Social Media Audit Archives - Post Control Marketing

In integrating AI into my courses, I’ve had experience using Custom GPTs. They can be very beneficial over broad AI use as they focus specifically on a single task or project to help the user – whether student, professor, or professional. For example, I have used JobsGPT in a previous blog post as a way to help predict how AI will impact the skills marketers need in the future so that I can adjust my course material.

I was also recently inspired by an article in Chronicle of Higher Ed. In “Teaching: Can AI actually help students write authentically?” Beth McMurtrie shares how Jeanne Beatrix Law, director of composition at Kennesaw State created a custom GPT Writing Guide Assistant. She found a way to engage students with AI to teach critical thinking and the writing process through prompting versus having AI write for students.

I also realize my students need to gain experience working with AI such as custom GPTs and agents to prepare for today’s marketing jobs. The latest CMO survey reports use of generative AI in marketing increased by 116% since 2024 – now 15% of marketing activities. As a hopeful sign, the same survey reports companies are still growing their marketing teams – 5.3% last year and predicted 5.0% in 2025.

The Primary Goal of My GPT

My goal in creating the Social Media Audit GPT was to provide students with a learning assignment to teach step-by-step an important course concept. Social media audits are an amazing strategic tool but students often struggle to understand them completely – even with new examples in the 4th edition of my Social Media Strategy book.

The custom GPT takes them through the process of completing a main assignment through prompting, and they can ask questions at any time along the way. It also has the benefit of focusing on source materials to ensure accuracy.

To create the Social Media Audit GPT I gave it an article I wrote on this blog last year detailing the process for conducting a social media audit with a social media audit template. I see the custom GPT as a great support to in-person instruction giving each student access to how I would tutor them in this key concept 24/7. For those using my Social Media Strategy text in classes, this is a great supplement to support your instruction.

Social Media Audit Template To Improve Social Media Marketing Strategy. — I trained the GPT on the Social Media Audit template from my Social Media Strategy book.

Secondary Goals of My GPT

A secondary goal was to show students how to use AI responsibly to empower their learning, not harm it. Creating a custom GPT is a key demonstration of AI integration and teaching AI literacy versus AI bans labeling all AI use as cheating. This helps teach responsible AI use for students tempted to use AI to complete assignments.

Another secondary goal is to teach students how to work with AI as a partner in developing marketing strategies. The GPT is not a replacement for those creating a social media strategy for an employer or client. The AI agent doesn’t complete the audit.

I instructed the GPT to not collect data for the user it to prompt them to formulate their own insights. The real value of a social media audit is getting into each social media platform and seeing what’s happening with your own eyes. I built the AI as a strategy development assistant demonstrating how students or professionals can use custom GPTs and AI agents in their future or current marketing careers.

How I Created The Custom GPT

I had a working model of this Social Media Audit GPT several weeks ago as a Microsoft Copilot Agent (AI-powered assistant), but it was stuck inside my institution – you can only share with individuals or groups in your organization/company. Google Gemini Gems (custom AI experts), and Anthropic Claude Projects (curated sets of knowledge) have similar limitations in that your custom AI agent, gem, or project can only be shared internally within your organization.

Only OpenAI’s custom GPTs can be published on the open web and mobile app to be shared publicly. Anyone can use Custom GPTs with a free ChatGPT account, but to create a custom GPT you need at least ChatGPT Pro (at $20 a month). Before this, all my AI use was limited to only models and tools that I could access for free (so my students wouldn’t have to pay).

Yet with custom GPTs, I was in the opposite situation. As Marc Watkins explained recently, while OpenAI and Google are giving away premium subscriptions to students, they have not extended that offer to professors. I finally secured some funding to purchase a ChatGPT Pro account.

One thing I like about my blog is I own it and control what is published there. With this GPT I’m relying on OpenAI to host for me. If I downgrade to a free account, I can’t access it. Thus, I’m locked into paying $20 a month to manage and update. OpenAI, if you’re reading, please extend the free Pro account to educators, not just students.

GPTs Are Essentially Good Prompts

What is a custom GPT? OpenAI says “a version of ChatGPT for a specific purpose.” MIT Sloan explains, “Custom GPTs are helpful AI tools tailored for specific domains or contexts. GPTs differ from standard chats through ChatGPT due to custom instructions and the ability to keep a knowledge base in addition to what ChatGPT has been trained on. This allows users to create a custom GPT to address a specific need that might be hard for ChatGPT to achieve on its own. The process … requires no code, and involves using specific prompts and your own data to provide insights into a particular field.”

