Social media audit tools are designed to guide your content strategy and spot opportunities to expand your social footprint. If you want to take your social media accounts to the next level, you should definitely add a social media audit to your to-do list.
Is a social media audit really necessary? Well, yes. Audits ensure all that the hard work you do to manage and maintain your social media presence is working.
Overlook audits and you'll quickly be posting in the dark – not knowing what works and what doesn't.
In short, a good social media audit can check how well your social media accounts are doing and uncover ways to improve. They're hugely valuable, but the idea of an 'audit' can feel a bit daunting.
But by using the right tools, you can take the pain out of doing your very own social media audit, and instead make it quick and simple.
How to find the right social media audit tool
Thankfully, there are loads of options available to help analyze your social media performance across different platforms.
There are plenty of social media tools that can track things like engagement, follower growth, and content reach. Use them correctly and they'll save you time, which you can use on your wider social media strategy.
In this guide, we'll list the best social media audit tools across the industry – whether you're a growing influencer or work for a big corporation. We'll then look at why a social audit is necessary, and suggest some of the social media metrics you could analyze.
After that, we'll flag up some common challenges you might encounter when conducting a social media audit, and help with some troubleshooting.
We've picked seven tools that can enhance your social media marketing strategy.
In this article:
The best social media audit tools of 2024
To make your life easier, we've compiled an up-to-date list of the best social media audit tools that any social media manager should know about.
It's a crowded marketplace out there, so we've gone for quality over quantity. Below, you'll find the seven social media audit tools that really shine.
In our list we've included options that will suit different budgets and levels of tech expertise. Don't worry, we'll break it down so you can choose the social media audit tool that best suits your needs.
Keep reading to discover the features, as well as some advantages and disadvantages, of each of these tools.
1. Brandwatch
Brandwatch is a go-to social media monitoring and analytics tool for thousands of brands. It's known for being a pioneer when it comes to social listening, which makes it especially useful for tracking brand mentions – if we do say so ourselves.
Brandwatch also allows you to analyze trends and gain real time insights from social media data.
Features: Brandwatch offers real-time monitoring across multiple platforms. You can track mentions in over 190 languages and cross reference the data to get an accurate view of your audience. We particularly love the social analytics and reporting features that make it easier to feed back your findings to others.
Brandwatch uses AI-powered image recognition too. This lets you find visual mentions of your brand and see how audiences interact with those images. Then you can run sentiment analysis to gauge public opinion beyond your direct audience.
Looking for something that can integrate with your marketing stack? Then you'll be relieved to hear that Brandwatch is compatible with plenty of other marketing tools.
Pros: Brandwatch has a user-friendly interface. You can create custom dashboards to track metrics that matter most to you, and ignore the ones that don't.
This tool also offers deep analytics capabilities. Dive into demographic data, audience insights, and influencer identification to see what's really going on.
Finally, Brandwatch provides historical data that's crucial for analyzing long-term trends and comparing your brand's performance over time. Pull historic and real-time data into a social media audit template and get started immediately, even if you're not an expert.
Cons: It's worth noting that Brandwatch might be out of the budget for really small businesses. Also, the advanced features may be a little more complex than some users need, but luckily Brandwatch's Academy can help with that. Schedule your free demo today and get up to speed.
Recommendations: Brandwatch is great for businesses with complex social media needs who want to implement a seamless product into your workflow. If you need in-depth analytics and have the budget, it's the best choice.
2. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that offers useful audit tools. It helps you track and analyze how your social media marketing strategy is performing across multiple social media channels.
You can keep an eye on all your social accounts in one dashboard to make it easier to monitor your online presence and spot areas for improvement.
The platform is able to provide detailed social media reports. You can download these and you'll have access to all the top social media metrics like engagement rates, audience growth rate, and post reach.
Features: Like most of the other social media audit platforms we'll be mentioning here, Hootsuite supports all the major social networks like Facebook and Instagram.
