A Comprehensive Guide by Christopher Melotti
Let’s kick things off with a hard truth. Are you in?
When a business works on their marketing, it’s easy for them to fall into the trap of following the status quo and having a same-same approach.
You’re not alone.
When this happens, it becomes challenging to identify which aspects of marketing are working and which are not. Eventually, stagnancy hits, results falter and brands fall into the trap of being boring, bashful and bogus.
It’s a risk that every business faces.
So, how can you get back on track?
As intimidating as an “audit” sounds – we all know it’s essential to business success.
From legal to accounting, audits are commonplace in business, but in the context of marketing?!
Sure, it may be a novel phenomenon, but you’ll be surprised and just how simple and impactful it can be.
Just think for a moment:
- When was the last time you had your ongoing marketing initiatives checked?
- When was the last time you reviewed your business’ marketing ideas?
- When was the last time you looked at the (scary) numbers?
That’s the exact role of a Marketing Audit.
And that’s what I’ll be talking about in this article – so read on and let’s talk about *shudder* auditing your marketing, today.
Ok – straight into it.
Let’s discuss Marketing Audits, business success and everything in-between.
Assuming you have several content marketing campaigns and socials in place, the next phase is to assess the results you’re getting from each of them.
That’s exactly where a Marketing Audit comes in and so, in this comprehensive guide, I’ll cover everything you need to know about a Marketing Audit and how you can leverage it to propel marketing and business success.
Ready? Keep scrolling!
- What is a Marketing Audit?
- Why do a Marketing Audit?
- Does your business need a Marketing Audit?
- BEFORE a Marketing Audit: 10 important questions to ask
- DURING a Marketing Audit: 20 steps in auditing your marketing
- AFTER a Marketing Audit: 10 ways to leverage a Marketing Audit
- Question: can you audit your own marketing?
- Marketing Audit in action
- Marketing Audit: Next Steps
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christopher Melotti
Brand Comms Strategist, Marketing Advisor & Message Marketer Founder of Melotti Media
Christopher Melotti is a well-established and renowned Australian Marketing Professional who lives by the motto, “Continually challenge, consistently grow, constantly humbled, confidently show.”
Christopher founded, manages and is the Creative Director of Melotti Media Copywriting and Message Marketing Bureau, where he and his team work with a wide range of clients from Government, Medical and Education, to Marketing, Legal Firms, Finance and more.
Chris’ goal is not just to articulate brands and mastermind messaging strategy, but to demonstrate the potential that clear, consistent communications offer businesses. Everything Melotti Media does is about evolving marketing practise by providing superior, relevant value (entertainment and education) through proactive action.
Christopher Melotti is also a highly-sought Business Advisor and Marketing Consultant.
Christopher has won many prestigious awards for his work, the most notable being the Australian Business Champion’s Copywriting Business Of The Year 2022, Australian Achiever Awards 2021 National Winner for Marketing Services and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the Year award in 2017 (Australian Marketing Institute), and teaches a range of professional business marketing classes across Australia.
Chapter 1: What is a Marketing Audit?
Let’s start with the textbook definition.
First, let’s talk about customer-centricity.
A Marketing Audit is a systematic review and evaluation of your business’ marketing efforts, encompassing all aspects of your marketing mix, such as product, price, promotion and place (distribution).
The main goal of a Marketing Audit (much like any other kind of audit) is to provide insights into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that your internal marketing function is facing.
During a Marketing Audit, you assess any (or all) of your marketing efforts to check what’s working and more importantly, what’s not.
That’s basically it.
Simple, right? Well, it’s a lot more complicated than that once yu dive below the surface value. After all, marketing strategies are complex in nature and so marketing audits follow suit.
At this point, I imagine you’ve still got some questions lingering in your mind, so let me do my best to address them.
Who can perform a Marketing Audit?
Depending on your goals, a marketing audit can be conducted either internally or externally. Either way, you want to make sure that whoever will be conducting the audit is:
- objective, and
- has your brand’s best interests at heart.
If you know someone who can do that and they immediately jump to mind, that’s the perfect person for your Marketing Audit. Otherwise, keep reading – spoiler warning – you’ll find out that I can do a Marketing Audit session for brands like yours, too!
