The A-Z Guide to Running a Successful Social Media Audit in 2025

When was the last time you checked in on your social media strategy? Not just posting content, but really analysing what’s working (and what’s not)?

If your answer is “Uh… never?” or “It’s been a while,” you’re not alone.

But here’s the thing: a social media audit is one of the most powerful ways to fine-tune your strategy, grow your audience, and get better results—without wasting time on content that isn’t working.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through a simple, step-by-step process to evaluate your social media presence, identify opportunities for growth, and make data-backed decisions that actually move the needle.

What is a social media audit?

Simply put: a social media audit is a check-up for your social media presence. It’s where you take a step back, look at everything you’re doing on social media, and figure out what’s working, what’s not, and where you can improve.

Think of it like cleaning out your closet. You pull everything out and see what still fits, what’s out of style, and what needs to go.

A social media audit does the same thing. You’re sorting through your accounts, posts, engagement metrics, and overall strategy.

The goal? To make sure your social media is actually helping you achieve your business or personal brand goals—not just taking up your time.

Whether you’re a brand, a business, or an individual creator, a social media audit helps you get clear on what’s bringing results and what’s just digital clutter.

And the best part? Once you’ve done an audit, your social media strategy becomes way more focused and effective. No more guessing or hoping something will work. You’ll have real data guiding your next moves.

How often should you do a social media audit?

The short answer: more than you think—but not so often that it becomes overwhelming.

A good rule of thumb is to do a full audit at least once a quarter (every three months).

This gives you enough time to see patterns in your performance without letting things spiral out of control. If that feels like too much, a solid twice-a-year check-in can still make a huge difference.

That said, certain situations call for an extra audit. Launching a new product? Changing your brand’s messaging? Noticing a sudden dip in engagement? Those are all great times to take a closer look at what’s going on with your social media presence.

Think of it like getting a haircut. If you wait too long, things start looking messy, and fixing it takes way more effort.

But with regular trims (aka audits), everything stays fresh and in shape. Keeping tabs on your social media performance regularly helps you stay ahead of trends, adjust your strategy when needed, and avoid wasting time on things that aren’t working.

Bottom line? Make audits a regular part of your social media routine, and you’ll always have a clear picture of what’s working—and what needs a refresh.

How to run a successful social media audit in 9 steps

1. Define your goals

Before diving into numbers and analytics, you need to get crystal clear on why you’re doing this audit in the first place.

What do you actually want to get out of it? Are you trying to grow your audience? Drive more traffic to your website? Increase engagement? Boost sales? Your goals will shape everything else you analyse, so don’t skip this step.

But here’s the thing—your audit isn’t just about setting new goals. It’s also about revisiting the original goals behind the content you’ve already posted. When you look at your past social media activity, ask yourself:

✅What was the purpose of this content? (Brand awareness, website traffic, lead generation, etc.)

✅Did it achieve what I wanted it to?

✅If not, why? (Wrong format? Weak call to action? Wrong audience?)

For example, let’s say your goal was to use Instagram to drive more traffic to your website. If you go back and check your analytics, but the link clicks on your Stories are low, that tells you something needs to change. Maybe you need stronger captions, better CTAs, or more strategic Story links.

Having clear goals keeps your audit focused and ensures you’re not just collecting data for the sake of it. Instead, you’re making sense of what’s working, what’s not, and where you need to adjust to actually hit your targets.

2. Keep your content in a centralised location

Ever feel like your social media content is scattered all over the place? One post is in a Google Doc, another is saved in your phone notes, and your best-performing Reel? Who knows where that went.

If this sounds familiar, it’s time to get organised.

Keeping all your content in a centralised location makes your social media audit (and overall strategy) so much easier. Instead of digging through different platforms trying to piece things together, you can see everything in one place—your posts, engagement metrics, and campaign performance all at a glance.

