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Marketing Audit

Contents

What is a Marketing Audit
How do you do a marketing audit?
What are the four characteristics of a marketing audit?

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What is a Marketing Audit

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Definition of a Marketing Audit

A marketing audit is a full exploration and analysis of the entire marketing environment of a business, assessing everything from strategies and targets to specific marketing activities.

This process is intended to provide a full overview of the tools and competencies at an organization’s disposal, to help identify areas of weakness and to put in place ways of improving outcomes in the future.

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How do you do a marketing audit?

The basic steps of a marketing audit are as follows:

Identify your marketing channels/strategies/activities
Identify your goals and objectives
Gather data
Make a comparison
Identify issues and gaps
Create an action plan
Repeat

What are the four characteristics of a marketing audit?

The four characteristics of a successful audit are:

1. They should be performed on a regular basis, rather than when a business finds itself in a marketing crisis. 2. The audit should apply to all of the company’s marketing activities; one which focuses on just a small number of activities is referred to as a ‘functional audit’, which can lead to oversights and, ultimately, fail to reach useful conclusions.

3. An effective marketing audit examines the business’s strategies, goals, internal marketing system(s), marketing activities, and marketing environment, in a consistent step-by-step process. 4. Audits should be performed by marketing experts from within the company, though they are considered more credible and honest if conducted by an independent consultant.

General FAQ

What is a marketing audit report?

A marketing audit report is created after the audit itself is complete. This covers the various factors which affect the business’s marketing performance, such as the current marketing environment, the level of competition, internal management and activities, as well as economic considerations. The report should enable leaders to recognize improvement opportunities and encourage them to take action.

What are the benefits of a marketing audit?

One of the most important and immediate benefits of a marketing audit is being able to identify which channels are achieving the best results, such as emails, guest blogging, Facebook ads, etc. Another benefit is that a marketing audit provides a comprehensive company-wide insight into all marketing activities. This can prove particularly helpful in larger businesses with bigger marketing teams and can allow leaders to reduce unnecessary spending. Finally, a marketing audit helps businesses understand how their performance compares to their major competitors. They may spot opportunities to diversify their marketing techniques or expand their target audience.

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