Finish Your Year with a Marketing Audit Deep-Dive

Over the next few weeks as you recover from the holidays and the end of the year push, set aside some time to look back. A marketing audit deep dive of all your ads, your messaging, and the platforms or channels that you’re using can give you a lot of useful information when planning for the year ahead.

Like a content audit on your blog, a marketing audit takes into account all of the efforts of your teams beyond just your website, and onto other channels like social media, email marketing, and more.

Figure out what’s working, and what’s wasting your time, while identifying some next steps to take in the new year.

We can help you audit your current digital marketing and get you back on track ahead of next year. Reach out to the 3 Media Web team today.

Here are some steps you can take to get started on your own.

Carefully Collect a Year’s Worth of Information

Running a marketing audit is fairly simple, similar to an SEO audit. Build out one spreadsheet that reviews all of your ads, their messaging, the conversion rates, impressions, click-through rates, and more. This could be a simple export of Google Ads, for example, or from your Google Analytics account. Include other tabs for your blog posts, their traffic, and conversion figures, as well as other platforms like social media, both paid and organic.

After you’ve pulled your data, play with the list sort until you start uncovering the top performers, as well as the lowest-performing ads or assets on the list. Was there any messaging that out-performed the rest? Are you able to find where your traffic or leads are coming from, and which platform is making the grade? Which platforms are strongest for your audience, and which platforms do your audiences seem to avoid?

Remember to Look Beyond Just the Conversions

Conversions are important for your business and there’s no doubt that most of your research during the marketing audit will be focused on conversions. Remember though, that conversions are only one part of the often long and complicated journey that takes a person from awareness to acquisition along your buying funnel.
During your marketing audit, look into what is driving traffic, where visitors are spending the most time, and where the best conversations are happening between you and your customer. You may find that social media is low on the list for conversions, but high for customer engagement. Similarly, your website could be generating quality leads, but a lower-performing channel for receiving feedback about your business.

Create New Experiments to Run All Year Long

Now is the time to start testing, before you fall into the rush of the typical year and get lost on other priorities. Create a list of experiments out of the information that you’ve gathered in your marketing audit. Use the data you’ve collected as the benchmark for your business and run your hypotheses against that foundation of information.

Are there new channels or platforms emerging that may interest your audience? Is there new messaging that might increase the number of conversations people are having with your business? Could you allocate your budget differently to take advantage of clear opportunities that you’ve discovered from your research?

Take On the New Year with a Solid Plan

The New Year is a time for celebration, but also serious planning. Once the parties are finished, take some time away from digging out of your inbox to run a marketing audit deep dive. Review all of your ads, your messaging, and the performance of each platform or channel. Maybe spend some time improving your content marketing skills.

A deep dive like this can give you a lot of useful information that can make your marketing planning much easier. Take into account all of the efforts of your teams beyond just your website, and find out the best use of their time for your audience. There’s no time like the present to get started and begin the year on a positive note.