How to Run a Social Media Audit (with Checklist)
Social accounts rarely fail in one bad week. They drift. The bio link still points to last spring’s sale, the TikTok account went quiet when the person running it left, and the Facebook banner shows a logo you replaced a year ago. Nobody decided any of this; it just piled up between busy weeks.
A social media audit is the afternoon you set aside to catch that drift and decide what to do about it. It is also worth doing now for a more technical reason: on November 15, 2025, Facebook Page Insights retired Impressions in favor of Views, so many year-over-year comparisons no longer line up. If your baselines predate that change, an audit is the moment to reset them.
This guide walks through seven steps, from listing every account to writing a fix list you can finish in 30 days. You will also find a checklist you can copy, the metrics worth recording on each platform, and a worked example of a small business audit.
Key takeaways
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An audit is a decision, not a report. It should end with a short list of things to keep, fix, and stop, each with an owner and a date.
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Start with an account inventory. Forgotten, duplicate, and impostor accounts are the most common surprise, and they cost trust as well as reach.
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One goal per platform keeps the data readable. Pick three to five metrics that prove that goal and ignore the rest.
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Reset your baselines. Facebook replaced Impressions with Views in November 2025, so compare like with like before you call a drop.
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Audit the workflow too. If posts take hours each, the fix is often a faster production process, not a new content strategy.
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Quarterly is the usual rhythm. Add a 15-minute monthly check and an extra audit after a rebrand, a team change, or a month of falling results.
What is a social media audit?
A social media audit is a structured review of every account your business runs, covering how each profile looks, how its content performs, who it reaches, and how it is managed. The output is a snapshot of where you stand today and a list of changes to make next.
It sits between two things people often confuse it with:
| What it answers | How often | |
|---|---|---|
| Social media report | How did last week or last month go? | Weekly or monthly |
| Social media audit | Is each account set up, performing, and run the way it should be? | Quarterly, plus after big changes |
| Social media strategy | What are we trying to achieve, and how? | Set yearly, adjusted after each audit |
A report tracks numbers. An audit questions the setup behind them, and its findings feed the strategy. Skipping the audit means the strategy rests on assumptions about accounts nobody has looked at closely in months.
How often should you do a social media audit?
Run a full audit once a quarter. Three months gives each change enough time to show results, and it is frequent enough that drift never gets far. If your accounts are stable and growing, every six months can be enough.
Between full audits, a 15-minute monthly check catches the small things early. Open each account and answer four questions: Did we post here in the last week? Does the bio link still work and point somewhere current? Are any comments or messages unanswered? Is any account noticeably up or down since last month?
Some moments call for an audit outside the schedule:
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After a rebrand or new logo, so every profile, banner, and pinned post matches.
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When someone who managed accounts leaves, so logins, admin roles, and ownership move to the right people.
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After results fall for a month or more, to find out whether the cause is content, timing, or a platform change.
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When a platform changes its metrics or features, as Facebook did when Views replaced Impressions.
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Before you add a new platform, to check the current ones are in good shape first.
How to do a social media audit in 7 steps
Block two to three hours for a first audit of three or four accounts. Later audits go faster because the sheet and the baselines already exist.
Before you begin, set up one spreadsheet with a tab for each part of the audit. This is the whole template:
| Tab | Columns to add |
|---|---|
| Inventory | Platform, handle, URL, status, owner, who holds the login, two-factor on, last post date, followers |
| Profiles | Name, photo, banner, bio, link destination, contact details, pinned post or highlights, pass or fix |
| Performance | Goal, metrics, last 90 days, previous 90 days, change, top and bottom posts |
| Workflow | Planned vs actual posts, hours per post, versions per post, approval time, reply time |
| Competitors | Name, posts per week, main formats, top topics, average comments, notes |
| Fix list | Action, account, bucket (this week, this quarter, stop), owner, due date |
Step 1: List every account, including the ones you forgot
Search your business name on Google and inside each platform, then ask anyone who has ever posted for the business. You are looking for four kinds of accounts:
| Status | What it means | Usual action |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Posting and managed by the team | Audit fully |
| Dormant | No posts in 90 days or more | Revive with a plan, or archive with a pointer to the main account |
| Duplicate | A second page or old handle for the same business | Merge or close, and redirect followers |
| Impostor | Created by someone outside the business | Report it through the platform’s impersonation form |
For every account, record who holds the login and whether two-factor authentication is on. An account tied to a former employee’s personal email is a lockout waiting to happen. On Facebook and Instagram, check who has access in your Meta Business Suite settings and remove anyone who no longer needs it.