But for now, let’s cover all of your options.
A Marketing Audit can be conducted by various stakeholders within or outside of an organisation – it all depends upon the resources, expertise and objectives involved.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the people who can do a Marketing Audit for your brand:
1. Your own marketing team
Yep, you can do a Marketing Audit internally. Many businesses adopt this approach because they recognise that their team already has knowledge of the business’s product, market, customers and existing marketing strategies.
BUT – of course, there’s a “but” here – that same knowledge is a double-edged sword.
While this option may make your Marketing Audit more efficient…
… having someone who is directly involved with your actual marketing process audit your marketing efforts means your audit is lacking an objective and fresh perspective.
This is something that the next options can bring to a Marketing Audit.
2. Cross-functional teams from your business
In many cases, businesses may involve cross-functional teams from members of various departments, including marketing, sales, finance, legal and operations to conduct a Marketing Audit collaboratively.
This is a great way to bring the team together and get everyone involved in your marketing efforts, giving each department a voice and benefiting from the unique perspectives outside of your marketing team.
Again, there is a but…
While this is a preferred option as least as far as objectivity is concerned, most businesses do not have the capacity to burden their teams with even more work on their plate, especially if they already have their main roles and functions to consider.
Plus, reaching out to non-marketers to improve a marketing function can be counter-intuitive. While they may have great knowledge of the business, the chances are if your marketing team is making mistakes these employees won’t have the skills and knowledge to pick up on them – let alone resolve them.
So, how can you find the perfect balance between objectivity and marketing knowledge?
3. An external Marketing Consultant
Enter the third option: hiring someone outside of your team.
Most experienced marketers would agree that this is the best option, that’s why it comes at a price.
By the way, I don’t simply say this because I do Marketing Audits myself – I too bring in external Consultants to check on my business’ marketing efforts as well.
That’s because a set of fresh eyes is crucial to every marketing audit, regardless of the skills and knowledge of the person behind the marketing efforts.
External Marketing Consultants bring fresh perspectives, specialised expertise and industry insights to the audit process. From there, your business can benefit from valuable recommendations and suggested marketing strategies which are based on a wealth of experience working with a variety of clients and industries.
Your choice of the person conducting your Marketing Audit may vary depending on factors such as:
- industry,
- business size,
- budget, and
- your specific audit objectives.
The key is to ensure that whoever conducts the audit has the necessary skills, resources and impartiality to provide the insights that you need to optimise your marketing.
What are some examples of a Marketing Audit?
So, now that we’ve established the “who” part of the Marketing Audit, let’s talk about some of the ways an audit can be executed.
The Marketing Audit process is quite comprehensive – and there are several ways that it can be done.
You can audit your marketing as a whole (because of course, the whole is more than just the sum of its parts). Or, if that’s a bit overwhelming, you can start by looking at individual channels or aspects at a time and forming an assessment of these processes.
Here are just some examples of the many ways a Marketing Audit can be utilised:
1. Internal Marketing Audit
As I was saying earlier, think about this approach as looking inward and evaluating your own organisation’s capabilities, resources and constraints. Through an Internal Marketing Audit, the following can be checked:
- brand image,
- budget allocation and
- team expertise.
When is the best time for an Internal Marketing Audit? It’s best done on a regular basis, ideally at the beginning of the calendar year or the financial year – depending on how you plan your marketing.
2. Marketing Strategy Review
This approach can be done by an internal team, but it’s best done by external Consultants who have:
- marketing experience and
- objective and fresh perspective
This involves evaluating the business’ current marketing strategies and plans, including its positioning, messaging, value proposition and customer-valued differentiation.
This type of Marketing Audit helps determine whether your existing strategies are aligned with the business’ broader goals and market dynamics.
3. Content Marketing Strategy Analysis
Next up: content marketing strategy. Ever heard the “content is king”? Well, it’s absolutely right!
That said, you want to make sure that your content game is on the right track.
While we’re at it, let’s talk about your business’s digital presence.
Most businesses have a website and at least one active social media account (if yours doesn’t – WHY?!).
