Marketing Audits – Where to Start

Businesses use marketing audits as enabling tools to capture and understand their company needs. They can help to identify how their business operates to benefit and inform future marketing plans. Such audits identify successes and failures of marketing efforts and overarching business strategies. The process of completing these audits helps companies identify changes and thrive in a competitive marketplace.

Here we show you where to start with your marketing audits. It’s certainly worth reading about different ways marketing audits can benefit your business if you still need convincing they are worth the effort and time for your business.

Marketing Audits – How They Help Your Business

The auditing process helps a business focus on communicating consistent messages to the people that will ultimately benefit your business. Importantly, they allow you to fine-tune current strategy, increase market share and identify new or neglected markets for future business growth. The process takes time, but your business deserves the attention. 

1. Company overview
2. Market objectives and goals
3. Current and target customers
4. Details of your product or service
5. Competitors
6. Past business and marketing

Below, we describe what you should look at in each stage of the process.

Company overview

You need to look at the company in its entirety, including:

1. Company location and commencement date

2. Number of employees, identifying key personnel

3. A timeline of significant company events and milestones.

Then, identify how aware you believe the company to be and where you believe you are in the perception of your buyers and influencers.

Market Objectives and Goals

Identify your aims within short and long term goals. List them in priority and consider concepts such as increasing visibility with social media marketing, standing out from the competition, generating new sales leads or increasing existing customer buy-in. 

Current and target customers

Identify current and target audience details showing location, size, industry and relevant behavioural descriptors. If targeted customers are outside usual demographics by size, sector or location, include reasons for a target change and what you need to make it happen. It is also worth, at the same time, doing a quick user experience checklist for your website to ensure no customers are deterred by a less-than-perfect experience.

Your product or service

Note product or service features, benefits, price and distribution methods, particularly how strong or weak they are to your competitors. Include your market share history and any factors that affect your product or service now or in the foreseeable future.

Competitors

Look at a handful of your competitors, their features, benefits, product size and pricing, market share, and future strategy. Understanding how they work will help.

Past business and marketing

In this section, include what has helped or hindered your business growth, what you haven’t tried and what your competitors have tried.

Finally, build your communication plan

Use what you have learned and identify current and future media sources and their costs. Identify promotional vehicles, media and public relation routes, events and analytical systems that help you achieve your goal.

Build a roadmap from the findings in your marketing audit to create a marketing strategy based on your business needs and objectives, one that is more focused on your business and competitor evaluations.

A marketing audit is an excellent idea when you identify signs your marketing channels need refreshing. Such audits can make a huge difference to the path of your business, so they are well worth considering.