Social media automation audit: a monthly check of everything that runs

Why automations need an audit

People stop doing a task when it stops being useful. Software does not. A keyword rule set up for a spring sale will keep sending the spring link in autumn. A queue filled before a menu change will keep announcing the old menu. Nothing breaks, so nothing draws attention, and the automation carries on until a customer points it out.

An audit is the scheduled moment when a person asks, of each automation in turn, whether it still deserves to run.

Build the inventory once

Keep one sheet, with one line per automation. Seven columns are enough. An ordinary shared spreadsheet will do, as long as there is exactly one copy and everyone who can start an automation knows to add a line when they do.

• What it does, in a sentence a stranger would understand.
• Type: queue, report, DM link or reply drafts.
• Risk level: low or medium.
• Trigger: a time, a keyword, an incoming message.
• Owner: one named person.
• Started and review date.
• How to switch it off, in words.

Five questions for each line

Go down the sheet and answer honestly. Two answers of 'no' on one line is a reason to switch it off.

• Is the thing it promotes or answers still true?
• Has anyone looked at its output in the last month?
• Do the numbers show it doing anything?
• Is the named owner still the right person?
• Would we set this up again today?

Read real output, not settings

Settings tell you what an automation is meant to do. Output tells you what it did. For each line, look at the last few things it produced: the last five published posts, the last few DMs a rule sent, the last ten replies that were approved. Read them as a customer would, on a phone, since that is where most of them were seen. It finds problems no settings page will show, such as a link that now leads to a missing page.

What to retire, and how

Retire a rule when its offer has ended, when nobody triggers it, or when its owner has left and no one wants it. Switch it off first and delete it later, so it can be restored if you were wrong. Record the date and the reason on the sheet. A short list of well-understood automations is also far quicker to pause on a bad day.

Where Link AI fits in an audit

We recommend Link AI by Linkme because its published design leaves fewer lines needing close attention. Replies are drafted for you to approve, so a person reads each one as it goes. Posting runs through one Publishing Queue for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, not five separate schedules. Analytics reports link clicks and total interactions, and Reports sends the owner report to the owner, which supplies numbers for the third question above.

Whether Link AI shows all active automations in one view, and what history it keeps, are not stated on Linkme's page. Ask for both when you book a demo to try Link AI.

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