So, let’s talk marketing audit.
Does reading this term immediately sound intimidating or overly complex to you?
Sure, the process of creating content to showcase your business, to wow customers with your awesome product or service, to bring your own unique voice to the market may feel thrilling, exciting, fun, even.
But when it comes to actually looking through all those stuff you’ve done to check if they really work?
We’ve seen many businesses avoid it simply because it feels like an overwhelming process that will reveal problems they don’t want to face.
But here’s the truth: a marketing audit isn’t about pointing fingers or flipping your strategy upside down. It’s about understanding what’s working, what’s not, and what opportunities you’re leaving on the table. When done right, it might even be one of the smartest moves you can make to grow your business.
Trust us when we say this: a marketing audit is not supposed to be scary, rocket science, or insignificant!
Let’s demystify the marketing audit process to help you get familiar with what happens during one.
First, What Is a Marketing Audit?
You’ve perhaps had an idea or two about what a marketing audit is like, but allow us to introduce a simpler way to look at it: a marketing audit as a full health check for your strategy. It looks at your whole marketing process, helping you answer questions like:
- Are your current strategies actually effective?
- Are you targeting the right people, in the right places?
- Are there better ways to allocate your budget?
- How does your brand compare to competitors?
What Happens During a Marketing Audit?
To answer those questions above, several things are going to happen during the audit process. Let’s break it down to help you see how simple (but thorough!) it really is, and totally not overwhelming 🙂
1. Your website SEO
You may have a beautiful, visually appealing website (and if you haven’t, you can always hit up our friends at Garaj to help with that!), but does it show up on search engines? Does it speak the language your audience is actually searching for, or does it overwhelm them with too much industry jargon? We help you have a thorough check on your website SEO so that you can get discovered–by the right group of audience too.
2. The ads you have circulating (and past ones too)
Next, we’ll also look at your ads. Are the visuals and copy well-aligned? Are they targeted at the right kind of people–not just location, gender and age-wise, but also in terms of how they think, what they aspire to be like? Is the money you’re spending on them worth it? When we know these, we can suggest how you move forward with your next ad campaigns, making each new one not just visually catchier, but more effective.
3. Your sales before and after your most recent campaign
You may have different kinds of campaigns every now and then, but ultimately, your endgame would be to make a sale. We’ll analyse the before-afters, so you can figure out if your campaign makes a real impact in moving the needle in the way you need it to.
4. Also, if not done already, a poll among your clients
The whole point of an audit is to get an objective, outside fresh perspective on how you run your marketing–so it would make sense to involve your customers too! These are the people who actually trust you enough to make a purchase from you–several, even. We’ll conduct a poll with them as respondents to discover what angles did the most recent campaign hit, the angles that were missed, and what kinds of trends or latest hypes they’re currently seeking when shopping.
But that’s not all 🙂
These four points are not absolutes when it comes to a marketing audit, because let’s face it: there’s a whole sea of things to look at, all of which can shift depending on your company’s current sales objectives (which also change over time!). So before you commit to an audit, make sure to let your auditor know your goal–whether it’s reaching for a new demographic of client, correcting a previously subpar campaign, adjusting to fresh industry marketing trends, to new industry tech, or simply refining an already well-built machine.
When Should You Do a Marketing Audit?
The short answer, honestly? More often than you probably are doing it.
If you’ve been running marketing efforts for 6 months or more, or you’re juggling multiple campaigns across different channels, it’s time for an audit. It’s even more crucial to do one if you’re not seeing the results you expected, or spending more than you’d like without knowing what’s paying off. Even if things are going well, having an audit once or twice a year ensures you’re staying aligned with market trends, audience behaviour, and performance metrics.
Who Should Conduct the Marketing Audit?
We know the short answer when we’re trying to convince you to work with us is probably… “Us, obviously! ‘Cause we’re the experts? Duh!” But we won’t say just that. In the end, the decision of who should be conducting an audit is completely yours to make.
While it’s possible to run a basic audit in-house, the reality is, you can benefit more from a third-party auditor. The reason behind this is simple: internal teams often bring bias, blind spots, and emotional involvement that cloud objectivity.
On the other hand, a third-party auditor can spot if there are any process or strategy that is not efficient enough, even untapped potential you might not see. These experienced marketers know how to dig beyond surface-level numbers, extract real meaning from your data, and what you can do about it.
Keep in mind though, that different marketing auditors are going to prioritise different places to look based on their expertise and experience. There’s no definite wrong or right way to do an audit, but be sure to let your auditor know your goals and needs as clearly as possible to propel your business even further!
Think of it this way: when you’re feeling under the weather, it’s best to go to your doctor rather than self-diagnosing yourself. The same is true with your business. You want someone who not only gives you data-driven diagnosis, but also offers an effective prescription.
Treat An Audit as an Opportunity
If you’ve been thinking of a marketing audit as a stressful report card… it’s time to shift your perspective. A well-executed audit helps your business grow! You can better align your strategy with your goals, prevent wasting budget, and engage ideal customers more effectively.
Need an expert audit of your marketing performance? Mushroom Cloud offers clear, actionable, and honest audits that don’t just show you the gaps — we help you fill them. Let’s get your marketing back on track!