So, assuming that you already have this setup, you can do an audit of your:
This can involve assessing metrics like website traffic, social media engagement and click-through rates on ads to get a quantitative measure of your marketing strategies effectiveness.
4. Customer Feedback Analysis
Then, lastly, you can audit your marketing from your customers’ perspective.
Customer feedback provides valuable insights into customer satisfaction, preferences and perceptions of your products or services.
You can collect and analyse customer feedback through surveys, reviews, testimonials and other channels to audit how your marketing impacts your target audiences and identify areas for improvement.
How does a Marketing Audit work?
While we’re at it – let’s address another FAQ, shall we?
So, how does a Marketing Audit actually work?
Different experts and different Consultants tend to have different approaches to a Marketing Audit, but in general, it all comes down to these five key steps:
1. Preparation
At this stage, you (with the help of your consultant) will define the scope and objectives of the audit, including the specific areas to be assessed and the desired outcomes. Pretty straightforward first step, right?
2. Data Collection
From there, you gather relevant information and data sources, such as marketing plans, budgets, performance metrics, customer feedback and competitor analysis – depending on the aspects that you’re planning to audit.
3. Evaluation
Once all that is collated, the next step is to assess the effectiveness of your current marketing strategies in terms of their effectiveness in achieving business objectives and meeting customer needs.
4. Recommendations
Since the main purpose of every audit is to find the challenges and identify points for improvement, establishing a set list of recommendations in the form of an action plan is crucial.
5. Implementation
Then, it’s time to take action! Over time, implement all the action plan steps that were identified during the Marketing Audit.
So, does it end there? Well, nope.
From here, it’s a matter of rinse and repeat because markets and customers change – and that means businesses need to evolve with them.
Phew – that’s an extensive explainer. But just the tip of the iceberg!
Remember, a Marketing Audit provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and helps inform strategic decision-making to drive business growth and success – so it’s crucial to get it right!
With that in mind, let’s delve deeper into the business benefits of a Marketing Audit.
- What is a Marketing Audit?
- Why do a Marketing Audit?
- Does your business need a Marketing Audit?
- BEFORE a Marketing Audit: 10 important questions to ask
- DURING a Marketing Audit: 20 steps in auditing your marketing
- AFTER a Marketing Audit: 10 ways to leverage a Marketing Audit
- Question: can you audit your own marketing?
- Marketing Audit in action
- Marketing Audit: Next Steps
Chapter 2: Why do a Marketing Audit?
Why do a Marketing Audit? Why not?
Once you’ve invested in marketing strategies and started implementing them, it’s easy to be complacent and assume that everything will eventually fall into place. But the market is never stagnant and customers don’t always respond the same way to marketing strategies.
This means your marketing shouldn’t follow a same-same approach.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking “this is the way we’ve always done it” and that is such a dangerous mindset.
In today’s dynamic business landscape, staying ahead of the curve is a MUST for sustained success – and this is what we all want, right?!
A Marketing Audit serves as a strategic tool to navigate this fast-paced environment effectively. As such, it’s not really a nice-to-have but a non-negotiable for smart businesses who want to make the most out of marketing amidst constant change.
Still having second thoughts?
Here are some of the key benefits of a Marketing Audit that we’re confident you’ll want for your business:
1. Marketing Audits support strategic planning.
At the risk of being blunt: Marketing Audits keep you from making the same mistake twice.
By identifying strengths and weaknesses in your marketing strategy, an audit allows you to ensure that you can strategically adjust your resources moving forward to achieve better outcomes.
2. You can also enhance brand consistency and improve positioning after an audit.
A Marketing Audit gives you a full view of all your marketing efforts across various touchpoints.
This way, you can maintain or achieve brand consistency when it comes to branding, messaging and tone of voice across channels. From this assessment, you can then formulate strategies that will ensure consistency and lead to improved brand recognition and brand identity.
An audit also helps you see how you’re doing compared to your competitors. You can avoid their strategies that do not work and build on those that do – that’s how you differentiate your brand from your competitors!
3. Lastly, a Marketing Audit is a great way to identify growth opportunities.
“My marketing is fine, Chris. I don’t need an Audit!” Hmm – ok – but are you maximising all your opportunities?