Step 2: Check each profile like a new customer would
Open each profile on your phone, logged out if you can, and give it 60 seconds. That is roughly the attention a busy new visitor gives a profile before deciding to follow or leave. Check:
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Name and handle match the business and are the same across platforms where possible.
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Profile photo is the current logo and reads clearly at small sizes.
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Banner or cover shows nothing out of date, such as a past event or old offer.
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Bio says what you do, for whom, and where, in plain words.
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The link in bio opens, loads fast on mobile, and leads somewhere current.
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Contact details, hours, and address are correct.
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Pinned posts and Instagram Highlights show your best, most current work.
If your colors, fonts, or tone of voice differ from one platform to the next, note it now. Inconsistent visuals are usually a sign that posts are made by different people with different tools.
Step 3: Give each platform one goal and a few metrics
A platform with five goals is impossible to judge. Give each one a single main job, then choose three to five metrics that show whether it is doing that job.
| Goal | Metrics that prove it |
|---|---|
| Get discovered | Views, accounts reached, follower growth, shares |
| Build a community | Comments, saves, shares, Story replies, DMs |
| Drive website visits | Link clicks, profile visits, sessions from social in Google Analytics |
| Drive sales or leads | Orders or sign-ups from social, DMs asking about price, code redemptions |
| Support customers | Average reply time, unanswered comments and messages |
One caution on comparisons. On November 15, 2025, Facebook Page Insights retired Impressions and replaced it with Views, and dropped Page Fans. If last year’s sheet uses Impressions, do not compare it with this year’s Views as if they were the same number. Start a fresh baseline from this audit instead.
Step 4: Pull 90 days of data and sort your posts
Export the last 90 days from each platform’s built-in analytics: Meta Business Suite for Facebook and Instagram, TikTok Studio for TikTok, and Page analytics for LinkedIn. Put the previous 90 days next to it so you can see the direction of each metric.
Then sort posts by your main metric and look at the top 10 and bottom 10, not just the single best post. Tag each one by format, topic, opening line, day and time, and visual style. Patterns show up quickly: maybe every top post is a short video showing a real product, while every bottom post is a text graphic with a discount.
If you calculate engagement rate, choose one formula, such as engagements divided by reach, and use it on every platform and every quarter. Mixing formulas makes good accounts look bad and the reverse.
Step 5: Audit your workflow, not just your posts
Most audits stop at performance. Yet the reason an account underperforms is often upstream: there is no time to post consistently, or every post has to be rebuilt for each platform. Answer these in the Workflow tab:
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How many posts did you plan per week, and how many actually went out?
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How long does one post take, from idea to published?
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How many versions of each post do you export for different sizes and platforms?
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Who approves posts, and how long do they wait?
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How fast do you reply to comments and messages, and how many are unanswered right now?
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Where do logos, brand colors, and product photos live, and can everyone find them?
If planned and actual posts are far apart, or one post eats most of an afternoon, put that on the fix list. A faster production process will do more for results than a new content strategy that nobody has time to carry out.
Step 6: Compare against two or three competitors
Pick one direct competitor, one business slightly ahead of you, and optionally one brand you admire outside your category. Look at the last 30 days of their public posts and record how often they post, which formats they use, the topics of their three most-commented posts, and where their bio link goes.
