Originally published on March 5th, 2020. Updated for April 14, 2022.
As a small business, where you spend your money is integral to your success. It’s important to know what’s working in your current strategy and what needs to improve. You need to have a solid content marketing plan to move forward. The way to figure out this information is by performing a marketing audit.
A marketing audit thoroughly reviews your marketing plan. It helps you pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. This guides you in shaping your marketing strategy. At MINIMUM, conduct one yearly. But the market changes fast, so it won’t hurt to conduct one quarterly instead.
Benefits of conducting a marketing audit
Get an in-depth evaluation
Auditing your marketing strategy gives you an in-depth look at the marketing of a business. It zeros in on how to plan, implement, and manage marketing activities.
Pinpoint what works great and what needs work
Being able to see how successful each of your marketing efforts are will show you what you need to focus on. Those content analytics are important to understand.
Helps develop a marketing strategy
Conducting a marketing audit will help you plan for your future marketing strategies. If you’re having trouble, look at the recommendations you get from it.
Find problems
A good audit can catch problems and fix them before they cause serious damage. You could find ways to get more out of your marketing budget. Or you might discover that you should adjust your business goals.
Builds a foundation for major changes
If your marketing plan is in need of a major overhaul, an audit will identify it. The recommendations from the audit are the basis of these changes, so there’s evidence to back them up. This is especially helpful when there is resistance to the changes.
What’s in a marketing audit
External environment
Look at the external factors that affect your company. This includes demographic, economic, cultural, environmental, and political factors. Performing market research could reveal opportunities you weren’t aware of.
Internal environment
Look at various internal factors. Included in this are evaluations of staff and the core competencies of the company. It can also include an audit of the marketing systems.
Current marketing strategy
This includes audits for marketing strategy and productivity. Evaluate the current marketing strategy. Adjust goals and objectives depending on the results. Take a look at whether the current strategies are a good fit for the company. Also audit cost-effectiveness and profitability. Benefits include clearer messaging to your target market and improved brand awareness.
Performing an audit in your marketing efforts is a great way to see how well your company is doing and see where you need to adjust. It is a worthwhile investment critically needed for your business.
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