A Marketing Audit doesn’t only fix what you’re doing wrong but also helps you find a way to amplify the things that you’re doing right.
Whether or not your marketing is getting results, smart businesses recognise that the key to longevity and relevance lies in their ability to adapt and evolve continuously.
If you don’t constantly assess your marketing strategies, it’s only a matter of time before you become complacent and lose the customers that you’ve worked so hard to win.
In a world where change is the only constant, embracing a proactive approach to marketing evaluation through a comprehensive audit is essential for securing your business’ success and relevance in the long term.
By investing in a Marketing Audit now, you position your business to adapt, evolve and thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of modern business.
- What is a Marketing Audit?
- Why do a Marketing Audit?
- Does your business need a Marketing Audit?
- BEFORE a Marketing Audit: 10 important questions to ask
- DURING a Marketing Audit: 20 steps in auditing your marketing
- AFTER a Marketing Audit: 10 ways to leverage a Marketing Audit
- Question: can you audit your own marketing?
- Marketing Audit in action
- Marketing Audit: Next Steps
Chapter 3: Does your business need a Marketing Audit?
Now let’s move on to a question that directly involves YOU.
How do you know if your business needs a Marketing Audit?
Simple! Let’s go through this checklist together:
✔ Do you do your marketing internally? Then you may need a set of fresh eyes!
✔ Is your marketing not getting the results you want? Then you may identify what you need to adjust.
✔ Is your marketing getting results, but you want more out of it? Then maybe you need to focus on the best strategies that you already have!
✔ Do you feel that your marketing is stagnant or generic? Then it’s probably time to check how you can give them a boost!
✔Are you looking for a fresh perspective on your marketing? No explanations are necessary here – this is a sign you need a Marketing Audit!!!
If you’ve answered “yes” to at least one of these questions, it is a clear signal that your business could benefit from a Marketing Audit.
And the best time to do it? ASAP!
So, now, let’s go through the full process of auditing your marketing.
- What is a Marketing Audit?
- Why do a Marketing Audit?
- Does your business need a Marketing Audit?
- BEFORE a Marketing Audit: 10 important questions to ask
- DURING a Marketing Audit: 20 steps in auditing your marketing
- AFTER a Marketing Audit: 10 ways to leverage a Marketing Audit
- Question: can you audit your own marketing?
- Marketing Audit in action
- Marketing Audit: Next Steps
Chapter 4: BEFORE a Marketing Audit: 10 Important Questions to Ask
Let’s start from the very beginning. If you got to this point and you’ve already established that your business NEEDS a Marketing Audit –
– then here are 10 important questions that you need to ask before getting started:
1. What are the specific objectives of this Marketing Audit?
Before initiating a Marketing Audit, it’s crucial to clearly define the goals and objectives you aim to achieve through the audit process.
- Do you want to improve ROI?
- Do you want to enhance brand awareness?
- Do you want to identify new market opportunities?
Whatever your answers are will define your approach, so you want clear objectives that will guide the entire audit.
Feel free to write down your answers as you read! You might need them later!
2. How do current business goals align with marketing strategies?
Next: check your business goals and your marketing strategies. Are they aligned? Did you have the same goals that you had in mind when you crafted these strategies as you do now?
Understanding the alignment between overarching business goals and marketing strategies is (and will always be) KEY.
This question prompts an evaluation of whether marketing efforts are effectively supporting broader organisational objectives and whether adjustments are needed to better align the two.
3. Who is our target audience? What are their characteristics and preferences?
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again:
Know. Your. Audience.
It’s one of those almost-cliche marketing pieces of advice – but for good reason. This idea will never be outdated because customers should always be at the centre of all your marketing strategies.
Identifying and understanding the target audience – their wants, needs, paint points and preferences – is fundamental to successful marketing.
To do this, you need to take a deep dive into the demographics, behaviours and interests of the target audience to ensure marketing efforts resonate with and effectively reach them.
4. Which marketing channels and tactics are we currently utilising?
Check everything:
- your website,
- social media channels,
- newsletters and
- other channels.
Which of these are already in place? Which ones have you been looking forward to, or simply considering exploring?
