Why is it vital for businesses to know how to conduct a marketing audit effectively? The answer might be a surprise: up to 60% of marketing budgets are wasted every year!
That’s a lot of time, effort and energy – not to mention the money itself – that’s been invested in something delivering poor results.
Marketers are under increasing pressure to deliver a tangible return on their budgets. The better the return, the greater the opportunity they have to access more budget and achieve more. By the same token, failure to achieve a return can put jobs and future budgets in jeopardy.
As a marketer, how do you ensure you’re using your budget effectively? How do you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your campaigns so that you can begin making the right changes?
How do you know how your performance compares to that of your competitors and the market as a whole?
In this article, we’ll examine in-depth how to conduct a marketing audit effectively with marketing intelligence
What Is A Marketing Audit?
Before we look at how to conduct a marketing audit properly, let’s begin with a clear definition. A marketing audit is a comprehensive review of an organisation’s marketing activities and performance. It’s primary purpose is to acquire valuable insights that can be used to optimise marketing strategies and campaigns.
It encompasses the entire spectrum of marketing activities, including every promotional interaction with customers or potential customers. Additionally, it identifies areas where budgets are effectively used and areas where there is wastage.
A marketing audit helps businesses identify their strengths and weaknesses, assess their level of risk and uncover available opportunities. The ultimate outcome of a marketing audit is a report that serves as a valuable tool for informing and validating all future marketing decisions.
Internal & External Marketing Audits
Broadly speaking when learning how to conduct a marketing audit, there’s 2 different categories.
1) Internal marketing audit
An internal marketing audit covers the aspects of your marketing activity that you have direct control over. This includes your goals, tactics, channels, messaging, positioning, people, processes, policies and more.
2) External marketing audit
An external marketing audit covers the outside factors that influence the performance of your marketing activity. This can include economic conditions, demographics, market trends, competitors, regulatory changes and more.
An external audit gives you the context in which your marketing strategies operate.
How To Conduct A Marketing Audit – The 8 Core Components
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Understanding the significance of your goals will provide clarity on what needs to be assessed during the marketing audit. |
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Analysing audience demographics and behaviours will ensure that your marketing efforts are tailored to resonate with the intended audience. |
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Evaluating your messaging strategy will help determine if your offerings are positioned to attract the right audience and if your communication effectively conveys their benefits. |
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Assessing the effectiveness of your chosen channels and tactics will enable you to fine-tune your marketing efforts for maximum engagement and reach. |
| How well is your marketing team performing individually and as a cohesive unit? Are there any barriers hindering their progress? Evaluating team dynamics and collaboration, and identifying areas for improvement, will enhance overall marketing effectiveness. |
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Using Marketing Intelligence For Your Marketing Audit
Marketing intelligence typically refers to insights about the market or competitive landscape that helps marketers make informed strategic and tactical decisions.
Traditionally, this has involved tracking competitors, market trends and other influencing factors manually, going from source to source. In recent years, this has been accelerated thanks to marketing intelligence software that automates the tracking process.
It gives you real-time intelligence about what’s happening in your market and across your competitor set.
This data is captured and presented in your chosen platform’s online dashboard, where it can be analysed, reviewed and shared. Some marketing intelligence tools allow you to receive and distribute alerts via your existing communication channels, such as email, Slack and Microsoft Teams.
How To Conduct A Marketing Audit With These Platforms
When it comes to conducting a marketing audit, leveraging a marketing intelligence platform can significantly enhance the process and provide valuable insights.
Here’s how a marketing intelligence platform can be leveraged to perform a successful marketing audit:
A) Comprehensive competitive analysis
A marketing intelligence platform enables you to conduct a thorough analysis of your competitors’ marketing strategies, advertising campaigns, pricing models and product positioning. By gaining insights into their strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning, you can assess your own competitive advantage and identify areas for improvement and differentiation.
B) Market trends and insights
With real-time market data and trend analysis available through a marketing intelligence platform, you can stay informed about industry trends, emerging technologies and shifting consumer demands.
