For taxpayers, just the word “audit” is enough to trigger a cold sweat and the nauseous feeling of creeping death in the pit of your stomach.
A marketing audit, however, is ENTIRELY different. But the results of such an audit are integral to measuring, managing, and promoting the growth and long-term survival of your business!
Meanwhile, amid the dreaded “summer slow down,” you likely have a few extra moments to spare. Which makes this the perfect time to dig into a marketing audit :—)
So, let’s get CRACKIN’!
Now, upon hearing the phrase “marketing audit,” you probably have a few questions…

1. What is a Marketing Audit?

It’s a review of all your marketing-related activities to ensure consistency + gauge their effectiveness and cost efficiency.
Ultimately, it’s a two-fold process:
First, The Asset Assessment… You begin with a review of all your current marketing platforms and campaigns to ensure consistent branding, both in visual representation and in terms of your messaging (we’ll discuss the details later),
Second, The Cost-Benefit Analysis… You compare the effectiveness of these efforts relative to their cost involved (which we’ll also delve into further later).

2. Why Conduct a Marketing Audit?

It really boils down to ROI — Return On Investment…
Every second of time, iota of effort, and cent you invest into your marketing SHOULD return VALUE.
As such, it stands to reason you want to evidence of the value these investments are returning to your business — right???
Your answer here should be a big fat resounding YUP! Especially if you hope to grow + sustain a thriving business over the LONG HAUL.
With the “what?” and “why?” questions out of the way, let’s get to the nuts-and-bolts of this task…

How Do You Conduct a Marketing Audit?

As with all things in marketing, and business in general (uh-oh, here he goes, preaching AGAIN!), GOALS come FRIST!
What do you want to accomplish? What do you hope to learn?
Are you aiming for cost savings? Increasing efficiency? Driving more revenue?
In other words, where is this audit train headed???
Always remember:

“Success is a function of expectation”.
– Jalen Rose

Now, with your intentions set, the next step…

Review Your Marketing Platforms + Ongoing Campaigns

This is part one of a two-fold process mentioned above — > The Asset Assessment…
Jump on your website, your social pages, your LinkedIn company page, even your personal LinkedIn profile (assuming you’re repping your biz, which, if you’re an owner, of course, you should be!).
Then ask yourself a few KEY questions:
1. Is your visual branding consistent?
Is your logo, color palette, and overall design look and feel consistent across all platforms?

| SIDE NOTE | A freelance writer I’m acquainted (serving a niche technical market) whose name IS his brand once remarked that people (in his industry) consistently recognize him right off the bat. All because he posted a photo of himself in shirt and tie (which his wife snapped with a camera phone) on his website and across all of his social platforms and email campaigns. | LESSON LEARNED: Even SIMPLE visual branding can be HIGHLY effective! |

If you ran email, direct mail, or print ad campaigns, review these for consistency, too.
Next, dig into your content…
2. Is your tone and messaging consistent?
If yours is the “helpful business,” is your presentation and language warm and inviting? If yours is the “serious and poised business,” is your presentation and language direct, concise and no-nonsense?
Whether in terms of visual representation or messaging, if anything is out of step or out of alignment — > Pull it together man! (Or women ;—)
With your asset review out of the way, it’s time for part two of the review process…

Calculating Your ROI

To accomplish this, it’s helpful to have a formal marketing budget (which we’ll discuss in the future).
But in absence of such, hopefully, you can pull together notes and rely on a key reflections to ascertain how much time + cash you invested into marketing over the past 12 months.
Using whatever documentation you can muster and your best recall, ask yourself:
== > On what tactics did I spend the most time + money?
== > What tactics underperformed or fell completely flat?
== > What tactics garnered the biggest response?
== > And what efforts translated into the most new business?
With this data in hand, it’s time to draw some conclusions and cast an eye toward the future…

ROI Evaluations

Underperforming or failing efforts are a waste, regardless of how low their cost (in time + money) might be. So, they’re OUT!
Campaigns + promotions that garnered a big response — likes, shares, comments, replies and inquiries (but not necessarily sales) — are worth future investment, but at the lower end of your time + money scale.
These tactics are important brand building and lead nurturing tools. But they’re not funneling cash into your bank account. So, let’s keep them on the stove. But cooking on the back burner.
And now, to the MONEY SHOT (or shots)! These are the marketing efforts that translated into the newest clients, highest sales and largest frequency of repeat business.
In terms of evaluations, however, it boils down to the cost of acquisition…
If a particular effort consistently generated new business, but the cost (in money + time) was equal to or outstripped your profits, obviously it’s NOT an effective tactic.
Rather, you’re looking for the tactics that generated the most new business with the highest possible profit margins.
And looking toward the future…
Your highest performance, lowest cost tactics is where you should be focusing the bulk of your time + money moving forward.

In the Need of Your Own Marketing Audit…

But don’t have the time or any inkling of where to start? Good news friend, I can help!
Visit my Contact page to reach out and set an appointment. I’ll crunch the numbers and show you where you can save time + money, while generating HIGHER profits:—)