Evaluating your current marketing channels and tactics provides insight into where resources are being allocated and what strategies are currently driving engagement and results.
This assessment sets the stage for identifying areas of strength and areas that may need improvement.
5. What key performance indicators (KPIs) are we tracking and how are they performing?
This is a bit technical – but the numbers matter.
Which KPIs are being monitored? What were your reasons for choosing these indicators?
Tracking relevant KPIs allows for the measurement of marketing effectiveness and performance.
A review of the KPIs being monitored, their current performance levels, and whether they align with overarching business objectives are essential to a Marketing Audit.
6. How is our brand perceived in the market and what is our positioning?
How are people seeing your brand? Is it aligned with how you planned to position your brand in the market?
Brand perception and positioning are crucial for maintaining a competitive edge – how is your brand doing so far?
As part of your Marketing Audit, you need to assess how your brand is perceived by customers, competitors, and the market at large, as well as whether the current positioning effectively differentiates the brand.
7. What resources are available for marketing activities in terms of budget, staff and technology?
It’s easy to understand the value of marketing but allocating the right resources for it – that’s a totally different story.
Assessing available resources is essential for determining the feasibility and scope of marketing initiatives that you can try out.
So, once again – the numbers. How much can you spend on marketing? How many of your staff can solely focus on marketing? What marketing technologies have you adopted?
8. Who are our main competitors and how do their strategies compare to ours?
Of course, in auditing your marketing, it’s also important to look beyond and see how competitors are doing.
Not only does this help you clearly define your unique selling points, but it also helps you gain insight into strategies that work, industry trends, market dynamics and potential areas of opportunity or threat.
To get that much-needed competitive edge, you need to take a closer look at your competitors.
9. Are there any regulatory or compliance considerations that need addressing?
As tedious as compliance may sound (very much like the audit itself) – it’s a crucial consideration if you wish to do a Marketing Audit correctly
10. What are the internal processes and collaboration dynamics within the marketing team and across departments?
Lastly, it’s important to look into your team.
Assessing internal processes and collaboration dynamics is essential for optimising efficiency and effectiveness.
By answering this question, you can check how marketing activities are organised, executed, and coordinated internally, as well as how collaboration can be enhanced to support marketing objectives.
This comprehensive set of questions serves as a foundational framework for preparing your Marketing Audit – feel free to save these for future reference!
- What is a Marketing Audit?
- Why do a Marketing Audit?
- Does your business need a Marketing Audit?
- BEFORE a Marketing Audit: 10 important questions to ask
- DURING a Marketing Audit: 20 steps in auditing your marketing
- AFTER a Marketing Audit: 10 ways to leverage a Marketing Audit
- Question: can you audit your own marketing?
- Marketing Audit in action
- Marketing Audit: Next Steps
Chapter 5: DURING a Marketing Audit: 20 Steps in Auditing Your Marketing
You’re here – which means you’ve gone through the questions and are now ready to audit your marketing.
You’re here – which means you’ve gone through the questions and are now ready to audit your marketing.
Ready? Let’s go!
Step 1: Define the objectives and scope of the audit.
Yep! It’s time to check your answers to question one in the previous chapter.
This will help you clarify the specific goals and focus areas of the audit to ensure alignment with your business’s overarching objectives.
Step 2: Gather all relevant marketing materials, data and documentation.
Get those spreadsheets out and prepare all the data!
Collect a comprehensive range of materials, including marketing plans, campaign collateral, performance reports, customer feedback and any other relevant documents or data sources.
Collate everything that you can find will be crucial to the audit.
Step 3: Review your overall business goals and strategies.
I’m pretty sure you know your goals by heart, and this is the time to revisit them.
Without these goals, you’re at risk of blindly following trends and creating generic marketing campaigns that do not reflect your business. That’s how you get lost in all the noise and clutter in your market.
NO ONE wants that to happen.
Step 4: Identify and profile the target audience(s) for your products or services.
Conduct a detailed analysis of the target audience(s) and create customer personas based on their:
- needs,
- pain points and
- preferences.
Alongside your business goals, your understanding of your target audiences is the key to tailoring marketing strategies and messages that truly resonate.
