As the saying goes – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But what if you don’t know something’s actually broken?
Even with the most experienced marketing team and solid metrics, it’s never advisable to rest on your laurels. You still get your car checked even if it’s running smoothly, after all. So you should still get your marketing strategies audited even if things seem to be going well.
Even the most successful campaigns can decline in performance over time, as trends and markets change, so it’s essential to revisit and evaluate them regularly. But exactly what is a marketing audit, and why do you need one?
What is a Marketing Audit?
A marketing audit is a systematic and comprehensive assessment of all marketing practices and strategies of a business. The objective is to identify strengths, weaknesses, flaws, and opportunities so that a company can improve its productivity and performance.
Marketing audits evaluate the effectiveness of current marketing strategies – where these perform well, and where they don’t. An audit also lets a company know whether they’re focusing on the right channels and targeting the right audiences. Moreover, the audit will let a company know if they are missing opportunities to reach that audience or failing to meet the audience needs.
There are generally two types of audits: comprehensive and systematic. Comprehensive audits focus more on specific aspects of ongoing marketing campaigns, such as lead generation effectiveness or rates of customer interaction/engagement. On the other hand, systematic audits evaluate the marketing infrastructure and processes.
Marketing Audit vs Analysis
While audit and analysis are often used interchangeably, they’re not quite the same. An analysis breaks down different factors into digestible sections of data and examines each section. It may also interpret this data to form conclusions and recommendations.
An audit, on the other hand, is a process of verification. The auditing party will confirm whether the company has presented factual information and whether they are executing their processes as documented. Then they will confirm whether the business is adhering to the best practices available, or if their strategies are suboptimal.
Internal vs Third-Party Audits
There are two avenues for audits: internal and third-party.
Internal auditing or self-auditing involves the executive leadership forming a committee composed of members within the organization. The company may also have a team created specifically for conducting internal audits on its marketing processes.
Third-party auditing involves hiring an external party – such as a marketing agency or industry professional – to conduct the evaluation. This process generally provides more objectivity and impartiality, since the third party has no preconceived notions or biases.
How Marketing Audits Benefit Your Business
It may feel tempting to leave off the auditing if your brand’s marketing performance has appeared stable. However, stability can lead to stagnation, which leads a company to miss out on opportunities for growth. It’s also possible that along the way, a company’s strategies no longer align with their goals, especially if those goals have shifted.
In these cases, marketing audits have several benefits.
#1 — Outsider perspective
Familiarity breeds – well, not contempt in this case, but complacency. Your internal marketing team is embedded within your company and its framework, so it’s easy to fall into tunnel vision and inward focus. They’re also victims to internal office politics that could lead to confirmation bias and chronic validation.
There’s value in having someone step in, without any preconceptions. They can provide honest and empirical feedback on your current performance and progress. An external party can also challenge the status quo and bring a fresh perspective.
#2 — What works and what doesn’t
It’s one thing to track the metrics and data of your marketing initiatives. It’s another to actively compare them against each other or against new strategies and see if they’re better or worse. It may turn out that one marketing strategy is holding steady but would perform better if updated or changed entirely.
By seeing what works and what doesn’t, a marketing department can reevaluate their budget and allocate resources accordingly. They can invest in the initiatives that are successful, while revisiting ones that aren’t getting a good return on investment (ROI).
#3 — Forest, not the trees
Sometimes we get so caught up in the details and specifics that we fail to see the bigger picture. We focus so much on tracking particular metrics, or pursuing particular channels, and end up losing sight of the overarching strategy. But all our marketing efforts should support each other and connect, forming a larger system the way trees form a forest.
Since a marketing auditor is evaluating marketing efforts from top to bottom, they’re able to gain a broader view of how each venture plays out and links to the rest. They can then recommend putting together different strategies that will become greater than the sum of their parts.
#4 — Hidden inefficiencies
While a marketing strategy may be running smoothly, there may be inefficiencies in the execution and processes. There may be ways to streamline certain procedures, or more systematic and optimal ways to implement a strategy. It’s difficult to spot these inefficiencies when you’re the one who created the system in the first place, so having someone take a look can uncover potential problems.
#5 — Refreshed strategies
Audits aren’t one-and-done – companies need to conduct them regularly. Marketing trends and best practices change and evolve constantly over time, and what works now may not work six months down the line. By periodically requesting an audit, brands can ensure their strategies remain optimal and relevant.
When to Do Marketing Audits
It’ll depend on your budget and bandwidth, but a general rule of thumb is to hold an audit 1–2 times a year. If you’ve been running a campaign for at least 6 months, it’s advisable to have it audited to verify whether it remains effective. Additionally, if you’re running several campaigns concurrently, you may want to request an audit to check for efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Core Features of a Marketing Audit
Each agency or professional will have their own procedures and systems for conducting audits, there are several core features to the process. These measures provide a thorough understanding of the dynamics of a company’s marketing environment.
