
Marketing Audit Services
For Businesses & Marketing Firms Call To Make An Appointment: 646-926-1293Have A Question? Let's Hear It!
Marketing Audit Services
For Businesses & Marketing Firms Call To Make An Appointment: 646-926-1293Have A Question? Let's Hear It!What Is A Marketing Audit?
It is the way to get the most from your business marketing. How exactly? Read on:
Marketing Audit Definition
Boiling the “Marketing Audit” definition down to its core elements:
A Marketing Audit is business jargon for a service that comprehensively and systematically analyzes and breaks down an entire business’ marketing operation for interpretation with the express purpose of evaluating the entirety of the business marketing environment‘s performance.
By assessing the business’ goals and objectives, and the strategies utilized to achieve these, successfully or otherwise, a plan of action is crafted and recommended to enhance the overall business’ marketing performance, addressing visible problems, areas for improvement, and successful areas (possibly ready for scaling out).
Marketing audits are typically conducted by a third party, outside the organization itself, often brought on by the marketing firm’s client, or the firm itself.
Return On Investment [ROI]
Macro & Micro
Plan Of Action
Problems
Systematic Analysis
Team Roles
Efficiency
Internal & External
Do I Need A Marketing Audit?
Do You Sense A Client-Firm Or Team-Management Disconnect?
We have been brought in to tend to many perceived problems for both firms and for their clients, and no tribulation is more prevalent than sensing and addressing a disconnect in a marketing campaign.
What we have seen happen most frequently is a disconnect, either between the client looking for their new business expectations to be met and the advertising firm (or department) responsible for doing so, or from the marketing team and the management, and falling within that is often the members of the marketing team themselves.
Marketing Campaign Disconnects
We all know that marketing thrives under the pressure of results, and getting results, achieving and exceeding goals, and above all showing an increase in value for the client is paramount to being in the lucrative field.
But there is pressure in business and it must not be overwhelming, or your marketing results will be underwhelming.
Marketing Campaign Disconnect’s
If you are unsure if any or all of these conflicts exist, take a step back and ask yourself:
- Does the marketing team appear stressed out when dealing with the client, or in general?
- Is the ROI readily apparent? Does it meet or exceed expectations?
- Are the goals and expectations being met on time?
- Are there clear goals and expectations, a clear plan of action to achieve them, and clearly defined roles for those involved?
- How are the communications between the client and the firm? Between the marketing team itself? Between the firm’s team and their management or executives?
- Are the communications smooth? Are they cordial, are they conducted in a timely manner, and are they clear?
- Are your marketing results readily apparent? Are the costs of acquisition and the value of the marketing goal defined?
- Do you know if the use of time is being addressed properly?
- Do you know if marketing tasks are taking too long on the firm side or the client side?
- Are expectations for things to be done quickly on the mark or over-the-top or too lax?
Now step back again and ask yourself: how would each member of the marketing firm and each member of the client (that has the relationship with the marketers) answer these questions?
Do you think they would vary greatly? It is impossible to make everyone happy all the time, and no poll will yield the same positive results for all of these questions.
If you have an inkling of an idea that some of the people involved in the fantastic business-marketing relationship might have negative answers to some of the above questions, than there is room for improvement.
If not, you are probably doing very well and not in need of a marketing audit.
But if you sense any degree of disconnect, that is to say that any rifts, no matter how small, may be there to be improved upon, then the next step to success is allowing a third party from the outside, like CMO Sync, to conduct a Marketing Audit.
Strategy & Productivity
Two of the next reasons you want to consider a marketing audit are the systemic examination of marketing strategy being used and the productivity resulting from the firm, the client, and the strategy.
Oftentimes there is room for streamlining Strategy or Productivity platforms, or both.
- Marketing Audit Strategy Analysis: this has a direct impact on the firm’s marketing performance for the client
- What is the business’ mission and how feasible is its achievement?
- What are the marketing objectives and goals that are laid out and the specific methods, or marketing strategies, that are being used to reach these aims?
- Marketing Audit Productivity Analysis: these evaluations and relationships are pivotal to long-term success
- Examining all costs, in real numbers when possible, allow for a comparison of the ROI and the COA, and ultimately the profitability and cost-effectiveness of the campaigns
- How much room for improvement is there?
- How much scalability is there?
- The performance of staff involved in the marketing campaign, at every level of hierarchy, from sales to account managers to firm executives need to be evaluated
- Those involved on the client side in the advertising endeavors should also be evaluated
- Examining all costs, in real numbers when possible, allow for a comparison of the ROI and the COA, and ultimately the profitability and cost-effectiveness of the campaigns
Environments & Systems
There are two important factors that greatly influence every marketing campaign: the macro-environment and the micro-environment.
What are they, you ask?
The macro-environment is the sum of all of the things you cannot control, outside factors and forces, that affect the firm and the performance of the marketing campaign.
Audience demographics, such as your product’s age group (e.g. baby rattles are primarily being marketing to parents of babies), economic factors (e.g. the cost of gold fluctuating, when you use it in your product), environmental factors (e.g. storms shut down the farm), political motives (e.g. laws can change and affect your business and its marketing abilities), and cultural changes (e.g. trends in culture, such as hit films can make you look good or bad in the eyes of the public).
Again these are things that are out of your control and outside your firm, but you must keep them in mind when strategizing or they can negate your positive work.
The micro-environment consists of the firm’s components that directly affect the efficiency of the marketing platforms.
The firm must consider these factors a priority, as should someone conducting a marketing audit: the business’ market, their competitors, their customers, production facilities (if applicable), and any distributors or retailers (if applicable).
Internally, the systems that the firm relies on must also be examined, such as any information systems (e.g. company Intranets) and communication services, any planning systems, any control systems, and any product development systems that are involved in the ebb and flow of marketing activities surrounding the campaign.
If one of these vital cogs is worn out or broken, the entire machine can slow to a crawl or stop dead in its tracks.
About R.J. Huneke
Founder, President
With 15+ years experience in marketing, publishing, and media, R.J. Huneke is capable of managing myriad roles, including that of a CMO conducting a Marketing Audit. His full-stack marketer abilities stem from successful work in full time and freelance media positions and creative work as a novelist and a columnist, which sets him apart as an intelligent innovator. He has founded successful companies, managed/built teams and worked in all levels of advertising, from TV to online marketing platforms and web design. He has worked directly with company owners and executives, as well as sales teams, marketing firms and departments, as well as editing and writing teams, and so he has a unique perspective from the client’s point of view as well as the vendor’s perspective.
“RJ is Absolutely amazing! Best creativity, content and energy!” ~Eileen Stier, Attorney At Law
“CMO [Sync] did a great job and met all of my needs quickly and efficiently. The owner put my mind at ease, was always available to answer all my questions, and gave me exactly what I wanted. I would highly recommend them.”
“I could not be happier with my experience. RJ’s web design and online marketing make a world of difference.“
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