Audit is for marketers, too

It’s not just accountants who do audits. If you’re involved in marketing, you should regularly take stock and look at the state of your marketing activity.

If you google ‘marketing audit’, you will probably find some complex descriptions full of marketing jargon. But a marketing audit doesn’t have to be difficult; often a simple look at where you are is more practical, and just as helpful, as a thorough back-to-basics review.

To keep things simple, here are five things that you should consider reviewing annually.

1. Goals
   Have you taken a fresh look at your goals recently? It’s all too easy to just keep cranking the marketing handle without taking a step back to remind yourself of exactly what it is you’re trying to achieve in the first place. Your marketing goals need to be directly aligned with your business objectives – the one should fall our of the other. For example, are you only looking for new customers or is there capacity to get significantly more business from your existing customers? These are fundamentally different aims and you will have more success if you plan your campaigns appropriately for each.

2. Messages
   Messaging is another fundamental component of your marketing that is definitely worth checking each year. Look at the underlying things that you say about your business and your products – do they resonate with your customers and prospects? You should have a handful of key messages that underpin your entire communications – advertising, PR, brochures, sales presentations and so on. Consistent messaging should leave your target audience in no doubt about what you stand for, so it’s worth getting it right. Your messages should be like a stick of rock – they should run right the way through all of your communication.

3. Visuals
   Like your messaging, you should ensure that your visual branding is consistent across your online and offline media. Get all your printed material together and spread it out on your desk. Is the design style, use of fonts, colour and graphics consistent? It could be time to recycle the old brochures you have in the stock room and think about updating your literature so that it presents an unmistakable visual identity that incorporates your current messaging.

4. Online
   Online marketing needs regular attention – and more often than once a year if you want to get the most out of it. What message will your target audience get if your website is promoting old news or events that have long since passed? If you don’t have a quick and easy way of keeping the content on your website up to date it may be time to consider a content management system that lets you add and remove text and graphics. Also if you are using online promotion, have you reviewed your campaigns and the keywords to ensure that you are achieving a good level of new enquiries?

5. Metrics
   A marketing audit is a much more productive exercise if you have data about your campaigns. The key things to track are how much you spend on each campaign and how much you get from each investment. Measuring results isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it. Having that data will enable you to improve the effectiveness and the value of your campaigns each year. Go through each marketing activity and think about what outcome constitutes success and how you will measure it. Make sure you regularly analyse usage statistics from your website – if you don’t get any consider buying a statistics package or moving to a host that includes statistics in their package.

If you get your marketing audit right then you should be able to give your accountant even bigger numbers for your financial audit!!

If you’re still not sure where to start with your marketing audit, call MAXX Design on 01635 521224 and we’ll point you in the right direction. Come and see us and we’ll offer you a FREE marketing mini-audit.

Call us now to discuss your needs.

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