---
name: social-media-audit
description: "Audit an organic social presence end to end: goals and audiences per platform, platform fit, profiles, content performance by format, topic and hook, cadence, community management and response times, listening and reputation, employee, founder and creator voices, operations, benchmarks and focus, maintain or exit decisions with a 90-day plan. Use whenever someone asks for a social media audit, why social is not working, which platforms to focus on, social media review, organic social performance or where to start as a new social media lead."
license: CC-BY-4.0
metadata:
  author: Afeez Adebayo
  author_url: https://afeezadebayo.com
  author_linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afeez-adebayo/
  author_x: https://x.com/za_icon
  source: https://afeezadebayo.com/skills-md/marketing/social-media/social-media-audit/
  category: marketing
  subcategory: social-media
  version: "1.0.0"
  created: "2026-10-10"
  updated: "2026-10-10"
---

# Social Media Audit

Many companies are on every platform and effective on none. Profiles are half finished, posting is irregular, content is the same link pasted across five networks, comments go unanswered and reports show follower counts that nobody connects to business results. Meanwhile platforms keep changing what they reward, from short video to saves and shares to search, and competitors who adapted are taking the attention.

This skill audits an organic social presence end to end: goals, audiences, platform fit, profiles, content performance, formats, community management, listening, people (employees and creators), operations and measurement. It decides where to focus, what to stop and hands each finding to a specialist skill. It is the entry point for the Social Media set. Paid social sits in the Performance Marketing skills.

## Operating principles
1. **Goals and audiences decide platforms.** Be where your audience pays attention, not everywhere.
2. **Native content wins.** Each platform rewards formats and behaviours made for it.
3. **Engagement quality over follower counts.** Saves, shares, comments and clicks matter more than likes.
4. **Community is two-way.** Responding and participating builds more than broadcasting.
5. **Connect to business outcomes.** Traffic, leads, sales, hiring, support and reputation.

## Audit areas
| Area | What to check | Typical finding |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Goals and audiences | Documented goals per platform, audience definitions | No goals; same plan for every network |
| 2. Platform fit | Where the audience is active; resources per platform | Active on six platforms, effective on one |
| 3. Profiles | Names, bios, links, visuals, pinned content, verification | Outdated bios, broken links, inconsistent handles |
| 4. Content performance | Reach, engagement rate, saves, shares, comments, clicks by post | A few formats drive most engagement |
| 5. Formats and creative | Video, carousels, text, images, live; hooks and quality | Same link post everywhere; no video |
| 6. Cadence and timing | Frequency and consistency | Bursts followed by silence |
| 7. Community management | Response times, tone, moderation, participation | Comments unanswered for days |
| 8. Listening and reputation | Brand mentions, sentiment, competitor and topic tracking | No monitoring outside own profiles |
| 9. People | Employees, executives, creators and partners | Founder posts outperform brand; no programme |
| 10. Operations and measurement | Calendar, approvals, tools, reporting | Reports show followers only |

## When to use, and when not to
Use it when social effort feels unproductive, when a new social lead joins, before annual planning, after rebrands and when leadership asks what social achieves.

Don't use it for paid social campaign audits (the Performance Marketing `paid-media-audit` skill) or for content audits across all channels (the Content, Copy and PR `content-marketing-audit` skill).

## Inputs to ask for, in one message
1. Business goals and target audiences.
2. List of profiles with handles and access to native analytics for 6 to 12 months.
3. Web analytics with social traffic and conversions.
4. Team, tools, approval process and budget.
5. Competitors and peers to benchmark.
6. Any listening or community data.

## Workflow

### Step 1. Confirm goals per platform
Awareness, engagement, traffic, leads, hiring, support or community; one primary goal per platform.

### Step 2. Map audiences to platforms
Where does the audience spend attention? Use audience data, surveys and competitor presence.

### Step 3. Review profiles
Consistency, completeness, links, visuals and pinned content.

### Step 4. Analyse content
Export 6 to 12 months of posts; group by format, topic and hook; compare reach, engagement rate, saves, shares, comments and clicks.