AI Prompt Framework Template with 1. Task/Goal 2. AI Persona 3. AI Audience 4. AI Task 5. AI Data 6. Evaluate Results. — AI Prompt Framework Template for writing good prompts – what you need to create a GPT.

Creating a custom GPT is essentially writing a good, detailed prompt that users of the GPT will begin a chat from that background and knowledge. In creating my Social Media Audit GPT I wrote a long prompt explaining what I wanted it to do following my AI Prompt Framework of Task/Goal, Persona, Audience, Task, Data, and Results.

In the image below I marked up my GPT prompt to sections of the AI Prompt Framework. The text on the top was my original building the Copilot Agent and adjustments. The text in the bottom right is the adjustments I made in custom GPT.

Custom GPT and Copilot Agent prompts to create Social Media Audit GPT.

Test Your GPT To Make Changes

An important part of this process is to test your GPT as a typical user to see how well it performs. If you find something wrong simply tell the GPT what you like and what needs to change. You can test it in a Preview column next to where you instruct the GPT.

One of the first adjustments I made was to clarify that I wanted the GPT to have the user visit each social platform and report results. An earlier version searched the web and reported back its analysis. I tested the social audit GPT with a running brand (see below).

I like to run so I chose to test Social Media Audit GPT with Saucony running shoes and apparel

Once you’ve tested the GPT you’re ready to publish! Click the “Create” button in the top right. Then click “Share” at the top right. In that pop-up screen select “Only me,” “Anyone with the link.” or “GPT Store access.” After choosing GPT Store your GPT will be available at https://chatgpt.com/gpts for anyone with a ChatGPT account to access. Search by name or click “My GPTs.”

The custom GPT you make is only limited by your discipline knowledge, the data you provide, and the strength of your prompt.

Have you explored creating a Copilot Agent, Gemini Gem, or Open AI Customer GPT? How might you use this in your teaching for professional practice?

Please try the Social Media Audit GPT and share any feedback you have. A great feature of custom GPTs is you can revise and update.

This Was Human Created Content!

Companies have been active in social media for years. Today 97% of Fortune 500 companies are on LinkedIn, 84% are on Facebook and 86% are on Twitter. But those efforts were likely created in a piecemeal fashion. Different brand accounts were added for different reasons at different times. Objectives or options may have changed. Or you may be so focused on current social accounts you are missing out on opportunities elsewhere. How do you know you are posting the right content in the right places to drive the right consumer actions? Perform a social media audit.

Click here for an updated version of this template and post.

What Is A Social Media Audit?

A social media audit is simply a systematic examination of social media data. It is a snapshot of all social media activity in and around a brand evaluated for strategic insights. Why? Different organizational objectives and target markets may require different social media messages and platforms. Existing brand accounts may be wrong for current business objectives and new social media platforms may be ideal, but were never considered. Perhaps brand social media was started by marketing or public relations, but now customer service requests are overwhelming the system and increased integration is needed.

First Start By Listening.

Use social media tools to gather data about brand social media channels and content. Discover what consumers are saying about the brand, product, service, and key personnel in any social platform. Listen to what is being said by and about brand competitors. You may be monitoring social media daily, but simply responding to what comes your way.

Analyze the bigger picture. Qualify and quantify social media action looking for patterns and opportunity. Listen with an outside perspective to the social talk about your brand, employees, customers and competitors. Look on both official corporate social media accounts and unofficial or personal accounts.

If you don’t have a social media monitoring software or if you are a startup or student just getting started simply go to each social media platform and search the brand name to find the conversations. Look on official brand accounts to see what the brand is doing and look at the conversation happening on those official brand accounts.

Start with the social channels you know the brand has brand pages (they are probably listed on the brand website). Then search other popular social media channels the brand does not have official accounts to find additional consumer brand content. Do the same for one main competitor to find their social channels, brand content and consumer brand conversations. This Social Media Channel Template provides a list of top social platforms by category for ideas on where to look for official brand accounts and consumer brand conversations.

An audit need not capture every mention, but should gather a complete picture. Find conversation on all social platforms. Be sure to consider social networks, blogs and forums, microblogs, media sharing platforms, geosocial, ratings and reviews, social bookmarking, social knowledge, plus podcasts. This Social Media Channel Category Guide provides a quick guide to the top social media platforms in each category by kind and key characteristics.

Next Organize Social Talk Data.

