Why consider a marketing audit
A marketing audit may not be the first thing you consider when you’re questioning your sales and marketing performance, but it could be an effective way of getting under the skin of what’s working, what’s not, and more importantly, what you’re not doing that you should be!
Clients find that tapping into our CMO experience, alongside the knowledge we’ve built-up working across the many clients and sectors we work with, gives them the diagnostics needed to focus on what will make the biggest difference. Our audit pulls out specific focus areas and actions, so that you know your attention and budget is being spent on the highest priorities to get traction.
And because we’ve worked at executive level across different sizes of business, from start-up, scale-ups and large-scale enterprises, we know that a one-size fits all approach to marketing just isn’t reality. Depending on the stage you’re at on the growth curve, you’ll need different capabilities and tools in the marketing kit-bag to be successful. And, you’ll have different growth blockers to solve for.
The five core marketing capabilities we assess
Based on experience and best-practice, we’ve defined five core capabilities and the underpinning performance drivers that we know are critical to marketing success:
| Marketing capabilities | Underlying performance drivers |
| Insight: depth of understanding of your market, competitors and customers | Market insight
Competitor intelligence Customer understanding |
| Strategy: clarity and effectiveness of your marketing strategy and go-to-market approach | Foundational building blocks
Go-to-market strategy Brand definition |
| Execution: ability to deliver marketing plans efficiently and consistently across channels | Resources, skills & capabilities
Strategy evidenced in practice Reputation management Sales effectiveness (for B2B) |
| Effectiveness: measurement and achievement of marketing outcomes, including ROI and customer acquisition | Audience & channel alignment
Clarity & consistency Performance management |
| Optimisation: continuous improvement and agility in response to data and market feedback | Data-driven execution
Performance optimisation Ability to scale |
Our audit is evidence based. We review your current marketing activities, channels and performance, assess team capabilities and understand the insight and definition that underpins your execution. We then match back what we’ve evidenced against your business strategy and ambition to benchmark you.
Why benchmarking matters
Benchmarking shows how your marketing performance compares to others at your stage of growth — revealing both hidden strengths and capability gaps.
Our audit recognises that different capabilities and performance drivers come into play at different stages in a business’s maturity. You wouldn’t expect an early stage business to be firing out data optimised, personalised marketing campaigns, but you certainly would be looking for this level of sophistication in a more mature marketing organisation.
Your comparative benchmark depends on your current marketing set-up and how that matches up to your growth ambitions.
Through benchmarking, we pull-out where we’d expect you to be performing better and identify the root causes to any underperformance. We’ll also highlight where you’re performing above your peers – this often helps identify competitive advantages!
It’s a quick-win way of highlighting where your growth ambitions and marketing capabilities may be mis-aligned, uncovering any holes that need filling.
From audit insights to action
Whilst it’s an in-depth analysis and report, to make things practical, we’ll provide a prioritised action plan, aligned to your business strategy, so you know the easy wins and essential deliveries you need to focus on to meet your growth ambitions.
If you need help to action the recommendations, we can work alongside you on a project basis, or as a fractional CMO resource to advise and shape deliveries.
Common questions about our marketing audit:
How do I know if my business needs a marketing audit?
Clients often have unanswered questions about their marketing performance and team capabilities. You might be unsure if slowing growth, inconsistent results, or unclear ROI indicate deeper problems, and struggle internally to find answers. A marketing audit can help identify these issues and provide clarity.
What’s included in your marketing audit?
We’ll always tailor the audit to fit your needs. It usually starts with a business workshop to understand your strategy, growth goals, and challenges. Next, we gather evidence by asking questions, talking to your team, reviewing documents, speaking to any agencies you work with and accessing your marketing platforms to dig into your data. We then compile all this into a detailed report and a prioritised roadmap, making it easy for you to see and act on our recommendations.
What’s the ROI of a marketing audit?
There’s no simple answer, but a marketing audit uncovers gaps in knowledge, execution and capabilities that may be holding your marketing back. The insights you gain will undoubtedly help you make smarter marketing investments that drive better results for your business.
What are the most common marketing capability gaps in growing businesses?
The most common gaps usually centre around having a defined marketing strategy, particularly the articulation of a clear value proposition and clarity on target audience. Execution-wise, many struggle with consistent messaging across all customer touchpoints. Another common challenge is having the right metrics in place to measure and guide marketing performance.
How long does a marketing audit take?
Most audits take 3-4 weeks depending on the size and complexity of your marketing activities.
Can you help us implement the recommendations?
Yes, either through supporting you on specific marketing strategy projects, e.g. competitive positioning or proposition fit, or we can act as your fractional CMO to help support internal resources or any agencies you use.
How much does a marketing audit cost?
Pricing depends on the scope of the audit. We always start with an upfront discussion to understand your needs, then provide a fixed-price proposal based on that.
We’d love a conversation if you’re interested in understanding what’s holding your marketing back – request your audit to see how your marketing performance benchmarks against your growth ambitions.