There are pricing options to support different budgets, which can be useful if you're not ready for full commitment. Look out for some really useful scheduling tools and content curation features, too.
Pros: Even if you're new to the social media management game, you'll probably find this platform easy to use. It's got great analytics features, and will help teams collaborate and work together seamlessly.
Cons: Unfortunately, you won't get access to the most exciting features without paying more. Plus, it's analytics functionalities are relatively basic for those wanting more of a step up for their audit functionalities. And, as with other platforms, there's a bit of a learning curve to get used to the platform.
Recommendations: Hootsuite can be a great choice for social media teams who are managing multiple accounts or clients. It's also ideal if you want a tool that can handle your day-to-day posting tasks on top of your social media audit.
3. Sprout Social
Like the other tools we've mentioned, Sprout Social can help you manage multiple social media channels from one place. You can schedule posts, track audience engagement, and analyze performance across networks.
Features: In terms of social platforms, you've got access to all the big players in Sprout Social. It's got a great content calendar, and tasks like scheduling posts and managing community engagement are made super easy. There are plenty of analytics tools as well.
Pros: Sprout Social produces robust analytics and has a custom report builder, which is really useful for social media audits. As with other platforms, it also offers social listening tools to monitor mentions of your brand and industry trends.
Cons: This might not be the one for you if you're on a tight budget, as the price point is higher compared to some competitors. It also has limited support for some newer social media platforms like TikTok, so watch out for that.
Recommendations: Sprout Social can be a good choice if you're a medium-to-large business that has a big budget and an active social presence. The in-depth reporting will pack a punch in your social media audit. Sprout Social will also be particularly useful if you manage multiple accounts and need actionable insights. Like Brandwatch, it's a great choice for agencies.
4. Rival IQ
With a name like Rival IQ, it's clear that the purpose of this tool is to assess your competitors.
It's ideal if you're not in the market for an all-in-one tool but instead want something that audits all of your accounts, as well as your rivals'. This tool focuses on competitive analysis and benchmarking. It offers detailed insights into your social media performance too.
Features: Rival IQ covers major social platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok. It provides data on engagement rates, follower growth, and content performance. Again, you're going to be able to produce customizable dashboards and automated reports with this tool. You can track multiple companies and access historical data depending on your plan.
Pros: Rival IQ excels at competitor analysis. It helps you understand how you stack up against others in your industry via Head-to-Head reports. The tool can also be a good choice if you're spending a lot of money on social advertising, as it offers insights into paid social media performance on Facebook, X, and Instagram. This can help you optimize your ad spend and strategy.
Cons: Rival IQ doesn't track Pinterest or Snapchat analytics due to platform restrictions. This might be a drawback if these platforms are important for your business. The tool can be expensive too, with plans starting at over $200 per month. That might rule it out as an option for small businesses.
Recommendations: You should definitely consider Rival IQ if competitive analysis is a key part of your social media strategy. It's particularly useful for medium to large businesses that want to benchmark their performance against competitors.
5. Agorapulse
Agorapulse is a handy social media management tool that includes lots of useful audit features. You can analyze engagement rates, reach, follower growth, and content performance. It also provides up-to-date reports on your social media activities, making it easier to spot trends and areas for improvement.
What's brilliant is that this tool makes the audit process feel easy. You can schedule regular reports to keep track of your progress over time. This is a great feature for teams that need to share results with clients or stakeholders.
There are other features in there, too. Users also have access to content scheduling, inbox management, and team collaboration. This makes it a good all-in-one social media management tool that can also help with the auditing process.
Features: The major social media platforms are all supported here, and there is a huge range of analytics reporting features. The inbox management and team collaboration tools could be helpful outside of your audit tasks, too.
Pros: It's easy to use and you won't need to sign up for lots of different tools. The automated reports are super handy and you'll be able to manage multiple clients in one place if you're an agency.