Step 5: Assess the effectiveness of current marketing channels and tactics.
Review all of the strategies that you have in place, from your website content to your monthly newsletters.
Are you marketing where your target customers are? Are there channels that need to be optimised?
Use the data that you have prepared to check the results that your marketing is getting across all channels.
Step 6: Analyse the performance of individual marketing campaigns and initiatives.
Once you’ve had a look at the big picture, it’s time to look at your campaigns at the individual level.
Review the performance metrics and outcomes of specific marketing campaigns and initiatives. And don’t forget to assess all aspects of the campaign, including the:
- messaging,
- targeting and
- execution.
Step 7: Evaluate the consistency and alignment of branding across all channels.
One of the things you must NOT miss during the Marketing Audit process: assessing the brand consistency.
Check if your branding elements, and messaging identity across various marketing channels and touchpoints are consistent. Why? Because that’s how you get recognised! People cling to strong brands that they can recognise and resonate with. Be that brand!
Step 8: Review the quality and relevance of content across various platforms.
If you’re regularly publishing content, then a review and refresh of your published materials should be part of your audit. If you haven’t published content in a long time, then a Marketing Audit is a great opportunity to check the topics that you need to hear about.
In a world where your audiences are digitally fatigued, relevant content is essential for engaging audiences and driving demand. So, be sure to check your content during the audit.
Step 9: Examine the effectiveness of messaging and communication strategies.
Your messaging SHOULD resonate with your customers and communicate your value effectively.
A Marketing Audit is also the perfect opportunity to assess the clarity, relevance and impact of messaging and overall communication strategies used in your marketing campaigns.
Step 10: Assess the functionality of all digital assets.
It’s true – in marketing, both quantitative and qualitative results matter.
Sure, you can have a great website but if it’s not optimised and slow loading, it’s likely pushing your prospects away.
Remember: user-friendly digital assets enhance engagement and conversion rates so be sure to include them in your assessment.
Step 11: Analyse the results of marketing analytics and key performance indicators (KPIs).
It’s true – in marketing, both quantitative and qualitative results matter.
As such, marketing analytics data and KPIs can be used to assess the performance and impact of marketing efforts. This analysis provides quantitative insights into key metrics such as conversion rates and ROI.
Step 12: Review the allocation and utilisation of your marketing budget and resources.
Are you using your marketing budget wisely? This is something that a Marketing Audit can answer for you!
To maximise marketing ROI, it’s important to identify areas for optimisation so you can (re)allocate resources effectively and focus on the marketing touchpoints where you can get the most results.
Step 13: Conduct a competitor analysis in your industry.
For accurate audit results, don’t forget to compare and contrast.
Step 14: Evaluate compliance with relevant regulations and guidelines.
This is a really serious one.
Protect your business from potential risks and maintain your customers’ trust and credibility by regularly looking into relevant guidelines. Whether it’s data privacy, cybersecurity or other regulations, auditing this aspect of your marketing protects both your business and your customers.
Step 15: Assess the strength of partnerships and collaborations with other organisations.
Yes, it’s important to check your competitors, but it’s just as important to check your friends and colleagues.
How’s your network? Do you have relationships with businesses that can refer you to their client base? It’s important to include this in your Marketing Audit as a strong network is one of the best ways to meet new customers – and if done correctly, word-of-mouth marketing can be highly effective!
Step 16: Review customer feedback and their satisfaction levels.
Your marketing efforts are for your customers. So, it’s only natural to look at the success of each campaign in terms of what your customers think about them.
Analyse the feedback on your campaigns: which social media post had the most comments? Which blog topics have the most readers?
All these will help you get a clear view of your customers’ expectations.
Step 17: Examine the efficiency and effectiveness of internal marketing processes and workflows.
If you’re doing your marketing in-house – this step is especially important for your business.
Ask yourself, how effective are your internal marketing processes and workflows? Streamlining processes and enhancing collaboration can improve productivity and accelerate time-to-market for campaigns.
So, be sure to look into this and get your team’s feedback as well.
Step 18: Identify any emerging trends or opportunities in the market.
After checking everything that you’re already doing, the next step is to look into marketing trends that you can incorporate into your marketing strategy moving forward.
