What is a Communications and Marketing Audit?

Often, we get caught up in our day-to-day work and forget to take a strategic, big picture approach to our communications and marketing. Is current outreach working? Are audiences resonating with current messaging and communications? Before I start designing a strategic marketing or fundraising plan for clients, the first step is often to create a communications and marketing audit.

A communications and marketing audit is an in-depth, comprehensive look at an organization’s current marketing and outreach to determine if efforts are effective and to see what can be improved. Think of a communications and marketing audit as an annual physical; a doctor needs to see the state of your general health in order to make recommendations. In an audit, I review an organization’s website, social media platforms, email marketing tools, CRM, online ads, and recent press coverage. I look through an organization’s Google Analytics, Google Ads data, email marketing metrics, social media analytics, and press coverage links. In some instances, I create surveys to get external audiences’ feedback. I determine who the target audiences are, which channels are most effective to reach them, whether or not the current cadence works, and write recommendations based on findings. An audit provides an overall look at an organization’s health.

​Measurable objectives and recommended ways to measure success are included in the audit. Aligning marketing or fundraising efforts to the greater organizational goals is essential for success. I can walk organizations through best practices when it comes to analyzing data and determining whether or not it’s time to pivot in the future. 

To schedule an introductory call and see if a communications and marketing audit is right for you, please get in touch today. I look forward to hearing from you.