Social media audit: Why and how to do one for 2026

If you still think social media is primarily about cute videos and likes, you’re not alone.

Plenty of well-meaning organizations treat platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, X, TikTok, and Threads as “nice to have.” As of early October 2025, more than 5.66 billion people are active on social media. That’s over 68 percent of the global population. That’s also a lot of eyeballs, opinion-shapers, and yes, potential stakeholders who influence policy, reputation, and purchasing behavior.

But reach alone isn’t a strategy. With platforms evolving rapidly, what worked last year won’t necessarily work tomorrow. In 2026, social media is a core communications discipline, not a side project.

That’s where the social media audit comes in. It’s not a luxury exercise or something you do when you’re bored. It’s a methodical way to ground your social effort in data, strategy, and measurable outcomes.

What is a social media audit?

In simple terms, a social media audit is a structured review of all your organization’s social profiles to assess performance, appropriateness, alignment with strategic goals, and opportunities for improvement. It’s answering two big questions:

  1. Is this working?

  2. Can we make it work better?

A good audit goes far beyond “likes and follows.” It examines performance through meaningful metrics that matter in 2026:

These figures are not fluff. They tell you where audiences are, how deeply they’re interacting, and where opportunities lie.

Why do an annual audit

Here’s what a thorough audit reveals that you probably don’t already know:

Evidence-based decisions: Without benchmarks and comparative data, you’re guessing. With them, you can justify budgets and strategic shifts.

Aligned communication: Ensure your message aligns with your brand position and external stakeholder expectations. This is crucial for both PR and government relations.

Clear performance signals: Engagement rates vary dramatically by platform. You don’t want to treat TikTok and LinkedIn the sam,e as they serve different audiences and objectives.

Gap analysis: Where are you underperforming versus peers? Where are you spending dollars with no measurable return?

These insights feed both strategic communications and operational execution.

How to execute an effective audit

1. Inventory every active and dormant profile

Start by listing every account that bears your organization’s name or appears to do so. Spoiler: You’ll find legacy pages with outdated branding. That’s not strategic, it’s noise.

2. Clarify objectives for each channel

Ask yourself: What is each account supposed to achieve? Awareness? Policy influence? Recruitment? Crisis communication? Different objectives require different metrics. 

A large number of followers doesn’t necessarily mean a large amount of influence.

3. Gather real data

Look at key metrics aligned with goals:

  • Engagement rates

  • Click-throughs and conversions where applicable

  • Sentiment quality and qualitative engagement beyond reaction emojis

4. Benchmark performance

Benchmarks show you what “normal” looks like. For example:

  • Most North American brands published around 9.5 posts per day across channels in 2024, suggesting quality over quantity is now the norm.

  • Posting too much on platforms like Instagram actually suppresses engagement thanks to algorithm behavior.

5. Evaluate audience quality

Vanity metrics fail you. An account with a high follower count, but low engagement and poor click-through rates, isn’t influential. In fact, industry data shows that many influencer accounts contain 15 to 20 percent of fake or low-quality followers, muddying the true picture of reach.

6. Actionable Roadmap

An audit without decisions is a spreadsheet graveyard. You should end up with a prioritized plan: what to stop, start, refine, invest in, or sunset.

2026 best practices

Focus on engagement quality, not volume: The benchmark for engagement continues to rise on platforms where authentic connection matters most.

Use real benchmarks to set targets: Content performance varies by industry and platform. LinkedIn posts aimed at professional services may achieve higher engagement than those for generic consumer brands.

Prioritize response and community engagement: Brands see higher engagement when they respond within reasonable timeframes, reinforcing that social is a relationship channel, not just a broadcast channel.

Measure ROI, not just metrics: Track conversions, referral traffic, sentiment shifts, and policy or stakeholder outcomes. Numbers matter, but attribution matters more.

Social media in 2026 is indispensable to strategic communications, whether your priorities are reputation, influence with policymakers, stakeholder engagement, or brand credibility. A social media audit isn’t a nice add-on. It’s a discipline that transforms guesswork into measurable, defensible, strategic action. 

Ready to tackle 2026 with actionable data and transformative goals? Reach out to our team.