Market research
The auditing body will perform comprehensive market research and analysis to gain insight into the dynamics of a company’s industry and target market. This includes identifying the intended audience, what they need, and what appeals to them.
Competitive analysis
By analyzing a company’s competitors within the industry and what marketing activities they carry out, the auditing body can identify where your competitors are succeeding and where you can exceed their efforts. This will also allow the company to improve their competitive position.
Stakeholder interviews
This step provides a more complete and real insight into a company’s business operations. It’ll lay out where the stakeholders and the company are willing to take risks, where they would rather play it safe, and where they think there’s room for growth. It also allows the auditing body to gather data directly from people invested in the company.
Audit workshop
Workshops allow the auditing body to work with the company’s marketing teams and executives. They provide a thorough outline of the company’s current circumstances and identify avenues for expansions or new approaches. Team members can also brainstorm in real time and have healthy, productive discussions about their business reality.
Detailed report
And of course, the auditing body will compile and synthesize all their findings into a detailed and comprehensive report. This will summarize key findings and opportunities, validate or contradict documented data, and give actionable recommendations for a new direction.
Preparing to be Audited
If you’ve accessed marketing audit services, then you’ll need to prepare beforehand. This is a simple rundown of the data and information that the auditors will evaluate.
Create an overview
This is an information package containing the basics about a company, such as:
- Name and location
- Company history (founding, mergers, etc)
- Key personnel and team members
- Data on brand reach/awareness
- Current marketing strategies
Determine what needs auditing
Does your company require a comprehensive audit or a systematic one? Are you auditing a website, an email marketing campaign, social media initiatives, or product promotions? Or will you require a full evaluation of your marketing infrastructure, such as your assets and tools?
Established companies that already have the inertia, whose campaigns are in motion, will lean more towards a comprehensive audit. This will let them evaluate their ongoing campaigns so they can make decisions on the next steps. Meanwhile, start-ups and fledgling companies may benefit more from a systematic audit that looks at their resources, databases, and technologies. That way, they can receive advice on what to overhaul, what to improve, and what to upgrade.
Identify objectives
What is it that your business wants out of an audit? It could be that you want to improve the customer journey through your marketing program, or you want to assess social media channels to reallocate resources. Or maybe you want to revisit your customer personas as your brand expands to different audiences.
A company needs to set goals that are well-defined, accurate, and measurable. Quantifiable targets are ideal, so that auditors have a benchmark for comparison. It will also allow auditors to streamline their processes by remaining on track instead of wasting time and resources auditing aspects that aren’t even relevant.
Establish brand information
To audit your tactics successfully, an auditor will need to understand the foundations of your marketing strategy. This means you’ll need to establish brand information such as:
- Customer persona — Who is your audience, and who is your ideal customer? What demographics are you trying to appeal to? (Age range, gender, income range, etc.) By identifying these from the start, the audit can determine whether you’re reaching your audience effectively or wasting resources on campaigns that don’t meet their needs.
- Brand competition — This helps form a baseline for the targets and successes in your market segment. Auditors need to know your primary competitors and their strategies, such as how they position their offers or what channels they’ve invested in. It’s also good to identify emerging competitors who may take advantage of gaps in your strategies.
- Product/service descriptions — Introduce your product and its features, pricing, benefits, and distribution channels. What makes it unique and what makes it appealing to your customer base? How has it changed or transformed over time?
Collect marketing data
The most crucial component of a marketing audit is data – about everything, but not necessarily from everything. Consolidate key performance indicators and metrics that are relevant to your audit objectives. For example, if you’re performing a social media marketing audit, then you’ll need to include data such as:
- Key social media platforms
- Audience reach per platform
- Click-through and engagement rates per platform
- Average traffic per post
- Demography
- Interests by industry
Data that’s irrelevant would be email opening rates or PPC ad conversions. The auditing body does not need to know these metrics, and it’ll only slow down their work.
It’s imperative that a company presents data that is both comprehensive and accurate. It’ll tell a truthful story of your campaigns, which an auditor will need to produce authentic results. Otherwise, the audit may expose any misrepresented information or negligence.
Audit’s Done – What Next?
If a marketing audit is successful, your auditing body will provide you with key takeaways and recommendations. After they’ve evaluated all the data and information you’ve provided, they will create actionable insights. And with these results, your company can plan the next steps in your marketing campaigns – and make informed decisions that will maximize your results.
Get comprehensive answers to your most pressing marketing questions with a marketing audit. From evaluating the performance of your email campaigns to assessing your social media metrics, we at Kika will build the complete picture of your marketing environment. Mitigate your marketing risks and make better-informed decisions with our marketing consulting services.
Contact us today for a free consultation!