You are looking for gaps, not things to copy. If every competitor posts product photos and nobody shows how the product is made, that is an opening. If all of them post Reels daily and you post one a month, that tells you where the audience’s attention has moved.
Step 7: Score each account and write the fix list
Give each account one verdict:
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Keep when it meets its goal and the profile is in good shape.
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Fix when it has the right audience but weak profile, content, or consistency.
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Retire when it has no audience you need and no time to feed it. Archive it and point followers to the account you keep.
Then turn every finding into an action in one of three buckets. This week covers quick fixes such as bios, links, banners, and duplicate accounts. This quarter covers larger shifts such as a new format, a steadier posting rhythm, or moving time from a weak platform to a strong one. Stop lists what you will no longer do, which frees the time for everything else.
Give each action an owner and a due date, copy today’s numbers into the sheet as the baseline, and put the next audit on the calendar before you close the file.
Social media audit checklist
Copy this list into your audit sheet or print it. Each line is a yes or no; every “no” becomes an item on the fix list.
Accounts and access
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☐ Every account is listed, including dormant, duplicate, and impostor accounts
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☐ Each account has a named owner on the team
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☐ Logins use a business email, not a personal one
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☐ Two-factor authentication is on for every account
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☐ Former staff and old agencies no longer have access
Profiles and branding
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☐ Name and handle are consistent across platforms
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☐ Profile photo is the current logo
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☐ Banner or cover shows nothing out of date
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☐ Bio says what you do, for whom, and where
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☐ Link in bio works on mobile and leads somewhere current
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☐ Contact details, hours, and address are correct
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☐ Pinned posts and Highlights show current, strong work
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☐ Colors, fonts, and tone of voice match on every platform
Content and performance
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☐ Each platform has one main goal written down
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☐ Three to five metrics are chosen per platform
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☐ The last 90 days are exported next to the previous 90 days
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☐ Top 10 and bottom 10 posts are tagged by format, topic, and timing
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☐ Facebook comparisons use Views, not old Impressions figures
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☐ Posts are sized correctly for each platform
Audience and community
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☐ Audience age, location, and active times are recorded
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☐ The audience matches the customers you want to reach
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☐ No comments or messages are left unanswered
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☐ Average reply time is recorded
Workflow
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☐ Planned and actual posts per week are compared
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☐ Time per post is measured
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☐ Brand files are stored where everyone can find them
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☐ Posts are scheduled ahead rather than made on the day
Competitors and wrap-up
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☐ Two or three competitors are reviewed for the last 30 days
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☐ Each account has a Keep, Fix, or Retire verdict
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☐ Every action has an owner and a due date
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☐ Today’s numbers are saved as the baseline
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☐ The next audit date is on the calendar
What to record for each platform
Every platform’s built-in analytics is free and enough for a small business audit. This is where to look and what deserves a column in your sheet:
| Platform | Where to find it | Worth recording | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Business Suite, Insights | Views, followers gained, link clicks, shares, comments | Views replaced Impressions on November 15, 2025, and Page Fans is no longer reported | |
| Meta Business Suite, or the professional dashboard in the app | Views, accounts reached, saves, shares, profile visits, link taps | Saves and shares say more about content quality than likes | |
| TikTok | TikTok Studio analytics | Video views, average watch time, watched full video, new followers | One viral video can hide a weak month, so look at the median video, not only the best |
| The Analytics tab on your Page | Impressions, clicks, click-through rate, follower growth | Follower job functions and industries show whether you reach buyers | |
| Your website | Google Analytics, Traffic acquisition report, Organic Social channel | Sessions and key events from social | Add UTM tags to bio links so each platform’s visits are counted separately |
Resist the urge to record every number each tool offers. Five to eight metrics across all platforms, each tied to a goal from Step 3, keep the audit readable and the decisions clear.