Identifying trends early allows organisations to capitalise on opportunities and stay ahead of competitors – use your Marketing Audit to unlock this opportunity.
Step 19: Develop recommendations and action plans based on audit findings.
Yep – after all those analyses and assessments – it’s time to formulate a set of clear action plans. Based on your findings, what are the gaps that you can fill? What strategies can you amplify? Which ones do you need to completely overhaul in order to get results?
After first identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, the goal is to formulate the next steps.
Step 20: Implement changes and monitor progress over time to ensure continuous improvement.
Finally – the most exciting part.
Now that you have the results and action plans, all that’s left to do is to execute these new plans and observe how this will affect your marketing.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It does not end here. Continuous monitoring and iteration are essential for adapting to evolving market conditions and sustaining success.
- What is a Marketing Audit?
- Why do a Marketing Audit?
- Does your business need a Marketing Audit?
- BEFORE a Marketing Audit: 10 important questions to ask
- DURING a Marketing Audit: 20 steps in auditing your marketing
- AFTER a Marketing Audit: 10 ways to leverage a Marketing Audit
- Question: can you audit your own marketing?
- Marketing Audit in action
- Marketing Audit: Next Steps
Chapter 6: AFTER a Marketing Audit: 10 Ways to Leverage Marketing Audit Results
Ok – done with the 20 steps? Cool! But I did say it does not end there. You can’t just have the results and leave them be…
So, let’s talk about what you can do AFTER your Marketing Audit. These are ideal strategies that can become your action plans based on the specific results of your audit.
Here are 10 ways to leverage your Marketing Audit results:
1. Refine your targeting and messaging strategies.
Utilise insights from the Marketing Audit to refine target audience personas and tailor your brand messaging to better resonate with specific customer segments.
This targeted approach improves engagement and conversion rates.
2. Optimise all relevant marketing channels.
Identify high-performing marketing channels and allocate resources accordingly. Optimise for channel mix and investment to maximise reach, engagement and ROI based on your audit’s findings.
And for best results, be sure to adopt an omnichannel approach – this way, you’re giving your customers more ways to find you.
3. Improve your content marketing strategy.
You can also enhance content quality, relevance and diversity based on audit insights.
With a content marketing strategy that aligns with audience preferences, addresses pain points and supports marketing objectives effectively, you can genuinely connect with customers and naturally draw them in. Need help with content?
No worries!
4. Enhance your branding and positioning.
Strengthen brand identity and positioning based on the audit recommendations.
Whether it’s about adding logos to all your social media posts or maintaining your unique brand voice across all brand comms, the key to ensuring consistency and coherence across all brand touchpoints is to reinforce brand recognition and differentiation.
5. Adjust your marketing budget allocation accordingly.
Allocate your marketing budget strategically based on audit findings and performance analysis. You may opt to shift resources to prioritise high-impact initiatives and channels while reducing investment in underperforming areas.
At the end of the day, it’s all about focusing on the strategies that yield the most ROI.
6. Benchmark against competitors.
Aim to dominate the market!
Continuously monitor and benchmark your marketing performance against industry peers and competitors. Identify areas of competitive advantage and opportunities for differentiation based on your audit’s insights.
7. Implement data-driven decision-making.
Data is your best friend – and Marketing Audits give you data that you can utilise to boost all aspects of your marketing.
So, embrace a data-driven approach to marketing decision-making based on insights derived from the audit. Leverage analytics and metrics to track performance, optimise strategies and drive consistent results.
8. Address all possible risks.
Marketing Audits also expose all potential risks.
So, this is your chance to think ahead, act fast and mitigate those risks.
Whether it’s the risk of being made redundant by new technology, being outpaced by competitors or dealing with an uncertain market, this is your chance to be proactive and see how you can protect your business today and long into the future.
9. Strengthen collaboration and processes.
From your internal marketing teams to your network of business partners, the key is effective communication and collaboration.
Use your audit as a chance to enhance collaboration and communication within the marketing team, across departments and with other key stakeholders based on audit recommendations. Focus on streamlining processes, workflows and internal coordination to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
10. Consistently monitor and adjust.
As I’ve said, your biggest enemy is complacency (which then leads to stagnancy).
