It’s time to self-reflect: how to perform a social media audit

I’m a firm believer in some regular self-reflection.

Sometimes the secret to our own social media success is within us. And sometimes, we are the one’s standing in the way of our own success. A social media audit will tell you the answers.

What is a Social Media Audit?

A social media audit looks at your brand’s social media presence across numerous metrics to:

• Understand your most effective (and ineffective) content + platforms

• Determine who your audience IS (not who you tell yourself they are)

• Help guide you with where to go next + what to focus your attention on

Performing an audit should feel like a seasonal closet clean out. We inventory all of our clothes and determine what works, what doesn’t, and what works but isn’t really our style. After each of these ‘closet evaluations’, we feel more confident getting dressed and save time doing so.

Your closet is the platform and your clothes are the content! Anyways—

A social media audit can do a lot of things, but most importantly they…

• help you make decisions with confidence

• highlight your social media’s ROI and business impact

• save you time creating content in the long run (which helps you stay more consistent!)

Okay, here’s how I do them:

Step 1: Inventory all of your social media accounts (dead or alive)

Honesty starts in step one, and this will be easier the first time around. Take inventory of all of your social media accounts. It’s important to note any forgotten or inactive ones—think platforms like Pinterest or YouTube where you might have a presence but few subscribers. This is the time to account for every account, whether it's thriving or dormant, so you can have a clear view of what needs attention and what can potentially be retired. We will decide which platforms you should abandon later on.

Step 2: Review branding and consistency

Once you’ve taken inventory of all your accounts, the next step is to ensure your branding is consistent across the board.

Start by checking that your bios, profile pictures, usernames, and URLs are consistent and up-to-date across platforms. Make sure your branding reflects the latest guidelines—logos, taglines, color palettes, and any other key elements should be current. It’s also a good time to update any outdated information or broken links that might confuse your audience and cost you sales.

Optional, but easily forgotten: Evaluate your pinned posts to ensure they’re up-to-date and align with your current content/mission/goals.

Small inconsistencies can dilute your brand presence, so don't overlook this step!

Step 3: Analyze performance metrics (boring but necessary)

Do it tired or do it bored…this step is important!

You can use the native analytics tools on each platform to assess key performance indicators (KPIs) like engagement, reach, impressions, and conversions.

Identify your top-performing posts based on the goals you’ve set, whether that’s engagement rate, followers, or sales. Yes, your top performing posts do differ depending on what you’re trying to accomplish. Pay attention to the types of content that perform best—videos, images, or carousels—and see how each platform compares in terms of content engagement (more on this next 👀)

You can go a step further and combine data from Google Analytics and social platforms to track referral traffic and conversions, helping you understand which platforms are driving the most leads and sales. This step will help guide you when optimizing your content strategy.

Step 4: Look at your content strategy (fun and necessary)

We can do all the strategizing and analytical analysis in the world, but good performance starts with high-quality content.

Start by asking yourself if you’re giving equal attention to your content pillars, ensuring a balanced mix of content each week/month. Do these pillars still align with your brand message, or is it time to update them to better reflect your current audience and content direction? It’s normal for your content to naturally evolve over time.

Evaluate if the number of pillars you have is serving you for the better. You shouldn’t post only one type of content but don’t spread yourself too thin either. I typically recommend between 3-5 content pillars.

Lastly, analyze the types of content driving the most engagement—are people responding more to short-form videos, long-form videos, carousels, feed posts, etc? Consider whether different platforms are favoring certain types of posts, and whether your top-performing content aligns with your current brand voice. If not, this could be a sign it’s time to adjust your voice or strategy to better fit what’s resonating with your audience.

Step 5: Evaluate each channel’s objectives and effectiveness

This step is for us to take what we’ve learned from steps 3 + 4 to dive a little deeper. This will help you decide where to pay the most attention, which makes your overall strategy more effective.

So next, evaluate the role each platform plays in your overall strategy. Start by defining clear, specific goals for each social channel. The main point of this is to understand which platforms have the most power and how you can leverage this in different ways.

For example, is Instagram your primary platform for building brand awareness and interacting with your community? Are you using LinkedIn to generate leads and connect with other industry professionals? And maybe you rely on TikTok to showcase the more “human” side of your brand. Each platform should serve a distinct purpose based on its strengths and your business goals. They all work together to better solidify your brand’s social media presence.

If you want to be a nerd about it, you can go further and measure your progress.

Use data from each platform to track how well you’re achieving these goals. If brand awareness is your goal, focus on metrics like reach and impressions. If lead generation is a priority, track website clicks and conversion rates. We can use this data to assess whether each platform is effectively contributing to your larger marketing strategy or if you need to pivot. Every platform should be working for you, not against you.

Step 6: SWOT analysis for future planning

The queen of self-reflection, a SWOT analysis.

To wrap up your audit, conduct a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) for each platform. Your strengths and weaknesses should be evaluated internally, while opportunities and threats are more external effects.

Start by identifying the strengths of each platform—what is working well? For example, you might notice that Instagram excels in engagement, while LinkedIn drives significant leads. Next, pinpoint weaknesses. Are there platforms where your engagement is consistently low, or content doesn’t resonate? My clients said “Bye, bye” to X a long time ago.

Opportunities are everything that voice in your head says you “should” do. Is there a growing audience you haven’t fully leveraged? Is it time to start that blog or YouTube channel? This is where you plan future actions that will help your content continue to excel. Finally, consider the threats—these could be external factors like shifting algorithms, changes in user behavior, or increased competition that could hinder your performance.

These insights will help us remain honest with ourselves when planning our strategies and content. Focus on enhancing your strengths, addressing weaknesses, going after opportunities, and mitigating threats. Do you see how each step just makes you better and better?

One more left:

Step 7: Take action!

Now that you’ve gathered all of these insights, it’s time to put them to work! Start by discussing your audit findings with your team to ensure that everyone is aligned with your enhanced social media strategy.

Then, use your findings to refine your content approach—are there new types of content or platforms you should be prioritizing? How can you better align your posts with your audience's preferences and engagement patterns? Make sure your content pillars and posting schedule reflect these new insights so that every piece of content is driving results.

Take action, be consistent, and make sure your audit leads to real results!

Conclusion: Self-Reflection is Key to Growth

A social media audit might feel like a tedious task, but it's one of the most powerful tools you have to improve your strategy and keep your social media presence current and thriving. By taking the time to evaluate your performance, branding, and content, you're giving yourself the answers to success. This process uncovers what's working, what needs to change, and where you can take your strategy to the next level.

Remember, social media and audience expectations are constantly shifting. That’s why regular audits are essential. Social media audits are best effective when done every quarter (in my experience 😉)

So don’t wait until things go wrong to reflect and refine. Make social media audits a part of your ongoing routine. Hopefully these seven steps were effective without being too overwhelming.

You got this bestie 💋