Here are some steps you can take to make this easier:

• Use a social media management tool. Tools like Sendible let you schedule posts, track analytics, and manage all your accounts from one dashboard. This means when it’s time to audit, all your data is in one place—no more jumping between apps and spreadsheets. You can click here to get a free trial or book a demo of Sendible.
• Create a content calendar. A shared calendar (Google Sheets, Trello, or Sendible’s built-in calendar) helps you plan, track, and review past content. You can easily spot gaps, repurpose high-performing posts, and make sure you’re staying consistent.
• Store creative assets in a single folder. Whether it’s Google Drive, Dropbox, or a dedicated brand asset library, keeping all your visuals, captions, and campaign materials in one place saves time and prevents duplication.
• Track performance in a single document. Set up a simple spreadsheet to log key metrics like engagement rates, reach, and conversions. This makes it easier to compare posts and campaigns over time.

By keeping everything organised, your social media audit won’t feel like a chaotic scavenger hunt. Instead, you’ll have a clear picture of what’s working and what needs tweaking—all without the headache.

3. Analyse performance metrics over your chosen timespan

Now that your content is organised, it’s time to dig into the numbers. But don’t worry—you don’t need to be a data analyst to make sense of your social media metrics. The key is knowing which numbers actually matter and what they tell you about your content’s performance.

First things first: decide on your timespan. Are you auditing the last month? The last three months? The past year? A longer timeframe gives you a big-picture view, while a shorter one helps you spot recent trends.

Once you’ve got that locked in, it’s time to look at the key performance indicators (KPIs) that actually show whether your strategy is working.

Here are the big ones:

• Engagement Rate – This tells you how much people are interacting with your content (likes, comments, shares, and saves). A high engagement rate usually means your content resonates with your audience.
• Reach & Impressions – Reach is the number of unique people who saw your post, while impressions are the total number of times it was displayed. If your reach is low, your content might not be getting pushed out by the algorithm.
• Follower Growth – Are you gaining new followers, or have things stalled? While vanity metrics aren’t everything, steady growth is a sign that your content is attracting the right people.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR) – If you’re sharing links, your CTR tells you how many people actually clicked. A low CTR could mean your call-to-action (CTA) isn’t strong enough or your audience isn’t interested.
• Conversion Rate – If your goal is to drive sales, sign-ups, or downloads, this is one of your most important numbers. It measures how many people take action after seeing your content.

Okay, the vocabulary lesson is over. So, how do you actually go about analysing these metrics and most importantly, interpreting them?

✅Use platform analytics. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok have built-in analytics where you can see most of these right from the app. (See the Instagram example below). If you’re using Sendible, you can see all your analytics in one place, making it easier to spot trends.

Source

✅Compare against past performance. Look at your numbers compared to the previous period. Are things improving or declining? If something worked well, figure out why so you can do more of it.

✅Identify your best and worst-performing posts. What kind of content gets the most engagement, clicks, or conversions? Take notes on what’s working (and what’s not).

✅Look for patterns. Do certain types of posts perform better on specific days or times? Are Reels outperforming static posts? Use this info to fine-tune your posting strategy.

✅Don’t obsess over vanity metrics. Likes and follows are nice, but they don’t always equal success. Focus on the numbers that actually impact your business goals, like CTR and conversions.

4. Identify the top-performing posts

Now comes the fun part—figuring out which of your posts absolutely crushed it. These are the posts that got the most engagement, drove the most traffic, or resulted in the most conversions. 

Basically, they’re your social media MVPs, and understanding why they worked will help you create even more winning content.

Most social media platforms have built-in analytics that show your best-performing posts. So to find your MVPs, look for posts with:

• High engagement (likes, comments, shares, and saves). This means your audience really connected with the content.
• Strong reach and impressions. A high reach means the platform’s algorithm pushed your content to more people—likely because it performed well early on.
• High CTR (Click-Through Rate). If you’re sharing links, which posts got the most clicks? That’s a good sign your call-to-action (CTA) was on point.
• Conversions. If sales or sign-ups are the goal, which posts actually led people to take action?