A social media audit example
To see how the steps fit together, here is a sample audit for a neighborhood bakery with a Facebook Page, an Instagram account, and a TikTok account. The figures are illustrative.
| Area | Finding | Action | Bucket |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory | A second Facebook Page from the old location, last post in 2023 | Post a pointer to the main Page, then merge or unpublish | This week |
| Profiles | Instagram bio link opens a closed holiday order form | Link to the current menu and order page | This week |
| Community | 14 unanswered Instagram DMs, mostly custom cake questions | A daily 10-minute reply slot and a saved reply with the order link | This week |
| Content | 8 of the top 10 Instagram posts are short baking videos; 7 of the bottom 10 are discount graphics | Swap two weekly graphics for short process videos | This quarter |
| Workflow | 5 posts planned per week, 2 published; each post takes about 90 minutes to resize and caption for three platforms | Make the week’s posts in one session on Monday and schedule them | This quarter |
| Competitors | Two nearby bakeries post Reels daily; neither shows cake decorating | Start a weekly decorating series | This quarter |
| Stop | Daily discount graphics on Facebook | Replace with one weekly offer post | Stop |
The verdicts: Instagram is a Keep, the main Facebook Page and TikTok are Fix, and the old Facebook Page is Retire. Notice that the biggest finding is not about content at all. The bakery knows what works; it simply cannot produce enough of it in the time it has.
Turning the fix list into a steady posting week
Look at the fix lists from most small business audits and the same three items keep appearing: post more consistently, make every platform look like the same brand, and use more video. None of these is a strategy problem. They are production problems, and they come back by the next audit unless the way posts get made changes.
LayerProof is an AI social media manager built for that part of the job. Its Brand Kit stores your logo, colors, fonts, and brand voice and applies them to every post, so the mismatched profiles from Step 2 stay fixed. Matte creates on-brand posts sized for Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok from a single brief, which removes the resize-and-export work the Workflow tab usually uncovers.
If your audit showed video outperforming everything else, as it did for the bakery, Linen turns a product photo into a UGC-style video, and Mylar turns a link, a script, or a rough idea into an AI motion graphic video. The Calendar then schedules and publishes everything to Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, so planned posts and published posts finally match. Automatic replies to DMs in your brand voice are coming soon, which will help with the response-time line of the checklist.
Plans start at $5 a month. Pick the first item from your This quarter list and get started today.
Social media audit FAQ
How long does a social media audit take?
A first audit of three or four accounts takes two to three hours, most of it spent on the inventory and the post review. Later audits take about an hour because the sheet and baselines already exist. The monthly check between them takes 15 minutes.
What should a social media audit include?
At minimum: a list of every account with its owner and login status, a profile check, one goal and a few metrics per platform, a review of your top and bottom posts, a look at two or three competitors, and a fix list with owners and dates. Adding a short workflow review is what turns findings into changes that last.
Can I do a social media audit for free?
Yes. The built-in analytics in Meta Business Suite, TikTok Studio, and LinkedIn Page analytics cover everything in this guide, and Google Analytics shows the website visits social sends you. A spreadsheet with the six tabs above is all the template you need.
Should I delete inactive social media accounts?
Not always. Deleting frees the handle for someone else, who could use it to impersonate you. For an account you will not revive, post a final message pointing to your main account, update the bio to say the same, and archive or unpublish it where the platform allows.
What is a social media content audit?
It is the part of the audit that looks only at posts: which formats, topics, and posting times perform, and which do not. Step 4 is a content audit. A full social media audit adds accounts, profiles, audience, workflow, and competitors around it.
How do I present audit findings to my team or a client?
Keep it to one page: the verdict for each account, the three findings that matter most, and the fix list with owners and dates. Put the full numbers in the spreadsheet for anyone who wants detail, and open the next audit by checking what happened to each action.
References
- Page Insights API Updates, Meta for Developers, August 15, 2025