Cons: You know the drill here – as with the other more powerful auditing tools, this platform comes with a hefty subscription cost and you might have to provide team members with some training before they master the platform.
Recommendations: Agorapulse's reporting features can save you time by automating the audit process. This allows you to focus on interpreting the data and making data driven decisions for your social media efforts. While this tool might be overkill for individuals or very small businesses, it offers good value for growing teams and agencies.
6. Keyhole
Keyhole is a social media audit tool that's really good for real-time analytics and monitoring. It tracks performance across the major social channels, so you don't have to worry about missing any of your social media accounts.
Features: Keyhole offers hashtag tracking, social listening, and competitor analysis. You can also monitor brand mentions and engagement metrics in real-time. The tool provides customizable dashboards and can create reports packed with useful data. There are also some nice features like influencer identification.
Pros: Keyhole excels at live monitoring, giving you instant insights into your social media presence. It also has a great user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate and understand data. You can track specific hashtags and keywords, helping you measure social media marketing campaign effectiveness. The tool also offers sentiment analysis to gauge audience reactions.
Cons: Like the other more powerful tools we've mentioned, Keyhole's pricing may be steep for small businesses or individual users. There have also been complaints about annoying glitches in data collection. Also, the focus on real-time data means historical analysis options might be limited compared to other platforms.
Recommendations: Keyhole is best suited for brands and agencies needing up-to-date social media insights. It's particularly useful for tracking live events or time-sensitive campaigns. If you're after immediate feedback and hashtag performance, Keyhole could be a great addition to your toolkit. However, if you have a tight budget, you might want to explore other options.
7. Google Analytics (GA4)
We couldn't write this list without mentioning one of the best-known pieces of software in the analytics industry. Of course, we're talking about Google Analytics.
The latest version, known as GA4, is a powerful tool for tracking and analyzing website and app performance. It offers advanced features for measuring user interactions across platforms.
GA4 uses an event-based data model to provide more detailed insights into user behavior. This allows for better tracking of specific actions on your site or app.
Features: GA4 includes real-time reporting, customizable dashboards, and machine learning capabilities. It can track both web and mobile app data. The tool offers enhanced ecommerce tracking and funnel analysis. If you've only used older versions of the software then it's worth checking in again – this iteration provides more flexible event tracking options than ever before.
Pros: GA4 gives you a more complete view of the customer journey. It offers improved cross-device tracking and audience segmentation. Amazingly, the tool is still free for most users and integrates well with other Google products, so it's a good starter option for small businesses or individuals. It also provides predictive metrics to help forecast future trends.
Cons: GA4 is more complex than previous versions, so it might take a while to learn its nuances. The dashboards can also be a bit overwhelming at first, but we promise you will find your feet.
Recommendations: It's definitely worth taking time to learn the new features and data model offered by GA4, since its enhanced capabilities can provide valuable insights for your social media strategy. You can use GA4's custom event tracking to monitor specific social media-related actions on your website. This can help you better understand the impact of your social campaigns.
And here's an in-the-know tip: if you're switching to GA4 from another analytics tool, start setting it up alongside the current tool if you haven't already. This will help you build up historical data in the new system.
Now you know what tools are out there, it's time to look at social media audits in more detail.
Why conduct a social media audit?
A social media audit is going to help you improve your social media presence and get better results – like better engaged followers and boosted sales numbers.
By using a social media audit tool, you can get valuable insights into what's working and what needs to change. Here are just a few of the benefits:
You'll understand audience demographics
A social media audit is going to give you more information about your followers. You can see who they are, where they're from, and what they like. This information helps you create content they'll enjoy.
A good place to start is by looking at your audience demographics on each platform. Check which posts get the most likes, comments, and shares. This will show you what your followers want to see.
With a little bit of detective work, you can also find out when your audience is most active online. This is great if you're aiming for the highest engagement metrics possible.