This knowledge helps you evaluate the relevance and effectiveness of your current marketing strategies and identify opportunities to align your campaigns with market dynamics.
C) Audience profiling and analytics
Using a marketing intelligence platform allows you to gain deep insights into your target audience, including their behaviours, preferences and needs. By analysing audience data as part of your marketing audit, you can refine your customer segmentation, personalise your messaging and tailor your marketing campaigns to resonate with specific audience segments.
D) Performance measurement and optimisation
The analytics capabilities of a marketing intelligence platform enable you to measure and evaluate the performance of your marketing initiatives. By tracking key metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement and conversion rates, you can identify areas of success and areas that require optimisation.
This data-driven approach allows you to make data-backed decisions to improve your marketing effectiveness.
E) Strategic decision-making
By using the data and insights provided by a marketing intelligence platform, you can make informed strategic decisions throughout the marketing audit process. From setting goals and objectives to allocating resources and developing marketing strategies, the platform empowers you to base your decisions on real-time market intelligence.
This provides depth to your marketing audit and enables you to improve the overall effectiveness of your campaigns.
F) Collaboration and reporting
A marketing intelligence platform facilitates collaboration among team members involved in the marketing audit. By providing a centralised hub for sharing insights, reports and alerts, it promotes cross-functional collaboration and ensures that stakeholders are aligned with the findings and recommendations derived from the marketing audit.
Final Thoughts Regarding How To Conduct A Marketing Audit
By using a marketing intelligence platform, you’ll be building a deeper, richer and more up-to-date basis of insights on which to draw conclusions within your marketing audit. You’ll eliminate, or at least reduce, the need for assumptions and guesswork.
You’ll be able to make informed decisions about how to adapt and optimise your marketing campaigns for improved effectiveness.
This will help you generate the tangible outcomes that are expected of the modern marketer, protecting your role and those of the people in your team and increasing the likelihood of securing more budget for future marketing activity.
FAQs About How To Conduct A Marketing Audit
What is the purpose of a marketing audit?
A marketing audit is conducted to review an organisation’s marketing activities and performance to gain insights that can be used to optimise strategies and campaigns. It helps identify strengths, weaknesses, risks and opportunities in order to make informed marketing decisions.
How often should a marketing audit be conducted?
The frequency of conducting a marketing audit can vary depending on the organisation and industry. It is generally recommended to conduct a comprehensive marketing audit at least once a year. Additionally, audits may be conducted when major changes occur, such as entering new markets, launching new products or facing significant shifts in the competitive landscape.
What are the benefits of using marketing intelligence in a marketing audit?
Marketing intelligence provides real-time insights about the market and competitive landscape, enhancing the effectiveness of a marketing audit. It helps identify competitor strategies, market trends, audience behaviours and external factors that impact marketing campaigns.
By using marketing intelligence, marketers can make data-driven decisions, optimise performance and align their strategies with market dynamics.
Can a marketing intelligence platform provide insights beyond competitor analysis?
Yes, a marketing intelligence platform offers a wide range of insights beyond competitor analysis. It can provide market trends, consumer behaviour data, industry benchmarks, audience segmentation, content performance metrics and more.
These insights help marketers understand their target audience, optimise messaging and make informed decisions across various marketing aspects.
Are marketing audits only beneficial for large organisations?
No, marketing audits are valuable for organisations of all sizes. Whether small, medium, or large, conducting a marketing audit helps identify areas for improvement, optimise resource allocation and align marketing strategies with business goals.
Small businesses can benefit from gaining a deeper understanding of their target audience and refining their messaging, while large organisations can uncover inefficiencies, enhance competitive positioning and identify growth opportunities.
How can the findings of a marketing audit be effectively implemented?
A: Implementing the findings of a marketing audit requires clear action plans and accountability. It is important to prioritise the identified areas for improvement, set specific goals and allocate resources accordingly.
Regular monitoring and measurement of key performance indicators (KPIs) will help track progress and ensure the implementation of the audit’s recommendations. Additionally, continuous evaluation and adjustment of strategies based on performance insights and market changes are crucial for long-term success.
