Social media audit: how to do one, step by step

The short answer

A social media audit is a structured review of every social account your business owns or is tagged in. List the accounts, check each profile for accuracy, review recent posts by what led to action, confirm links and tracking work, then mark each account keep, fix or stop. Repeat it once or twice a year and after any big change.

What a social media audit is and what it is not

A social media audit is a review of the accounts your business has on social platforms, the content posted there and the results it brings. It ends in decisions: which accounts to keep, which to repair and which to close. If it ends in a long report that nobody acts on, it was not worth the time.

It is narrower than a full brand review, which looks at your name, visual identity and message across everything. It is also narrower than a website content review. An audit looks at accounts and activity. It asks whether each account is accurate, active, safe and useful to the business.

Small businesses often find the same things: an old account nobody remembers, a profile with the wrong opening hours, posts that bring plenty of likes and no enquiries, and a link in a bio that goes to a page that has since moved. All are cheap to fix once seen.

Before you start: decide the question and gather access

Write down what you want the audit to answer. Typical questions ask if you are present on the right platforms, if the accounts are accurate, if the content is working and if anything is at risk. One sentence is enough.

Then collect access. List who holds the administrator role on each account and which email address is attached to it. If an agency, a freelancer or a former employee set an account up, find out who really controls it. This step often takes longest, and it is the one that prevents the worst problems later.

Create a spreadsheet with a tab for the account list, a tab for the post review and a tab for actions. The tables below show the columns.

Step one: list every account

Start with a complete inventory, including accounts you suspect are dead. Search each platform for your business name and common misspellings, and ask staff whether they created anything. Look for duplicates, accounts created by customers with your name, and handles that you never claimed.

Fill in the purpose column honestly. An account whose purpose you cannot state in a short phrase is a candidate to stop.

Step two: check each profile

Open every account as a stranger would, ideally while logged out or on a phone that has never visited it. Check the following.

• The name and handle match your business name, or are as close as the platform allows.
• The description says what you do, for whom and where you serve, in the same terms as your website.
• Contact details, opening hours and any address are correct.
• The link in the profile goes to the page you want today, not an old campaign.
• The profile picture and banner follow your current branding and are readable at small size.
• The pinned or featured post is still true.
• The call-to-action button, if there is one, leads somewhere that works.

Write every error in the action tab with a name and a date. Most of them take minutes to fix.

Step three: review recent posts by what they achieved

Take the last three months of posts from each active account, or fewer if you post rarely. For each, record the topic, the format and the result that matters. Choose results that show intent: replies, messages, saves, shares and link clicks. Likes alone are easy to collect and say little about whether a post helped the business.

Look for patterns across the rows. Which topics get replies? Which formats are skipped? Do customer questions appear anywhere in your content? Also note how often you posted and where there were long gaps, since irregular posting hides what works. Do not over-read a handful of posts. A pattern across many posts is more reliable than a single success.

Step four: follow the path from post to action

Click through your own posts and profile links as a customer would. Check that each link lands on a page that continues the thought of the post. Check that the page works on a phone and gives a clear next step. A good post that leads to a confusing page wastes the attention it earns.

Check tracking too. If links carry campaign tags, confirm they follow a consistent naming scheme so that analytics can attribute visits. The guide to UTM parameters explains how to set them up. If links have no tags, plan to add them to the ones you use most.

Then ask what happens to people after the click. If visitors can join a list, check that the sign-up works and that the first email arrives. An automated welcome flow is a natural next step if you do not have one.

Finally, label each account by the stage of the buying journey it serves. Some accounts raise awareness, some help people compare and some help them decide. The guide to the marketing funnel describes those stages. An audit often reveals that all accounts do the first job and none do the last.

Step five: check audience, replies and mentions

Look at who follows and engages. Are they customers and likely customers, or other marketing accounts and unrelated followers? Compare the countries and languages of your audience with the markets you want. A big following in the wrong place is not an asset.

Check how fast messages and comments get answered. Open the inbox on each platform and look for unanswered questions. A neglected inbox is easy to find and costs real enquiries.

Search for your business name, your products and your tag to find what others post about you. Customers, partners and creators may mention you. Note the useful ones for possible sharing with permission, and note who might suit a closer relationship. The guide to influencer marketing for small business explains how to approach that.

If you advertise, check which of your accounts and website visitor groups can feed audiences. Retargeting depends on tracking and consent that are easy to get wrong, so confirm both while you are reviewing.

Step six: check security and access

Remove people who no longer work with you from every account. Turn on two-step verification wherever the platform offers it. Give agencies and freelancers permissioned access in place of a shared password, so you can remove them without changing the credentials. Store recovery emails and phone numbers somewhere the business controls. Check that at least two people can reach every account.

An account the business cannot recover is a real loss, particularly if customers know it as your official channel.

Turn findings into decisions

For every account, choose one outcome. Keep means it works and has an owner. Fix means it is useful but needs specific changes, which you list. Stop means it does not earn its time. A smaller number of well-run accounts usually beats a larger set that is neglected.

When you stop an account, do it tidily. Post a final note pointing to the channel you want people to use, update every link that points to it, and close or archive it according to the platform's options. Do not leave it silent in public.

Finish with a one-page action list: what to change, who does it and by when. Add one or two experiments for the next quarter, based on the post patterns you found.

How often to run a social media audit

There is no set schedule that suits every business. A full audit once or twice a year works for most small businesses with a few accounts. A short monthly check of the last post, the inbox, the profile links and the access list keeps problems small. Run a fuller audit sooner after a rebrand, a change of staff or agency, a change of address or opening hours, a new product line or a move onto a new platform. If you want a second pair of eyes on your accounts, the digital marketing service page describes what Liftup Technologies offers.

Related guides

• Digital marketing
• Marketing funnel explained
• Retargeting explained for small business
• Utm parameters how to track campaigns
• Email Automation Basics: What to Set Up First
• Social media content calendar how to make one

Questions and answers

What is a social media audit?

It is a structured review of the social accounts your business owns or is tagged in, covering accuracy, activity, results, links and security. It ends with a decision for each account: keep, fix or stop. It is a snapshot you repeat from time to time.

What should I check in a social media audit?

Check each account's name, description, contact details, links and branding, then review recent posts by the results that matter. Follow links through to the website, check tracking and look at the audience and the replies you receive. Finally check who has access and whether two-step verification is on.

How often should I do a social media audit?

A full audit once or twice a year suits most small businesses. Add a short monthly check of recent posts, the inbox, profile links and access. Run a fuller review after a rebrand, a change of staff or agency, or a move to a new platform.

Is there a social media audit template?

You can build one in a spreadsheet with three tabs: an account list, a post review and an action list. The account list holds platform, handle, admin, last post, purpose and decision. The post review records topic, format and the result that matters.

How is a social media audit different from a content audit?

A social media audit looks at accounts, profile accuracy, post performance, audience and access. A content audit usually looks at web pages and whether each should be kept, improved or removed. The two share the same keep, fix or stop logic.

Who should carry out a social media audit?

Someone who can see all the accounts and is willing to make decisions, ideally the person responsible for marketing. A fresh pair of eyes helps, because people who post every day stop noticing errors. Involve whoever holds the logins.