WHY DO COMPANIES FAIL TO SUCCEED?
20% of all new small businesses fail within the first year.
30% of all new small businesses close in their first half-decade.
50% of companies who shut down their operations do so after finding out that there was no actual demand for their products or services in the first place.
MARKETING AUDIT: THE BASICS
A marketing audit is a strategy businesses can use to find out what’s most important to their target audience. After gathering data, you can then adjust the marketing strategy accordingly. When done correctly, this maximizes both the budget and efforts while giving an edge over competitors. If you’re a business owner unsure of what your clients, leads, and prospects actually want, your company is at serious risk. But, by performing an audit, you can dive deeply into your efforts to uncover all of the associated strengths and weaknesses. It might not be a fun experience, but it sure is an enlightening one. In fact, this might be the very investment that saves your business.
WHY CONDUCT A MARKETING AUDIT?
If you’re unclear what your target audience is looking for in a brand, whether your marketing efforts are efficient, or worry that you’re quickly running out of new prospective customers – a marketing audit is a smart move. Of course, whether you perform an audit or not varies based on your market position, competitors, and primary goals. That’s why it’s best to trust professionals with your audit. They know what to look for and have the skills to help you gain valuable insights into your marketing team’s performance. At the same time, they can provide useful advice to help design new objectives, strategies, and processes for future growth.
HOW DOES A MARKETING AUDIT WORK?
Your business’ needs and budget define any marketing audit’s specific scope. The process also depends on the sort of information you’re out to discover. For instance, you can perform a targeted audit of a distinct marketing tactic — assuming there’s a reason to suspect it might be hurting your ROI. However, a full-scale audit that offers a comprehensive view of your efforts is always far more useful. Though it takes longer and costs more, such an audit covers everything from market research and competitor analysis to branding, SEO, and website design. While both strategies give you answers, only the latter one presents new opportunities to consider.