Marketing audit for advisors, part 2

January 29, 2011 at 07:00 PM
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A marketing audit can give you insights into your strengths and weaknesses as a marketer and help you determine how to invest your marketing resources going forward. It can also help build consensus within your company about marketing and forge a common vision to guide your efforts.

1. Be objective. Try to look at your marketing through the eyes of a client or prospect. Avoid the temptation to defend campaigns you've created or tactics that "we've always done." Be ready to jettison initiatives that aren't delivering results and willing to test new ideas and approaches.

2. Examine your marketing in all channels. Look for inconsistencies in messaging and branding as well as opportunities to integrate marketing more effectively across traditional and social media. Ask a Web specialist to evaluate marketing in traditional media and vice versa.

3. Compare your marketing to your competitors'. Though your focus should be on your own program, take some time to compare your marketing to what competitors are doing. Do a head-to-head comparison of your branding, website and marketing messages to see who's having more impact in the marketplace.

4. Customer satisfaction surveys and Web comments can help you see how well you're delivering on your brand promise at the human level when your staff interacts directly with customers and prospects.

5. If you find you can't be objective or you don't have the time or resources for a thorough, top-to-bottom assessment, get help from an external marketing consultant.

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Jean M. Gianfagna is a marketing strategy expert and the founder and president of Gianfagna Strategic Marketing, a consulting firm in Cleveland, that provides marketing strategy and creative services to leading business-to-business and consumer marketers. Gianfagna has been creating and implementing successful, integrated marketing communications plans and programs for more than 30 years. Read her blog for more marketing tips at http://www.gianfagnamarketing.com/blog.

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