You can enhance engagement
Social media auditing can also help you boost interaction with your followers. You'll soon see which types of top posts get people engaged across each social media platform, so that you can repeat the magic.
Try different content formats like videos, polls, or stories to see which ones perform best. You might find that short videos work great on one platform, while image carousels are better on another.
Look again at your top posts. What made them stand out? Use these insights to create more content your target audience will love on each social media account.
You'll improve your strategy effectiveness
An effective social media audit lets you fine-tune your approach on your social accounts. You'll spot what's working and what's not across all your accounts.
Check if you're meeting your goals for followers, engagement, or website traffic across your social channels. If not, now's a great time to adjust your tactics.
Take a look at your competitors, too. See what they're doing well on each social network and where you can do better. Steal their secrets and avoid their mistakes!
Use the audit to align your social media efforts with your business goals. Make sure each post serves a purpose and moves you closer to success.
Key metrics to analyze
A social media audit relies on several crucial metrics to gauge performance. These metrics are going to provide insights into audience growth, content effectiveness, and user interaction levels. Here's a quick look at what to focus on:
Follower growth
Tracking your growth in followers helps you understand the reach of your social media accounts. Look at the number of new followers gained over time. Pay attention to any sudden spikes or drops in follower count as these changes might point to successful social marketing campaigns or issues that need addressing.
Compare your growth rate to industry benchmarks. This gives you a clearer picture of how your digital marketing stacks up against competitors.
Also, check the quality of your followers. Are they real accounts or bots? Do they match your target audience? Though a high follower account is appealing, it's always a good idea to root out the fakes and aim for real people who could become customers.
Post performance
Metrics relating to post performance show how well your content resonates with your audience. What's important here is reach and impressions for each post.
Reach tells you how many unique users saw your content. Impressions show the total number of times your post was displayed. If there's a big difference between the two, then perhaps the same users are going back to your content time and time again.
Check which posts get the most views, likes, and shares. This information helps you understand what type of content your audience prefers. Use these insights to guide your future social strategy.
Engagement rates
Engagement rates measure how often your audience interacts with your content. We're thinking along the lines of likes, comments, shares, and clicks. A high engagement rate usually means your content is really interesting to your followers.
Look for patterns in your social media content with high engagement. What topics, formats, or posting times work best? Take notes and use these learnings to polish future posts across all your social media accounts.
Sentiment
A tool like Brandwatch allows you to assess audience sentiment, so you understand exactly what people think of your brand. You can look at your direct followers, their networks, or the entire social sphere.
See exactly where your brand sits with sentiment analysis and adjust your strategies accordingly.
Common challenges in social media audits
Conducting a social media audit can be difficult, even with a tool. There are a few common problems that tend to pop up – but let's look at some issues that affect every brand, no matter how big or small.
Data overload
The first major problem is handling data. Social media platforms give you tons of info. It can be hard to know what matters most. You might feel lost in the numbers.
To deal with this, focus on key metrics tied to your goals and look at trends over time, not just one-off stats. Then, when you get your data, pull it into a social media audit spreadsheet and filter out what you don't need. A tool can help do this for you.
Don't get stuck on every little detail. Pick the most important data points for your brand. This helps you see the big picture without getting overwhelmed.
Time-consuming process
A social media audit takes time. A lot of things can be automated but not everything. You need to gather data from multiple platforms and analyze it all, which can eat up your day if you're not careful.
Use a social media audit tool for faster data collection and set a schedule for regular check-ins. It's these check-ins that will save you time, as you can effectively monitor the automation process and spot mistakes.
You could also try breaking your social media audit into smaller tasks. Do a little each day or week. This makes the process less daunting and helps you stay on top of your social media game.
Round up
Now that you have lots of data from your social media analytics, and you know your top performing posts, it's time to put it all into action – make sure you use it to identify trends and improve your future content strategy.
Remember: a good social media audit will take time, but it's worth it. Your social media content is soon going to be the best it's ever been.
