Plenty of "audits" stop at a screenshot of follower counts and a note to post more Reels. A useful social media audit answers a harder question: is social doing what this business needs it to do, and if not, why?
Here's the checklist I use when I review a brand's social presence, and the red flags I see most often.
1. Goals and role of social
- Can the team state, in one sentence, what social is for at this company?
- Does each platform have its own job, or is the same content pushed everywhere?
- Do the goals match what leadership actually expects?
Red flag: "Brand awareness" as the only goal, with no definition of what awareness looks like or who it's with.
2. Audience
- Who is the brand trying to reach, and who is it actually reaching? (Check follower demographics against the target customer.)
- Which audience segments engage most, and with what?
- Is the brand speaking to customers, to the industry, to employees, or to all three at once?
Red flag: an audience that loves the content but would never buy the product.
3. Content
- Are there clear content pillars, and does the feed reflect them?
- Is there a recognisable format or series people come back for, or is every post a one-off?
- How does the content compare to the brand's real positioning and to competitors?
- Which posts over-perform and under-perform, and is there a pattern?
Red flag: a feed that could belong to any company in the category. If you covered the logo, would anyone know it's you?
4. Platforms and formats
- Is the brand on the platforms where its audience actually spends time?
- Is content native to each platform, or recycled from one to another?
- Are there platforms the brand should leave, or pause?
Red flag: five half-maintained accounts instead of two great ones.
5. Community and response
- How quickly, and how well, does the brand reply to comments and DMs?
- Are there recurring questions or complaints that should feed back to the business?
- Is there a plan for negative feedback and a potential crisis?
Red flag: unanswered customer questions sitting under paid posts.
6. Creators, partners and employees
- Is the brand working with creators, and are those partnerships one-off posts or ongoing relationships?
- Is user-generated content collected, credited and reused with permission?
- Do employees and leaders show up on social in a way that helps the brand?
7. Measurement
- Which metrics are reported, and to whom?
- Do those metrics connect to anything the business cares about: site visits, leads, sales, retention, hiring?
- Are tracking links, UTMs and platform pixels set up correctly?
Red flag: a monthly report full of impressions and engagement rate, with no "so what."
8. Process and team
- How are ideas, briefs, approvals and publishing handled?
- How long does it take to get a post from idea to live?
- Who owns social, and do they have the authority to say no?
Red flag: approval chains so long that every timely idea arrives a week late.
What should come out of an audit
An audit is only useful if it ends in decisions. The output should be short and specific:
- What to stop (formats, platforms or habits wasting effort).
- What to keep and double down on.
- What to start, with a clear first test for each idea.
- The two or three metrics you'll judge progress on.
If you want to run this yourself, start with sections 1, 3 and 7. They usually reveal the biggest gaps. Then read which social media KPIs leadership actually cares about.
Want a second opinion on your social?
I offer a free social audit for brands: send me your handles, I review what you're doing, and we talk through what to keep, cut and try next. Request your free social audit →
