When’s the Last Time You Audited Your Social Channels?

Good morning, friend! Congrats! You made it to Friday!!

First off, uhm… Knicks in 7 <33

Secondly, I’ve been going back and forth in my head so much lately around what I want to do with this newsletter from thinking of doing case studies, moving to substack (?), interviews, to just quick round-ups of things I find cool to even having some weeks where we’re doing two a week. I want to hear from you. I know it might feel weird to respond back to a newsletter, but if you have 5 seconds to hit “reply” and just braindump your thoughts, it truly means so much to me.

Thirdly, you’re probably like “kendall just tell me today’s topic.” and I WILL.

Today we’re talking about how to run a social media audit on your own socials. Now that it’s June, you have 6 months to make this year your best yet across your social media channels. Don’t let it go to waste.

How To Do A Social Media Audit

Are your social media channels confusing you? Engagement is down? Content isn’t resonating? You’re still blaming the algorithm? Sorry to tell you this, but the problem isn’t the algorithm. It’s that nobody has looked under the hood in months.

I’ve been doing social media audits for years. for brands big and small. for people who are “just vibing” and people who are wondering why their engagement fell off a cliff last quarter. They are one of my favorite projects to do so i thought i would just dedicate a whole newsletter to them.

A social media audit is one of the simplest, most effective ways to get your content, strategy, and team back on track. It gives you a clear picture of what’s working, what’s noise, and what’s flat-out outdated.

But the wild thing is how many brands don’t do them regularly. Or at all. Because social moves so fast, it’s easy to just keep going — head down, content out, rinse and repeat without stopping to ask: “is this even still working?”

Why Social Audits Actually Matter

If you’re a brand that’s trying to grow, compete, or just make smarter decisions with your time and budget, a social audit isn’t optional. It’s essential.

It helps you:

• Understand what’s driving performance (and what’s just filler)

• Spot gaps in content (or over-investment in the wrong stuff)

• Realign your strategy to where your audience actually is

• Save time and money by cutting what doesn’t work

And most importantly: it helps you stop guessing.

Without regular audits, you’re probably building next month’s content calendar based on last year’s playbook. Or throwing money behind content you think is converting. Or wondering why your “new strategy” isn’t landing when, in reality, the platform shifted five steps ago and your brand didn’t move with it.

Here’s a quick way to just take a look at what you’ve been doing. As much as it’s important to execute and move things forward, I encourage you make a meeting with yourself for a few hours a week to just think. Think about what’s working and what’s not, what ideas you’re not sharing and why, and more.

1. List The Platforms You’re On

Start by writing down all your platforms. Instagram? TikTok? Threads? Youtube?

Then ask:
- Are you showing up consistently?
- Are you seeing results?
- Are you spreading yourself too thin?

Make a spreadsheet and track:

• The platform + handle

• Your follower count

• How often you post

• Engagement rate (or whatever else you care about: saves, reach, etc.)

• Date/month (so you can compare over time)

This gives you a quick view of where things are working — and where they might not be. More times than not, doing more isn’t always better. Sure, securing the handle is one thing, but are you really giving 100% to seven platforms at once? I would assume the answer is no.

2. Why Are You There?

Each platform should have a clear purpose.

If you don’t know what the point of a platform is, you probably don’t need to be on it.

Add a “Goal” column to your sheet — awareness, sales, community, vibes, whatever.
If you want to be extra, tag each post in your content calendar with the goal it supports. No more posting just to fill space.

3. What’s Actually Working?

Now get into your analytics.

Pull your top 5 posts for each platform by engagement and certain metrics. I like looking at shares and comments to know what types of posts are allowing me to get in front of more eyeballs and are building community down below.

• What’s the biggest commonality across all the content? Was it a certain format? A certain medium? A certain topic?

• Are there ways to repurpose and iterate on these concepts? If so, how and what are some examples?

I like building a mini monthly deck with screenshots and links to top posts, side by side. Patterns jump out fast that way. You’ll start to see what your audience actually cares about and not what you think they care about. You can get my template here for free - please just make a copy! It’s getting a facelift soon.

P.S. Don’t delete the bad posts. Those are data points.

4. Are You Actively Trying To Be Social?

Social media isn’t just about posting and then throwing your phone to the side. It’s like texting a friend or being in a chatroom.

Look at your last few posts.

Are you starting conversations or just pushing content? Lately, I’ve seen a lot of brands, especially “legacy” brands talk at their consumer vs. with. They assume everyone knows who they are, what they sell, but in reality, you’re gaining new people everyday. No brand is above their consumer. Don’t act like it.

Are people commenting?

Are you replying? This could be in the sense of actually replying back to comments or are you thoughtfully seeing what others are saying and replying through curating and creating content that is supporting frequently asked questions.

Also: outbound engagement. Comment on other people’s stuff. Join convos. Slide into the replies. Show up in places where your ideal audience already is. You cannot just assume everyone will find you. You need to make them want to look more deeply into you, too.

5. On Brand?

Not everything has to be on-brand 24/7 — but scroll your profile.
Does it feel like you? Or can you feel like 5 chefs are in the kitchen all at once?

