This article first appeared in the Marketing Fix Substack.\u00a0Subscribe here<\/a>\u00a0for a bi-weekly (Fridays) delivery of hands-on marketing tactics based on 12y of growth roles in 50+ tech companies in the EU, UK, and US.<\/em><\/p>\n In this marketing audit guide:<\/strong><\/p>\n After working on 45+ marketing audits, each of which takes 20-40 hours, I\u2019ve spent ca 1,350 hours of my waking life (that\u2019s about 84 days!) switching between tabs and docs.<\/p>\n How did I end up writing the audits? And why?<\/p>\n It\u2019s rare for agencies or consultants to offer marketing audits as a standalone service. They\u2019re usually done in-house, by the CMO. Or by an external auditing agency as part of a bigger project.<\/p>\n And yet, the need for an audit of a company\u2019s marketing activities arose every time I started working for a new brand.<\/p>\n A 360-degree marketing audit is the fastest way to:<\/strong><\/p>\n Think of a marketing audit as a complete check-up of your marketing strategy.<\/strong><\/p>\n Audits are done 1-2 times per year, and give you a deep dive into your marketing efforts to see what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not, and what could be optimised for better results.<\/p>\n You end up with a clear roadmap for the next 6-12 months.<\/p>\n When conducting marketing audits for my clients, I usually spend 20+ hours collecting, analysing, and formatting the information.<\/p>\n The resulting Google Docs file is about 60 pages long (including screenshots).<\/p>\n That\u2019s a lot of hours and pages\u2026<\/p>\n But if you think about it, there are also many different aspects to marketing. A well-researched and actionable marketing audit covers every aspect of your marketing strategy, from acquisition to engagement to retention.<\/p>\n The best way to do a marketing audit is by taking the 360-degree approach.<\/strong><\/p>\n You should cover all the key aspects of your growth and marketing strategy, from planning and reporting to detailed per-channel analysis.<\/p>\n Eight key chapters of a marketing audit:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1\ufe0f\u20e3\u00a0Start by defining what you want to get out of your audit.<\/strong><\/p>\n Be clear about what the final audit result should look like before you start.<\/p>\n 2\ufe0f\u20e3\u00a0Set up a Google Doc with all chapters.<\/strong><\/p>\n The hardest part is to start the project. Just do it.<\/p>\n I like writing marketing audits in Google Docs, as they\u2019re great for formatting, including screenshots, and team comments.<\/p>\n Alternatively, you could use Notion or a Miro board.<\/p>\n 3\ufe0f\u20e3\u00a0Block 2-4 hours of time daily.<\/strong><\/p>\n Writing a marketing audit is not a multitasking side task. Your brain needs to go into deep-focus mode where it can take in lots of information, analyse it, make connections, and come up with strategic takeaways.<\/p>\n I usually aim to write a full chapter in one sitting. It ends up saving a lot of time, because you don\u2019t have to reopen all the tabs, get back into the mindset, etc.<\/p>\n It\u2019s best to work on your marketing audit in the morning, when your mind\u2019s not yet cluttered with Slack threads and meetings.<\/p>\n There is one part of the marketing audit where AI tools like Claude Cowork can save you time.<\/p>\n That\u2019s competitive research.<\/strong><\/p>\n I like to create a list of 10-15 competitors, and ask Claude to scrape their website and socials, then create a spreadsheet with relevant URLs, positioning and value props.<\/p>\n But even then, I\u2019ll manually click each of the URLs and analyse their websites and social posts to know what\u2019s actually there. I also collect screenshots of good examples (website blocks, USP wordings, paid ad creatives) and add them to Google Docs with my own commentary and takeaways.<\/p>\n As to the rest of your audit, you\u2019ll only waste time trying to cheat with AI.<\/strong><\/p>\n The whole point of the marketing audit is to view, analyse, and process everything with your own wise human brain.<\/strong><\/p>\n And, obviously, you\u2019re the only person who can come up with meaningful takeaways and next steps.<\/p>\n Use AI cautiously. Otherwise, you\u2019ll end up with lots of gibberish that does not lead to any improvements or change.<\/p>\n Below, you will find five marketing audit questions for each chapter. That\u2019s a total of 40 questions. How about another 55 to write a substantial, detailed overview?<\/p>\n Access the Notion page with the full checklist by subscribing to the Marketing Fix newsletter.<\/strong> Get the Notion Library of 95 Marketing Audit Questions<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n You will find the link to Notion in your Welcome email.<\/strong><\/p>\n Once in, you can copy the library to your account for tracking your progress. Tap \u201cDuplicate\u201d icon in the top-right corner.<\/p>\n Chapter 1: Reporting & Results<\/strong><\/p>\n Chapter 2: Brand & Value Proposition<\/strong><\/p>\n Chapter 3: Website\/App & Acquisition Flow<\/strong><\/p>\n Chapter 4: Customer Acquisition<\/strong><\/p>\n Chapter 5: Social Media Marketing<\/strong><\/p>\n Chapter 6: Content Marketing & SEO<\/strong><\/p>\n Chapter 7: Email Marketing & Automation<\/strong><\/p>\n Chapter 8: Summary & Next 12 Months\u2019 Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n Half the team\u2019s off, and so are your customers.<\/p>\n Slow office days mean lower distraction. And this is just what\u2019s required for a good, productive writing day.<\/p>\n Worried about not having enough experience?<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s just another excuse. As with many things in life, Google is your best friend whenever in doubt.<\/p>\n Not sure you have enough experience\u2013or time\u2013to write your own audit? You can hire me to do it for you. Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Further reading recommendations:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/figure>\nWhat is a marketing audit?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\nWhat does a marketing audit cover?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\nHow to get started with a marketing audit?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\nCan you use AI for auditing?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n95 marketing audit questions: checklist<\/h2>\n
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