"Why isn't our marketing working?"

This week, we're dipping our toes in the marketing audit.

Essentially, a marketing audit asks:

"Are we making any mistakes in our marketing, brand, or product strategy? And how to fix it?"

… and …

"Are we spending our marketing $$$ the right way or throwing them straight in flames?" 💸🔥🚒

In the past five years, I have done 20+ marketing audits, for both B2C and B2B brands. And, of course, I always find problems that need fixing. 😈 However, there is a different level of priority to the problems.

The 10 auditing questions I'm going to share are focused on high-level strategy, mindset, and performance.

They are chosen to help you steer towards the right ways of thinking about your marketing.

If you'd like to dive deeper, check out another blog article: TOP 5 Mistakes & Cures of Slow-growth Companies​

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Ok, let's get going!

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But first...

In case you missed it. Last week, I posted a new in-depth blog article on planning the 2024 marketing budgets with seasonality in mind.

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10 marketing audit questions to drive growth

#1 What are the conversion rates (%) in all the steps of our marketing funnel?

This question presumes that proper marketing reporting exists.

If you cannot answer this question, look in the mirror and ask yourself: “How can we fix our reporting asap?”

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#2 What is the reason for low conversion rates?

Quite often, answering this question helps to understand where your growth bucket is leaking.

Does the problem lie in weak inbound marketing, bad website/store experience, or poor product-market fit?

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#3 What is the payback period of a new customer?

The payback period is the amount of time that it takes for a new customer to pay back the initial budget you spent on acquiring them. Startups’ payback periods are usually between 6-24 months.

The question presumes that you know:

💫 How much a new customer costs you
💫 How much revenue on average a new customer brings
💫 What is your churn rate

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#4 How are all the individual marketing channels performing?

When doing marketing audits, I take a look at all the different marketing channels, from paid ads to SEO to social media to email marketing. 🤓🤓🤓

You can benchmark your recent results against past results or industry benchmarks.

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#5 Are all relevant marketing channels in use or tested?

Create a list of all potential marketing channels that should work for a business like yours.

Then, compare the full list with the channels you’re using. Are there any channels you’re missing out on?

E.g. in B2B software industry, many companies forget about affiliate marketing and referral sites (like Capterra and G2).

In B2C, the most common missed-out channel is the fully functional collaboration with social media content creators.

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#6 Do you have clear goals and budgets set for the next quarter and year?

This question reflects whether there is a structured, forward-looking growth strategy present in the organisation.

When consulting various companies in growth and marketing, I always begin by establishing a detailed Marketing KPI Tracking sheet. Together, we fill in the past 3 months to see if there’s any past data on the LTV and CPA per lead and paying customer.

Up next, I collaborate with the CEO or CMO to understand the next 6 months’ revenue goals and work down to other growth and marketing projections based on revenue expectations, churn, LTV, and expected CPAs.

All this leads to having…

🗝️ A clear 6-month plan​
🗝️ Alignment of marketing & product
🗝️ No gut-feeling-based surprises

… on the high level. And on the marketing team level, you’ll have…

💫 Clear expectations (numbers)
💫 Revenue, ROI, LTV
💫 KPIs and measurement

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#7 Is the marketing team reaching the set goals?

Whatever the answer may be, it is worth checking in with your team and asking what are their key challenges.

Also, what are the ideas and opportunities they look forward to testing? Are there any blockers you can help to remove?

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#8 Are your competitors doing it better than you?

Some people say that you should not copy your competitors. Follow your own path, etc.

However, I find the spying extremely helpful. Perhaps even one of the key things you can do to improve your marketing results.

When auditing each of your marketing channels, from website to ads to social media to emails, compare your assets with the competitors’.

Be honest with yourself.

If you see that others are doing it better than you, create a plan for reaching their level of excellence. And later, for passing that level.

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#9 Have you set up the growth loops?

Acquiring a new customer can be expensive. BUT it is a lot more worthwhile if that new customer will help to bring another two: via referrals or word-of-mouth recommendations.

If you haven’t yet set up a growth loop, consider doing it in Q1, 2024.

The most popular growth loops are:

🍯 User-2-user referrals​
​🍯 User-generated content
🍯 Rewards programs

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#10 Are there any time-wasting marketing channels that you should cut?

One of the most common suggestions I write down in marketing audits is this:

Stop working on this marketing channel.

❌ There is no point in posting on social media if your posts are not original.

❌ There is no point in creating another short blog article on a topic that’s been covered 100x.

❌ There is no point in sending marketing emails if nobody ever opens them or the audiences are still too small.

Consider all the marketing activities that you and your team spend time on and ask: Is this bringing us new customers and revenue? Or… Is this engaging the existing customers in a meaningful and measurable way?

If the answer is no, stop working on that marketing channel.

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Coming up in January: TOP 2024 marketing trends to watch

I'll be taking a 'lil vacation in the coming weeks and be back with you in January.

If you're less lucky and have to work on marketing stuff over the holidays, consider a little audit – and make sure your 2024 budgets and plans are ready to go.

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Merci! 🐿️

This is the third Marketing Things newsletter and I appreciate all of you who have subscribed. Send your feedback and thoughts by replying to this email.

Thanks for reading!
Karola

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