Quick fixes:

• Tighten up your bio (clear > clever)

• Hold true to branding where you can (colors, text on videos, etc.)

6. Get Outside of Your Own Bubble.

I’ve written this so many times and have posted online that the best inspiration comes from outside your own niche. Check out: a few competitors, a few brands you love, and a few totally unrelated industries. If you stay in the same place and consume the same things, you’ll end up creating the same things.

Ask:

• What formats are working for them?

• What’s getting shared or commented on?

• What are they not doing that you could lean into? Hint: In most cases, this is education (from my POV).

7. You Did All That. Now What?

An audit’s only useful if you do something with it.

Make a short list of changes:

• Post more of what’s working and less of what’s not.

• Try 1–2 new formats and see how they pan out.

• Clean up your bio/visuals.

• Be more active in your comment section and getting off your own accounts.

• Drop a platform if it’s not worth it.

Audits make your strategy sharper.

An audit is the fastest way to stop spinning your wheels and start understanding what’s actually working. It gives your team direction. It gives your content purpose. It keeps your strategy honest. Heck, you might even realize that you need a strategy coming out of this and have been using tactics to float by.

And if it’s been more than a quarter since you did one, consider this your sign.

No more “just post and pray.” You’ve got too much going for you to let your social run on autopilot.

Sometimes, you have to go slow to go fast. Good luck :)

Quick Note: I know that social gets all the attention (and yes, it should be checked + critiqued regularly), but if you’re a brand that sells DTC, obsessing over your Instagram while ignoring your website is like repainting your front door while your roof is leaking.

Here’s the truth: all that content and creator work you’re doing? It eventually funnels people to your site. And if your product pages, home page, are more aren’t converting or working then what’s the point?

That’s why I’ve been loving VideoWise. A huge thank you to Claudiu and the team for their support and for bringing you this week’s edition of the newsletter. Now, Videowise is not a plug-in, it’s a tool that has helped brands like True Classic, Dr. Dennis Gross, and Dr. Squatch become conversion powerhouses online.

Videowise is an e-commerce video platform that helps brands turn user generated content into high-converting, shoppable experiences right on their site—without slowing things down. TBH it’s probably the fastest video I’ve ever personally seen. Plus, they also now have a Live Shopping function, which allows brands to host their own shows, feature influencers, and embed shoppable replays right into their site.

If you work for a brand or sell a product on the interwebs and are looking to:

a) Optimize and increase your conversion rate on your product pages & collections (Fun Fact: On average, brands have see CVR go up by 10-35% within 2 weeks ) 

b) Drive more social proof on your website through reviews and testimonials.

c) Offer more on-site experiences that increase your customer’s time on site and help with product discovery.

d) Leverage content you are tagged in on Instagram and Tiktok and see it in one place to be able to use it on your website.

e) Stream and broadcast your brand across Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Linkedin, and Twitch easily.

f) All of the above.

You just found your solution right HERE. Plus, the Videowise team is  letting me give you a month for free.99 when you click right here. Here’s to getting better conversion before Q4.

It’s for Ahead of the Trend. A quick, snappy ode to the fun things I’m seeing online across creators, social, and brands. Sometimes, it’s a trend. Sometimes, it’s just a tip I want to share about marketing. Sometimes, it’s about snacks. TL;DR: just cool things I’m loving right now or things you should know.

In no particular order, let’s dive in:

• Eating: Sola Bread. I had never heard of this brand until just walking and roaming around the whole foods aisles as i usually do for fun. if you’re looking to get more protein (4g per slice) and fiber in, you need this. also, the texture is identical to traditional bread and makes for a good pbj (as that is important).

• Drinking: The new LMNT Lemonade Salt goes crazy. I just got my subscription in last night and don’t think I ripped a box open so fast. This is perfect for long runs. I like adding it to a bottle of Hint water to make a flavored “lemonade”. Always hacking the system.

• Social Campaign of the Week: The trophy goes to… KIEHL’S. As we know Kiehl’s was the skincare of choice for Equinox for years and it broke hearts when they ended their contact. However, they just announced their launch into Life Time and it was a great campaign because of how they integrated influencers mostly by leveraging popular meme pages like TheFakeRothko or NolitaDirtBag. I am currently trying to work on an interview so stay tuuuuned.

• News You Should Know:

  • Instagram changes its photo sizing…again, BUT it’s shouldn’t cause you a headache. Instagram has now added the option of uploading imagery with a 3×4 dimension, the native format for most photos [Social Media Today]

  • If you’re a brand who runs a lot of ads on Tiktok with influencers, here’s a fun update from one my few tools that I use in my tech stack.

  • Hailey Bieber is now a Billionaire after getting acquired by E.L.F Cosmetics after 3 years. I have thoughts, but what’s your take?

THAT’S A WRAP

As always, thank you for taking a few minutes of your morning and spending it with me.

If you have any questions ever, please don’t hesitate to email or DM me.

If you know anyone who you think would enjoy this newsletter and our cool a*** community, it would mean so much if you could send them this link: https://kendalldickieson.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Want to catch up on past editions of No Filter? Read them all for free right here.

Thank you so much and i’ll see you next week.

-KD

This week’s edition of No Filter is brought to you by Videowise.