Now that you’ve identified your top-performing posts, it’s time to break down why they worked. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

✅ When was it posted? – Did this post go up at a specific time or day? Maybe your audience is more active at a certain hour.

✅ What format was it? – Was it a video, carousel, meme, or infographic? Certain formats might resonate better with your audience.

✅ What was the topic? – Are there common themes in your best posts? Maybe your audience loves behind-the-scenes content, tutorials, or industry insights.

✅ What hashtags were used? – Did specific hashtags help boost visibility? Take note of which ones performed well.

✅ Who was the audience? – If you run ads, check which audience segments have engaged most. You might have a hidden audience you didn’t even realise was interested.

✅ What was the CTA? – Did your caption encourage comments, shares, or clicks? Posts with clear, compelling CTAs usually perform better.

✅ How was the post structured? – Was it a short and snappy caption or a longer, storytelling-style post?

5. Evaluate your current audience

Alright, so you’ve analysed your content. Now let’s talk about the people actually engaging with it.

Are you reaching the right audience? Are they interacting with your content? Are they even the people you want to attract?

If your content isn’t connecting with the right crowd, no amount of posting will get you the results you’re after. So just like analysing your content is important, so is analysing the people who see it.

These are the metrics you’ll want to take a look at:

• Demographics. Check your audience’s age, gender, location, and interests. Are these the people you were aiming to reach? If you’re targeting U.S.-based business owners but most of your followers are students from another country, you may need to tweak your content strategy. Again, most social media platforms let you see your demographics easily from within the app.

Source

• Engagement levels. Are your followers just there, or are they actually engaging with your posts? High follower counts mean nothing if people aren’t liking, commenting, or sharing your content.
• Follower growth trends. Are you steadily gaining followers, or has growth plateaued? A sudden drop in followers could indicate that your content isn’t resonating—or that you attracted the wrong audience in the first place.
• Content preferences. Look at which types of content your audience interacts with the most. Do they prefer videos? Carousels? Long-form captions? Use this data to fine-tune your content strategy.

Now, numbers are great, but let’s go deeper. Are these people actually interested in what you offer?

If your goal is to reach small business owners but most of your followers are aspiring influencers, there’s a disconnect. Here’s how to tell if you’re attracting the right people:

✅ Do your followers match your buyer persona? If your target audience is 30-something professionals, but your analytics show a majority of followers are teenagers, you might need to rethink your messaging.

✅ Are they engaging with your core topics? If you post about your services, are people interested? If engagement tanks when you share product-related content but spikes for memes, you may have built an audience that’s here for the wrong reasons.

✅ Are your followers turning into leads or customers? A huge following means nothing if it’s not driving real results. If people love your posts but never take action (clicking links, signing up, or buying), you might be entertaining rather than attracting potential customers.

6. Do a SWOT analysis for each platform

Now that you've analysed your audience and top-performing content, it’s time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. How is each social media platform actually serving your brand?

That’s where a SWOT analysis comes in.

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and it’s an easy way to assess what’s working, what’s not, and where you can improve. Think of it as a mini report card for each of your social media platforms.

For each platform (Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.), ask yourself these key questions:

Strengths

✅ Which types of content perform best? (Videos, carousels, long-form posts, etc.)

✅ What platform brings the most engagement? (Which one gets the most likes, shares, or comments?)

✅ Are you consistently growing your audience?

✅ Are you seeing conversions (leads, sales, website traffic) from this platform?

Weaknesses

❌ Is engagement lower than expected?

❌ Are your posts getting seen, or is reach declining?

❌ Do you struggle to post consistently?

❌ Are you spending too much time on a platform that isn’t driving results?

Opportunities

This is where you look at untapped potential.

💡 Are there trends on this platform you haven’t tried yet? (Short-form videos, interactive posts, new features?)

💡 Is there a new audience segment you could reach?

💡 Could you improve your strategy by using new tools (like Sendible for scheduling and analytics)?

💡 Are there influencers or brands you could collaborate with to increase visibility?

Threats

Finally, think about potential roadblocks.

⚠️ Are algorithm changes affecting your reach?

