How to Perform a Social Media Audit

Auditing accounts requires considerable research. Spreadsheets are ideal for holding the data you collect. Use an existing Social Media Audit template or create your own.

List all registered accounts. Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 8170.01 requires that all accounts be registered. You must register DoD-owned or operated social media accounts with the DoD Unified Registration System and the U.S. Digital Registry. Registering accounts constitutes the official status for DoD social media accounts on authorized platforms. You may use the Social Media Audit Template to document all accounts. Registering accounts constitutes the official status for DoD social media accounts on authorized platforms. You must compile a complete list of all accounts, both past and present. First list all the accounts that you and your team use regularly, then list old or abandoned profiles.

Identify platforms where you don’t yet have a social presence. Track new platforms that are emerging and gaining popularity and add them to your social media strategy, or create profiles to reserve your handle for the future. If you choose to create profiles for future use, you must clearly state that it is an official account but not actively managed and clearly advise how to contact the account manager. Additionally, if you do create an account, it must be registered with the DoD. You can reference Section 4 of DoDI 5400.17, "Official Use of Social Media for Public Affairs Purposes," for guidance on registering accounts.

Search for unknown accounts. Do a general internet search of your unit name to find those you may not be aware of. If you find an account you don't recognize, you may need to do some digging to see if it is an official account or run by someone unauthorized to represent your unit. You should then move on to search all social media sites with your unit name to see if you find any you are not aware of.

Record your research. Add all known and found accounts to your document so you can monitor activity and watch for unauthorized accounts that may be created. Add notes to flag questionable accounts that require you to investigate further. A column for "unauthorized accounts" will allow you to record unauthorized accounts and the steps taken to have them shut down.

The channel owner should be a person or group responsible for maintaining and posting on the platform. The objective should be one line that represents what you want from using the platform. If platforms do not have an objective, now is the time to create one. You must know what you're trying to achieve before you can evaluate whether or not you're hitting your goals, and an objective will help solidify that. You can use the Registered Accounts tab in the Social Media Audit template to ensure that the channel owner and objective column have been identified for each registered account.

 

Once you know what you're trying to achieve, you will better understand what metrics to track to evaluate the account's effectiveness. DoD social media managers must assess the value of establishing an official presence on social media and, once established, always provide timely and accurate information to the public and the news media.

Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to note which metrics you will use to evaluate performance. There are multiple KPI columns in the Social Media Audit template in the Registered Accounts tab where you can track your KPIs.

Some good metrics to watch are:

• Likes
• Reach
• Engagement
• Video
• People

You may discover that some accounts or platforms outperform others. You may need to adjust your strategy, invest more time in the successful accounts or deactivate the poor performing account. If you deactivate an account, reference DoDI 5400.17 paragraph 7e to ensure you meet all records management specifications and requirements.

Your best posts are the ones that generated the most positive engagement. Identify the top three for each platform and add the links to these posts to your audit document. In the Registered Accounts tab, identify and centralize your best posts in the Top Three Posts column of the Social Media Audit template.

Once you have a list of the best posts, look for patterns:

• Do the top posts contain photos or videos?
• Does the platform change the amount of engagement?

Add notes about any patterns you recognize to your audit. Use this information to help craft more engaging posts going forward.

As you evaluate each account and how they all work together to support your unit, you need to gain an understanding of each platform's audience. Demographics are a key part of that. Who are you targeting? What are their consumption habits? What platform do they prefer? Has this audience changed or grown? You can use the Registered Accounts tab and the Audience Demographics column in the Social Media Audit template to track this data.

 

You should have enough knowledge and insight into your unit's social media accounts to be equipped to decide where to focus your efforts. Careful consideration must be given when deciding to create official social media accounts. The creation of external online presences (EOPs) on social media platforms should be carefully considered and avoided unless the proposed EOP meets a specific communications objective not fulfilled by an existing EOP or other PA activities. Commands at all levels will consolidate and deactivate EOPs that detract or disrupt users searching for official DoD information.

Look at each account's performance and audience, and look for ways to incorporate those accounts with your unit's command messaging. If there isn't a connection, or if the account is not performing well, consider focusing more on the ones that are and less on the ones that aren't. You can reevaluate at a later date to see if more changes need to be made. The most important factor is to make sound decisions based on the research you uncover during your audit. You need to focus the most time and resources on the accounts that are strengthening the unit's message. Use the Optimization column found in the Registered Accounts tab in the Social Media Audit template to identify your successful accounts and which accounts need improvement.

Additionally, you should identify the accounts that are underperforming or not optimized and take corrective steps or close and deactivate the account. It is a best practice to create a memorandum that details the reason for closing the account to properly manage records. Content on any deactivated official accounts must be archived in accordance with DoDI 5015.02.

A social media account manager should maintain control of and responsibility for each social media account. According to section 3.24 of DoDI 8170.01, "Online Information Management and Electronic Messaging," you must use your mission-related contact information to establish a social media account. Additionally, the social media manager should ensure the account reflects unit messaging, is up to date and performs well. They will also be in charge of necessary approvals on the account, and will guide its strategic direction. They’ll decide who should have access to the account and what level of access each person should have. Sometimes, responsibility for accounts changes hands. Instead of giving many people access to the passwords, centralize them. This ensures you don't have to change passwords every time someone moves to a new role.

In your audit document, make sure you list each owner and the tool used to control passwords. It is also a best practice to obtain leadership approval for the account via an official memorandum. Do not use the audit to store passwords.

All accounts must comply with your unit standards and the service branding guidelines per Section 5 of DoDI 5400.17. Evaluate:

• Profile images
• Cover photos
• Bio text (must include a statement that the account is an official account)
• Handles
• Links
• Pinned posts

These should all be consistent and current with the unit's brand, image and messaging standards. Make sure all bio text is completely filled in with the current unit message. You also need to check that the same handle is being used consistently across social media platforms. The exception might be if you have more than one to serve different purposes. Ensure links point to the correct pages for your unit and that pinned posts are still relevant. You can use the Account Profile tab and the Platform column to ensure all profiles across all social media accounts are complete. If they are not complete, document and plan corrective actions.

A social media audit is not a one-and-done process. All accounts should be audited regularly to ensure accounts are up to date, still reflect the unit's messaging and are performing as expected. Identify KPIs from your initial audit that can be measured offline. This is the opportunity to enhance the audit based on lessons learned and metrics observed.

Additionally, creating a social media performance report that houses and displays this information is a best practice that will allow you to provide a meaningful report to inform leadership and influence future decision-making.

You can decide how often you will perform an audit, but quarterly is a good place to start.