When collecting social talk data it should be organized for meaningful analysis. This can be done by following a social media audit template such as the one I created from the concept of the Five Ws that journalists use to write news stories. Gather social talk into three categories of company, consumer, and competitor (down first row) then record observations by where, what, when, and why (across columns).

Collect and Analyze Social Media Audit Data by:

Who—company, consumers, competitors
Where—social media channel (YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) and environment (describe the look and feel)
What—type of content (articles, photos, videos, links, questions, etc.) and sentiment (positive, negative, neutral)
When—frequency of activity (number of posts, comments, views, shares, etc. per day, week, or month)
Why—purpose (brand awareness, promotion, drive traffic, customer complaint, praise, etc.)

The number of rows under “Who” will vary based on the number of brand and competitor social accounts and the number of social media platforms where consumer brand talk is found. Larger organizations may need to divide the “Company” category further into departments, offices, or employees. Capture what each location or executive is communicating.

If the brand has an official social media account (such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc) you place it under “Company” with its own row for insights. This is where you describe what the company is doing on those platforms. Under “Consumer” you should list all the social platforms where consumers are participating in discussion about the brand. If they are engaging on an official company social media account list it here and provide those insights in a row (such as Facebook and Pinterest). Also search the brand name and see what people are saying off the official account be sure to include that discussion as well.

If a brand has an account on a social platform and there is no consumer engagement (such as Twitter) then list it under “Company,” but don’t list it under “Consumer.” This may be a platform the brand may want to close. Search main platforms where the brand doesn’t have an account (such as Instagram). Are consumers talking about the brand? List that platform in a row under “Consumer” and describe what is being said. There may be a brand community but no official brand account and they may want to add this platform. For “Competitor” you don’t need to go as in depth to capture insights. Simply list each official brand account on a row and describe what the brand is doing and their customers are doing on those channels.

Then Determine What The Data Is Saying.

Does the data point to opportunities? Are there trouble spots? Do brand social media platforms present a consistent look, voice and unified message? Are customers complaining about similar product or service issues? Is the brand consistently posting quality content and consistently responding to customers? Are there social platforms where customers are talking about the brand, yet there isn’t an official brand presence? Is the social media channel a problem or an opportunity for a defensive or offensive social media strategy.

Determining the “Why” for each social action is important. If you can’t think of a strategic purpose then reevaluate the effort. Is maintaining a brand account on specific social media platforms worth the organization’s time? Once a purpose is determined, identify the social media metrics to measure performance. Ask questions such as, “Why does the organization have a Pinterest page and how is success being measured?” “Because everyone is there” and “to increase followers” is not enough. If you know the business purpose and metrics ask, “How has the platform performed? With roughly 10% of marketing budgets spent on social media it is more important than ever to connect social action to higher-level business objectives and justify expense.

Finally Evaluate Brand Engagement.

Are your consumer’s engaging with your brand? How are views, likes, comments and shares? Have they gone up or down over time? Advertising Hall of Famer Howard Gossage said, “Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them.” In social media reach is gained when consumers find content interesting enough to share. Quality content is important. Whether educational or entertaining it must be considered valuable. Only social media that is viewed and shared reaches an audience that can then take action to meet business objectives.

Today you can also interrupt people’s social feeds with paid social media or native advertising. Paid social media can buy reach to a targeted audience, but that does not replace the need to create interesting content. Social media advertising merely buys exposure. Content must convey value to drive consumer action, further distribution, and ultimate ROI.

Is It Time For A Social Media Audit?

If you haven’t evaluated your brand’s social media presence in a while it may be time for a social media audit. Use this template to see how consumers are experiencing your brand in social media. You may uncover some problem areas, promising opportunities, social channels you should be in and ones you should leave behind.

A social media audit can help you:

Realize the need for increased integration with other departments.
Find gaps in brand promise and product/service performance.
Uncover inconsistencies across brand social accounts.
Reveal blind spots in current social action with content, schedule and response.
Discover consumer ideas for product/service improvements.
Optimize brand content to drive engagement.
Find unexpected consumer generated content on other platforms.
Discover valuable brand or industry influencers.
Optimize time devoted to most effective social media platforms.
Learn from successful competitor social strategies.
Uncover a need for metrics to connect social action to business objectives.

Whether launching a new social media effort or evaluating current social activity, a social media audit can deliver valuable insights to create or optimize any social media strategy. For the latest changes in social media strategy consider Asking These Questions To Ensure You Have The Right Social Media Strategy.