A social media audit is an excellent service to offer to boost your income as a social media manager.
That’s because the humble social media audit lets you show prospective clients what you have to offer and position yourself as an expert. Social media audits are a low-risk entry point into your world. And they can net you extra income when you offer them as an introduction service or as an upsell at the end of a power hour or workshop.
They let you demonstrate your skills and knowledge and offer clients valuable insights into their social accounts – without giving away all your secrets!
In this blog, we cover the vital information you should include in an audit, plus three ways you can use audits to boost your bottom line each month.
What is a social media audit?
A social media audit is a report which shows the success of a social strategy across social media accounts and networks. A social media audit identifies the brand's strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement and provides information on everything a business needs to optimize their social media marketing strategy.
How to complete a social media audit.
Make a list of all the platforms being audited.
You should include URLs and @ handles. Ideally, a business would have matching @names across all social media channels. Where this isn’t the case, note any problematic @names so you can investigate changing them later.
In addition, think about the platforms the business is not currently on. Should they be those? An audit is an excellent opportunity to add new ideas and recommendations for other platforms. At the very least, the business should reserve the username on each platform to ensure it is not taken by another brand.
Report on first impressions.
Conduct the social media audit through the eyes of a first-time visitor.
What are your first impressions of the platforms? Is it immediately obvious what service the business offers? Do the accounts feel active and exciting? Do they make you want to find out more? Screen grabs in the social media audit can help to show the business how others see its brand.
Consider branding and consistency.
Once you’ve noted your first impressions, it’s time to dig a little deeper.
Check the business branding across all platforms is in line with the current brand style guidelines (you may have to request these from the business in advance).
Ensuring visual branding and written messaging are consistent across all channels helps speed up brand recall when browsing social media.
Check the profile pictures and banners. Are they consistent across channels? Are they high resolution and sized correctly?
Square pictures in round spaces – and vice versa – look lazy and unprofessional.
Don’t forget to look at both desktop and mobile versions too. Banners, in particular, can look drastically different on different devices.
Profile / Bio text
Over time, the information we share with followers changes. This means that bio info across different platforms can get out of sync.
Check that all bio, profile and about sections share a consistent brand message.
Ensure all relevant profile sections are filled in and properly utilised. On Instagram, for example, both the @name and the name section of the bio are can be optimised for social media SEO. These fields should be different to maximise your client’s chances of being found.
Links
Are the links in your client’s bios and profiles still pointing to relevant pages? Check that they work and aren’t sending followers to out-of-date info such as old blogs, expired offers or campaigns that aren’t running anymore.
Pinned posts
Pinned posts are great for sharing important information with an audience, so hats off to your client if they already have one.
As you conduct your social media audit, take a look at the information in the pinned post – when was it created, and is the info still relevant?
If the pinned post is more than three months old, make a note to refresh it. This can be as simple as reposting the same image and text, but it will have a more recent post date and make the page look more active.
Contact info
Does your client’s page include an email address or phone number? Make sure both are correct and working.
Audit the social media content.
The next step of your social media audit is to look at the content to see what’s working well (and what’s bombing!)
Look for posts with the best engagement and include the top three for each platform in your audit.
What conclusions can you draw from this?
Are there any common themes? Is the same content working on all channels, or is there a significance in what’s working where?
Is your client posting a good mix of content? Are they posting regularly? Are they providing a good mix of created and curated content, and are they taking advantage of each platform’s various features, such as Reels and Stories on Instagram?
Next steps for the business
At the end of your social media audit, you should list recommendations and the next steps for each platform. If you are doing a free or mini audit, be careful about how much of the ‘how’ you give away here.
Remember to include a section in your social media audit report which clearly explains the service you offer to help the business to achieve the improvements. Don’t mention prices at this point – remember, all businesses are different, and your social media management prices should be bespoke to each client.
Finally, include your contact details, social handles and some good old social proof in the shape of testimonials.
But one quick word of warning: Social media audits provide an overview of the current situation, not a full-on strategy to move forward with. Be careful not to get too carried away (unless your fee demands it)
Three ways to make money from a social media audit
As we already mentioned, social media audits are a great way to boost your monthly income.
As a low-ticket offer, they’re easy to sell and offer great value to your clients.
Offer a social media audit as a paid service.
The Audit template in The Social Media Managers Toolkit has everything you need to provide a social media audit to your clients.
Offer a mini social media audit as a taster of your services.
Carry out a mini audit to send to a prospective client. Include a few tips they can implement themself and a few they’ll need your help with. Invite them to upgrade to a full audit.
Offer a social media audit as an upsell.
Offer clients an audit at the end of a power hour or workshop so they can get a better understanding of where their strengths and weaknesses lie.
Frequently asked questions
What are 4 questions should you be asking when conducting a social media audit?
The top 4 questions to ask when conducting a social media audit are:
- What is the business aiming to achieve from social media marketing?
- Who is the business trying to reach on the social media platform being audited?
- What are their current frustrations with social media marketing?
- What has worked previously?
What is the main goal of a social media audit?
The main goal of a social media audit is to provide a business with an understanding of how their social media channels are working for them (or not). The report will provide a detailed overview of the strengths and weaknesses and any recommended changes which should be considered in line with the business objectives.
How much would you pay for a social media audit?
How much a business would pay for a social media audit will depend on the size of the business, the number of platforms and the depth of the report. Typically social media managers charge between £300 – £3000 for a full social media audit and will insist on completing an audit before providing a strategy or management service.
What are the six key areas of a social audit?
The six key areas of a social media audit are:
- Platforms
- First impressions
- Branding
- Content
- Audience demographics
- Next steps
Conclusion
A social media audit is a great service to offer and can dramatically increase your income and build better relationships with potential clients.
So, will you start offering social media audits as a service?
The Social Media Managers Audit Template was designed to make this easier for you!