⚠️ Is your audience shifting to a different platform?

⚠️ Is a competitor gaining traction in your niche?

⚠️ Are you relying too much on one platform for traffic or sales?

7. Do a competitor analysis

Now that you've got a handle on your own social media performance, it's time to look around and see what your competitors are up to.

A competitor analysis helps you understand what’s working for others in your industry, spot gaps in your own strategy, and even get inspired by new content ideas.

This isn’t about copying. It’s about learning from your competition so you can refine your approach and stand out.

Here’s how to run a competitor analysis step-by-step.

Step 1: Identify your top competitors

First, figure out who you’re actually competing with. These might be:

• Direct competitors — brands that offer similar products or services to the same audience.
• Indirect competitors — brands that target the same audience but with a slightly different offer.
• Industry leaders — even if they’re way ahead, studying them can give you valuable insights.

If you’re not sure who your competitors are, search for industry keywords on social media (or check who keeps popping up in your followers' feeds).

Step 2: Check their social media presence

Go platform by platform and take notes on:

✅ Which platforms they’re most active on (Are they focusing on Instagram? LinkedIn? TikTok?)

✅ What kind of content do they post (Videos? Carousels? Polls? Stories?)

✅ How often do they post (Daily? A few times a week?)

✅ How engaged their audience is (Are they getting lots of comments, shares, and likes?)

✅ Who’s engaging with them (Are they attracting the same audience you want?)

Step 3: Analyse their best-performing content

Look at their top posts and ask:

✅What topics are they covering?

✅What format is working best? (Are videos outperforming images?)

✅What tone and style are they using? (Casual? Professional? Humorous?)

✅Are they using specific calls-to-action (CTAs) that get high engagement?

Step 4: Spot the gaps

This is where things get interesting—what are they not doing that you could do better?

✅ Are there content topics they’re missing that you could cover?

✅ Are they weak on a platform where you could dominate?

✅ Do they have slow response times with comments or messages? (You could outshine them with better community engagement!)

✅ Are they missing opportunities for video, collaborations, or storytelling?

8. Set new actionable goals and adjust your plans for improvements

Now that you've gathered all this valuable data from your social media audit, it's time to put it to work.

The key here is to set clear, actionable goals based on your findings. Not just vague ideas like “post more” or “increase engagement.”

Think about what needs improvement and set specific, measurable goals to fix it.

For example, if your engagement rate is low, aim to increase it by 10% over the next three months by posting more interactive content. If a platform isn’t driving results, decide whether to refine your strategy or shift focus elsewhere.

9. Create a social media audit report

You’ve done all the hard work—now it’s time to put everything together in a clear, organised report. This isn’t just for the sake of documentation.

Having all your insights in one place makes it easier to track progress, spot trends, and make informed decisions moving forward.

Your social media audit report doesn’t have to be complicated. A simple Google Doc, spreadsheet, or presentation works just fine. Here’s what to include:

• Summary of findings. A quick overview of what’s working, what’s not, and key takeaways.
• Platform performance breakdown. Engagement rates, follower growth, top-performing content, and any SWOT insights.
• Competitor insights. How you compare to others in your industry and where you can improve.
• New goals and action steps. Specific improvements you’re making based on the audit.

If you’re managing social media for a team or a client, this report helps keep everyone on the same page and ensures your strategy stays focused. Plus, it gives you a clear benchmark for your next audit—so you can see just how much progress you’ve made.

Free social media audit checklists for each platform

Congratulations! You now know everything you need to run a successful social media audit. To top it off, we want to make this process even simpler.

Sendible has free audit checklists for various social media platforms, so I highly recommend you download the ones relevant to your strategy:

• Instagram audit checklist
• LinkedIn audit checklist
• Facebook audit checklist
• Twitter/X audit checklist

Conclusion

A social media audit isn’t just about analysing.

It’s about taking action to grow and improve. Keep refining your strategy, track your progress, and don’t be afraid to pivot when needed. The more intentional you are, the better results you’ll see!