Your marketing assessment checklist
Before you can map out where you're headed, you must understand where you stand. A marketing audit offers a panoramic view of your existing marketing activities, giving you a snapshot of your strengths, opportunities, and areas that may need refinement.
Company profile: Setting the scene
Your company's profile provides a lens through which you can align your marketing strategies with broader organizational objectives. Recognizing these goals and growth strategies ensures that every marketing move is in sync with your business vision.
Company goals: Identify the primary, secondary, and tertiary objectives helps align marketing strategies with overall business ambitions.
Growth strategies: Understand the ways your organization aims to grow. Are you looking to expand sales or marketing channels? Or perhaps you're leaning into partnerships?
View of the customer: the heart of marketing
Marketing is essentially about the customer. Understanding who they are, their behaviors, and the messages that resonate with them can make the difference between a successful campaign and one that misses the mark.
Customer profile: Detail your target audience and any developed personas to provide a clear view of whom your marketing efforts cater to.
Customer behavior: Delve into the data you collect about your customers. Explore which channels customers use, how they navigate their buying journey, and the technologies and methodologies that support this understanding.
Messaging: It's essential to identify whether you have a consistent messaging practice in place and if it's tailored to different segments or individual customers.
Marketing breadth: How you reach your audience
In the expansive world of marketing, there are countless ways to reach your audience. Whether through your website, social media, or paid advertisements, understanding the breadth of your marketing efforts ensures you're making the most of every opportunity. Not all channels or publishers make sense, but make sure you have a comprehensive understanding.
Channel utilization: Determine if your efforts are isolated or spread across multiple channels. Pinpoint the specific channels you are leveraging for maximum outreach.
Website: Analyze your website's objectives, its complexity, the audiences it serves, and any optimization strategies in place.
Customer retention: Assess the technologies and strategies you have in place for retaining customers, such as CRM systems, segmentation tactics, nurturing campaigns, and loyalty programs.
Search engine optimization: Unpack your SEO practices, including the regularity of updates.
Paid media: Ensure your media approach caters to the entire sales funnel. Evaluate optimization strategies, publishers used, and any supporting technologies.
Social media: Review your existing practices, the platforms you're active on, and how often you're engaging with your audience.
Content marketing and syndication: Examine your content marketing practices, the platforms you use, and the frequency of content updates.
Operations and process: Behind the scenes
Behind every successful marketing effort is a robust set of operations and processes. From tracking results with analytics to streamlining lead handoffs between marketing and sales, understanding your operations ensures your marketing machine runs smoothly.
Analytics: Evaluate how you track and report on your marketing activities. This includes the technology, dashboards, and implementation of your analytics.
Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, Heap, Kissmetrics, Mixpanel, and others
Attribution: Examine how you attribute conversions and sales. Whether you're using channel-based, last-click, first-click, multi-touch, or algorithmic attribution, it's vital to understand your method and how often it's updated.
AppsFlyer, Branch, C3 Metrics, Convertro, Google Analytics, Singular, Visual IQ (Nielsen), and others
Marketing automation: Break down your sales funnel and understand the process for handing off leads, ensuring seamless integration between marketing and sales.
ActiveCampaign, Autopilot, Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, Drip, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Marketo, Pardot by Salesforce, and others
Carrying out a comprehensive marketing audit isn't just about ticking boxes. It's about understanding where you shine, where you can improve, and ensuring that every element of your marketing works cohesively to drive growth. Using this checklist as a foundation, organizations can embark on a self-assessment journey, ensuring that their marketing machinery is optimized for the best outcomes.
Free audit
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