Social media content audit: keep, fix or stop

Key takeaways

A social media content audit is a structured review of what you have posted, judged by who it attracted. List your last 30 posts, label each by type, note its buyer signals, and sort it into keep, fix or stop. Ninety minutes gives you a clear plan for the next quarter.

• 30 posts and 90 minutes are enough.
• Sort every post into keep, fix or stop.
• Judge by buyer signals and enquiries, not likes.
• Repeat every 3 months.

How does a content audit differ from an account audit?

A content audit looks only at the posts: their type, aim and results. A full account audit also covers profiles, settings, access and governance. If you have not done either, begin with the account audit and return here for the detail on content.

• How to create social media content that attracts the right customers
• Social media audit checklist for small businesses

How do you run the audit?

Open a spreadsheet with one row per post for the last 30 posts. Add columns for type, who it was for, saves, private shares, profile visits, and any enquiry linked to it. Then add a scorecard total and a decision. Work quickly. The patterns matter more than precision.

• List the last 30 posts.
• Label the type: proof, question, tip, team, offer, other.
• Record saves, shares, profile visits and enquiries.
• Score each on the five-part scorecard.
• Mark keep, fix or stop.

• The right-customer content scorecard for social media
• How to find which social posts actually bring customers

How do you decide keep, fix or stop?

Keep post types that brought enquiries or strong buyer signals. Fix types that are well aimed but incomplete, usually missing proof or a next step. Stop types that attracted the wrong audience or nothing at all over three months, however much you enjoy making them.

• Keep: linked to enquiries, saves or profile visits.
• Fix: right audience, missing a part.
• Stop: wrong audience, or no buyer signal.

• Vanity metrics on social media and what to track instead

What do audits usually reveal?

Audits usually reveal three things. A small number of post types produce most of the useful response. A large share of posts have no next step. And the mix has drifted towards whatever is easiest to make. Each of these is quick to correct once seen.

• Social media content mistakes that attract the wrong crowd

What do you do after the audit?

Turn it into a plan on one page. Name the two or three post types to make every week, the one fix to apply to everything, and the types to drop. Decide what replaces the dropped posts so the calendar does not simply get thinner.

• A 30-day plan to refocus content on the right customers
• Build content pillars for social media

What are the limits of an audit?

The limits are that an audit judges the past and that small accounts have little data. If you post rarely, 30 posts may span a year and conditions will have changed. An audit also cannot tell you about content you have never tried. Pair it with a look at competitors.

• Social media content gap analysis: say what rivals do not

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see in first audits of UK small business accounts: a small minority of posts carry most of the saves, profile visits and enquiry mentions, and they are nearly always proof posts or answered questions.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Content audit checklist

Ninety minutes, once a quarter.

• The last 30 posts are listed.
• Each is labelled by type and audience.
• Buyer signals are recorded.
• Each has a scorecard total.
• Each is marked keep, fix or stop.
• A one-page plan follows.

Next step

Block 90 minutes this month and audit your last 30 posts. Finish with the names of three post types you will make every week.