So, don’t stop at a one-time Marketing Audit session. Establish monitoring mechanisms to track the implementation of audit recommendations and measure progress over time.
Be sure to continuously evaluate performance metrics and adjust strategies based on evolving market dynamics and feedback.
You can do all of these (and more) after a Marketing Audit to improve your branding, streamline your marketing strategies, drive more demand and ultimately, be the top choice in your niche.
And isn’t that the dream?!
- What is a Marketing Audit?
- Why do a Marketing Audit?
- Does your business need a Marketing Audit?
- BEFORE a Marketing Audit: 10 important questions to ask
- DURING a Marketing Audit: 20 steps in auditing your marketing
- AFTER a Marketing Audit: 10 ways to leverage a Marketing Audit
- Question: can you audit your own marketing?
- Marketing Audit in action
- Marketing Audit: Next Steps
Chapter 7: Can you audit your own marketing?
Now, that’s a good question.
Since I gave you this how-to guide, does that mean you can audit your own marketing?
YES. That is totally possible if you just follow the steps above. Just review all elements such as:
- target audience,
- branding,
- messaging, channels and
- performance metrics
to gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your strategies and tactics.
By auditing your own marketing, you can assess your marketing strategies, identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions to drive success.
But, as I’ve discussed above, there are other options as well.
If you find these steps overwhelming (which is understandable), that doesn’t mean you just have to give up on auditing your marketing.
It actually means you can leverage the perspective and experience of external Marketing Consultants or Marketing Advisors.
External Consultants bring objectivity, industry expertise and fresh insights that may be challenging to achieve internally.
They can offer a different point of view, identify blind spots (that you’re bound to miss if you have your eyes on your marketing every single day) and provide valuable recommendations for improvement based on their experience and observations.
Whether you’re auditing your own marketing or getting a Consultant to conduct an audit, the goal should remain the same:
optimising marketing strategies to dominate your market with more leads and revenue.
- What is a Marketing Audit?
- Why do a Marketing Audit?
- Does your business need a Marketing Audit?
- BEFORE a Marketing Audit: 10 important questions to ask
- DURING a Marketing Audit: 20 steps in auditing your marketing
- AFTER a Marketing Audit: 10 ways to leverage a Marketing Audit
- Question: can you audit your own marketing?
- Marketing Audit in action
- Marketing Audit: Next Steps
Chapter 8: Marketing Audit in Action
If you do decide to get an external Consultant for your Marketing Audit, I’m your guy!
I approach Marketing Audit in a rather unique way: I health-check marketing campaigns LIVE. Yep, we’ll look at any of your campaigns, content or any other marketing effort together and I’ll make comments on the spot.
Because who says a Marketing Audit can’t be fun?!
So, if you feel like something’s off with your marketing and you’re not getting the results your business deserves – THAT IS THE SIGN YOU’RE WAITING FOR.
Chapter 9: Marketing Audit: Next Steps
Take action! Find an experienced Marketing Advisor who can help you audit your marketing, provide innovative action plans and support your growth.
Remember, this complete guide covered all of the theory. Now you need to put it into action, as that’s where the real outcomes are found.
As a Marketing Consultant and Advisor, I can help you with your company’s Marketing Audit.
Reach out if you want to assess your Marketing needs today. I can’t wait to collaborate with you and your team.
Speak to a trusted Marketing Advisor
My name is Christopher Melotti and I offer energised business marketing consulting unlike anything you’ve experienced!
I give your brand, business and team a vibrant dose of results-driven vigour aimed squarely at your goals.
Remember: your current “status-quo” or “same-same” has diminishing returns. You don’t want to be there. Let me reinvigorate your trajectory with my unique Australian business marketing advisory services.
Christopher Melotti
Your trusted Australian Message Marketing Strategist, Creative Consultant & Brand Comms Specialist for Businesses & Professionals who aspire to do great things and want to be renowned for it.
christophermelotti.com.au
chris@melottimedia.com.au
0415 522 521
See what Christopher Melotti’s clients say about his Marketing Consulting services.