### Step 5. Review community and listening
Response times, unanswered comments, sentiment, brand mentions off-profile.

### Step 6. Review people
Employee, founder and creator activity versus brand accounts.

### Step 7. Benchmark
Two or three competitors or peers: formats, cadence, engagement, community.

### Step 8. Decide
Focus, maintain or exit per platform; formats to double down on; what to stop.

### Step 9. Plan
90-day priorities with owners and metrics.

## Platform decision matrix
| Audience presence | Our results | Resources | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | Strong | Enough | Focus and scale |
| High | Weak | Enough | Fix content and community |
| High | Weak | Low | Focus resources here, cut elsewhere |
| Low | Any | Any | Maintain minimal presence or exit |

## Content analysis template
```
| Post | Platform | Format | Topic | Hook | Reach | Engagement rate | Saves | Shares | Comments | Clicks | Notes |
```
Group results by format and topic; look for patterns rather than single viral posts.

## Profile checklist
- Consistent handle and name across platforms where possible.
- Bio states who you help and how, in plain words.
- Link goes to a relevant, working page (with tracking parameters).
- Profile and cover images current and sized correctly.
- Pinned or featured content shows your best work.
- Contact options and business details complete.
- Verification or official badges where available.

## Engagement quality signals
| Signal | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| Saves | Content worth returning to |
| Shares and sends | Content worth recommending |
| Comments with substance | Conversation and interest |
| Profile visits and follows after a post | Content that builds an audience |
| Link clicks and site conversions | Business value |
| Likes only | Weak signal on its own |

## Response time benchmarks
Set internal targets, such as replying to comments within a working day and to direct messages within a few hours during business hours, and measure against them monthly. Unanswered questions in public damage trust more than silence anywhere else.

## Edge cases and judgement calls
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| B2B company | Focus on LinkedIn, YouTube and employee voices before consumer platforms |
| Consumer brand | Prioritise short video platforms and community |
| Regulated industry | Add compliance review to operations; keep approved response templates |
| Founder much bigger than brand | Build around the founder and connect to brand assets |
| Platform declines or changes | Keep presence light; move effort to where audiences went |

## Handoffs to specialist skills
- Strategy: `social-media-strategy`
- LinkedIn: `linkedin-organic`
- X: `x-twitter-organic`
- Instagram: `instagram-organic`
- TikTok: `tiktok-organic`
- Video scripts: `short-video-scripts`
- YouTube: `youtube-seo-growth`
- Calendar and workflow: `social-content-calendar`
- Community: `community-building`
- Listening: `social-listening`
- Creators and employees: `creator-employee-advocacy`
- Reporting: `social-media-reporting`
- Paid social: the Performance Marketing skills

## Worked example
A B2B software company posted the same link to LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok three times a week with little engagement. The audit found its audience mainly on LinkedIn and YouTube; posts by the founder and two product managers reached far more people than the brand page; comments often went unanswered; and reports showed only followers. The plan dropped Facebook and TikTok, kept X minimal, focused on native LinkedIn posts from the founder and experts plus the brand page, launched a YouTube tutorial series, set a four-hour response target and moved reporting to engagement quality, traffic and leads.

## Output format
```
# Social media audit: <brand>, <date>
## Summary (focus, stop, first moves)
## Goals and audiences by platform
## Profile review
## Content analysis (formats, topics, hooks)
## Community and listening findings
## People findings
## Benchmark
## Platform decisions and 90-day plan
```

## Common mistakes
- Being on every platform with the same content.
- Judging success by follower counts.
- Ignoring comments and messages.
- Overlooking employee and founder voices.
- No link to business outcomes.

## Questions to ask before you recommend changes
- Where does your audience actually spend attention?
- Which posts led to traffic, leads or sales?
- How quickly do you reply to comments and messages?

## Self-check before you answer
- Does each platform have a goal and a decision?
- Are formats and topics analysed, not just single posts?
- Are community and people reviewed?
- Is the plan tied to business outcomes?

## Further reading
- Sprout Social Index: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/index/
- Hootsuite social media trends: https://www.hootsuite.com/research/social-trends

---
Created by Afeez Adebayo, Marketing, SEO & Growth Expert
Website: https://afeezadebayo.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afeez-adebayo/
X: https://x.com/za_icon
Source: https://afeezadebayo.com/skills-md/marketing/social-media/social-media-audit/

Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). You may copy, share and adapt this skill, including for commercial use, as long as you credit Afeez Adebayo and link to the source URL above. Keep this notice in any copy or adapted version.