless, the standard of your followers is extra vital than the amount. 

If you happen to construct a social media viewers of followers who aren’t eager about your model, your engagement charge will endure. 

Moreover, pretend or bot followers are straightforward to acquire, additional troubling the relevancy of this metric. 

Keep in mind: 

Followers must be greater than only a quantity. Dive into demographic knowledge and viewers insights to make sure your follower depend is adjoining to your audience. Extra on this later. 

Motion: Add your social media follower depend throughout all owned platforms to the “Profile Efficiency” part of your template.

If Your Follower Rely Is Low:

• Share compelling, entertaining, or inspirational content material to drive viewers curiosity
• Optimize your social media to make sure a transparent model identification
• Collaborate with related social media influencers out of your area of interest to develop your model consciousness

Referral Site visitors

Referral site visitors measures the amount of site visitors directed out of your social media profiles to your web site. The metric tells you the platforms that drive essentially the most guests. 

And helps you perceive the posts or campaigns that carry out nicely—if you happen to accurately use URL parameters to measure your marketing campaign site visitors. 

Head to Google Analytics > “Stories” > “Acquisition” > “Site visitors Acquisition” to research your social referral site visitors. 

Motion: Add your referral site visitors metric throughout all owned platforms to the “Profile Efficiency” part of your template.

If Your Referral Site visitors Is Low:

• Embrace a related hyperlink and name to motion (CTA) in your social posts and profile
• Encourage social shares 
• Concentrate on bettering your impressions and attain

8. Determine High-Performing Social Media Content material

Your top-performing put up is the put up that contributes essentially the most to your social media objectives.

For instance, in case your objective is to drive extra site visitors to your web site, then your top-performing put up is the one which received essentially the most clicks.

Not (essentially) the one which received essentially the most likes.

The best approach to discover your top-performing posts is with the Social Analytics and Social Tracker instruments. Which allow you to monitor your posts on Fb, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Go to the social dashboard. After which click on on “Social Analytics” within the sidebar menu.

Then, click on “+ Add profile.”

Subsequent, comply with the prompts to attach your totally different accounts. Like this:

After you’ve related your accounts, open the software to the “Overview” tab. To take a high-level have a look at metrics throughout every of your social channels:

Then, go to the “Fb” tab and choose “Posts” to see your Fb-specific put up efficiency.

Click on on one of many grey column names (e.g., “Eng. charge”) to type your posts in ascending or descending order based mostly on the chosen metric.

Within the instance beneath, you’ll be able to see which posts had the very best engagement.

To see your efficiency on X (previously Twitter) and YouTube, go to the Social Tracker software as an alternative. By clicking on “Social Tracker” within the sidebar menu.

Then, click on on “Twitter” or “YouTube” to see particular person put up efficiency.

You should utilize this info to find out the marketing campaign methods that led to excessive efficiency. 

And replicate these methods for future campaigns.

Motion: Add the URLs of your prime 5 best-performing posts to the social audit sheet below “High Performing Posts.”

9. Carry out a SWOT Evaluation and Set up New Targets and Motion Objects 

A SWOT evaluation analyzes your and your opponents’ efficiency. That can assist you uncover missed alternatives and factors of enchancment.

That manner, you’ll be able to replace your current social media technique as wanted.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, alternatives, and threats. And right here’s the way you carry out a SWOT evaluation.

Strengths

Determine the areas the place you carry out extremely and meet your social media objectives.

For instance, video content material drives a better CTR, marketing campaign X elevated signups to our app by 10%, and TikTok was the best-performing channel for engagement. 

Weaknesses

Determine the areas the place it’s good to enhance. 

For instance, responding to feedback sooner, holding the social media calendar updated, and bettering the visible components of your content material.

Alternatives 

Contemplate exterior elements for brand new alternatives. 

Just like the launch of a brand new social media platform.

You may as well discover what your competitors is doing to uncover new alternatives. 

Use our Social Tracker software to research the methods and ways your opponents use—and the channels they use them on. 

This helps you determine new alternatives on your personal enterprise. 

Threats

Contemplate potential exterior threats to your social media plans.

For instance, a brand new Snapchat algorithm replace is deliberate for the autumn, Meta is below hearth within the European Union for privateness legal guidelines, and your important competitor has simply launched an revolutionary new product. 

Motion: Use the SWOT evaluation tab to listing out your findings. After which make an inventory of motion objects. Add these to your social media audit.

Monitor Social Information with Semrush Social

If you happen to haven’t already, seize your copy of our social media audit template.

And add your social accounts to Semrush’s Social Media Software. That manner, you may get the next knowledge on autopilot:

• Engagement charge
• Impressions
• Attain
• Follower depend
• Referral site visitors
• Excessive-performing posts

Able to make strategic selections about the way forward for your social media technique?

Subscribe to Semrush Social to get began.

What Is the Definition of a Social Media Audit?

A social media audit analyzes your corporation’s social media actions and goals to uncover strengths, weaknesses, and alternatives for progress and enchancment. 

The method includes exploring social media objectives and metrics to make sure your social media technique contributes to wider enterprise objectives.

Is It Essential to Conduct a Social Media Audit?

Sure. A social media audit helps you perceive the channels and posts that resonate together with your audience and drive outcomes. 

The info-driven course of additionally helps you determine particular areas of enchancment and uncover new alternatives for social media progress. 

This improves your total social media technique. 

When Ought to You Do a Social Media Audit?

Social media audits must be accomplished quarterly. This lets you measure and monitor efficiency regularly successfully. And modify your technique accordingly.

If you happen to plan to alter your social media technique, conduct an audit earlier than implementing any adjustments.

At a minimal, analyze your social media technique yearly. However quarterly is often finest.