12 Nov 2025 Social Media Audit Checklist
Posted at 08:30h
in Social Media Strategy
When should a brand conduct a social media audit?
A full audit is most valuable when your brand has at least six months of consistent activity, measurable goals, and enough budget to act on the findings. Skip a deep dive if you have brand-new channels, minimal content, or a crisis that requires immediate triage. Otherwise, an audit is essential before building annual strategies, resetting KPIs, or scaling paid media. According to Hootsuite’s 2025 Social Trends Survey, 71 % of high-growth brands refresh their social strategy every 12 months or sooner. If you haven’t re-evaluated platform fit, content mix, or competitive benchmarks in the last year, now is the time to audit.
What is a social media audit, and what questions does it answer?
- Which platforms best reach your current and desired audiences
- Performance of each content format (video, carousel, Stories, Reels, Shorts, Pins, live)
- Optimal posting frequency and day-parting windows
- Community response times and sentiment trends
- Competitive share of voice and creative differentiators
- Influencer and paid media ROI
HubSpot’s State of Marketing 2024 found that brands conducting quarterly audits improve engagement by 27 % YoY. Our proprietary client data mirrors that lift, especially after aligning KPIs to updated algorithm signals.
How to run a social media audit: a step-by-step framework
- Inventory every profile. Log handles, bios, verification status, follower counts, and profile assets.
- Pull 12-month metrics: impressions, reach, engagements, CTR, watch time, conversions, and spend.
- Benchmark against industry averages (see platform ad specs).
- Code posts by theme, format, and campaign to surface high-performing patterns.
- Analyze audience demographics and psychographics inside each native dashboard.
- Grade community management on speed (<30 min median is “excellent”) and tone consistency.
- Assess paid vs. organic contribution to goals, then calculate blended CPA/ROAS.
- Compile insights, prioritize quick wins, and map to future objectives.
Which social platform is best for brand awareness, engagement, or conversion?
| Goal | Best Platform (2025) | Key Stat |
|---|---|---|
| Reach/Brand Awareness | TikTok | Avg. CPM $6.81 vs. IG $9.12 – eMarketer 2024 |
| Engagement | Instagram Reels | Video engagement 38 % higher than static – Sprout Social 2024 |
| Web Traffic | Clicks up 23 % YoY after mobile deep-links – Pinterest Data 2025 | |
| Lead Generation | 2× higher CVR than Facebook for B2B – LinkedIn 2024 | |
| E-commerce Sales | Meta Advantage+ Shopping | ROAS improved 32 % in beta tests – Meta 2025 |
Choose platforms that align with your funnel goal, but always verify with first-party data pulled during the audit.
Why analyze competitors during a social media audit?
- Content gaps your brand can own (UGC, how-tos, behind-the-scenes)
- Ad spend spikes indicating seasonal pushes
- Creative hooks driving shareability (memes, tutorials, data visuals)
Tools like Socialinsider and Brandwatch make side-by-side comparisons fast.
What are the best tools to conduct a social media audit in 2025?
- Sprout Social – all-in-one analytics, lately powered by AI prompts.
- Rival IQ – competitive benchmarking and alerting.
- Google Looker Studio – custom dashboards that blend paid and organic data.
- Phlanx – influencer authenticity checks.
- Ignite Social Media Audit Workbook – our proprietary template (contact us for access).
Use at least one native platform (Meta Business Suite, TikTok Ads Manager) plus a cross-channel aggregator for accuracy.
How to calculate social media ROI after the audit?
Which paid social tactics deliver the highest ROAS?
- Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns on Meta for e-commerce (avg. ROAS 4.8 – Meta Internal 2025)
- Lead Gen Forms on LinkedIn for high-value B2B offers (CPL $36 vs. $52 on display – HubSpot 2024)
- Performance Max with YouTube Shorts for awareness + retargeting
- Pinterest Premier Spotlight for upper-funnel reach at lower CPMs
Set up A/B tests with 90-day look-back windows to confirm platform claims.
How to evaluate and optimize influencer marketing during an audit?
2. Check audience authenticity (flag >25 % suspicious followers).
3. Map creator cost against EMV; target ≥3 × return.
4. Identify top creators for ambassadorships and negotiate renewals before competitors move in.
A 2024 Influencer Marketing Hub study shows brands that shift 30% of spend to long-term partners lift conversions by 2.6×.
What are the pros and cons of a social media audit?
- Data-driven clarity on what works
- Competitive intelligence
- Resource reallocation to high-ROI tactics
Cons
- Time-intensive (40-60 hrs for enterprise accounts)
- Requires access to all platform analytics
- Insights are wasted without budget to act
Weigh the effort against potential upside; most clients see cost recouped within one optimized campaign.
7 best strategic shifts an audit often recommends
- Refined objectives & KPIs aligned to the funnel
- Platform prioritization (drop under-performers, double-down on winners)
- Content pillar realignment around audience pain points
- Always-on paid support for hero content
- Community SLA upgrade (respond in <1 hr)
- Influencer ambassador program roll-out
- Quarterly pulse audits to stay agile
These shifts collectively improved client engagement by 34 % in our 2024 internal study.
What common mistakes should brands avoid on social media?
- Posting identical content on every platform (algorithm penalties)
- Ignoring dark social (DMs, group shares) in reporting
- Over-reliance on vanity metrics like follower count
- Neglecting accessibility (ALT text, captions)
Read our guide, 8 Social Media Marketing Mistakes, for deeper fixes.
If you need help with your social audit, we can apply our experience to your unique situation. Contact us today to explore how a social media audit can guide your brand’s growth and success.