What is a Marketing Forensics Audit

A marketing audit reviews the marketing health of your business or organisation.  It is used to identify weaknesses in order that they can be corrected, and provide a platform to build your marketing plan or marketing strategy.

A marketing audit is the systematic, comprehensive and periodic review of the entire marketing activities of your company.

A Definition of a Marketing Audit
A comprehensive, systematic, independent and periodic examination of a company’s or business unit’s marketing environment, objectives, strategies and activities with a view to determining problem areas and opportunities and recommending a plan of action to improve the company’s performance.
(Kotler and Keller (2006)).

The Marketing Audit, in general terms, has two dimensions:

1. The Internal Audit (Marketing Strategy Audit, Marketing Organisation Audit, Marketing Productivity Audit, Marketing Systems Audit, Marketing Functions Audit)
2. The External Audit (environmental Audit)

Purpose of a Marketing Audit
The purpose of the marketing audit is threefold (Wilson & Gilligan, 2005):

1. To identify the organisation’s current market position.
2. To understand the environmental opportunities and threats it faces.
3. To clarify the organisation’s ability to cope with environmental change.

Role of a Marketing Audit
A fundamental aspect of marketing planning is the ability to identify and assess key changes in the business environment:
(1) Both now, and in the past, and into the future.
(2) Both internally within the business, and externally in the wider economy.

It needs to act as a reference tool that feeds into your marketing plan and marketing strategy documents, with constant updates reflecting changes in the external environment and your own internal business experiences.

Key outcomes from your audit can be summarised in your your marketing plan and/or marketing strategy.

The benefits of a regular marketing audit

1. Problems can be identified earlier.
2. The needs for crisis management is reduced.
3. Better planning leads to a more considered approach (less fire-fighting).
4. Change can be reacted to faster.
5. It’s easier to stay ahead of the competition.
6. Comparisons can be made against previous audits.

Characteristics of an effective marketing audit

1. Comprehensive It covers all main marketing activities (9 Ps, internal and external).
   
2. Systematic Orderly and structured.
   
3. Independent This keeps any bias to a minimum.
   
4. Periodic See the benefits of a regular audit. 

The most common findings from a marketing audit

1. A lack of market insight (especially customer insight).
2. Insufficient market segmentation.
3. A lack of effective marketing planning.
4. The pricing strategy is reactive not proactive.
5. Insufficient evaluation of the marketing spend.
6. Company/brand strengths are not being exploited.
7. The short term view is predominant.
8. Customer loyalty is not given sufficient focus, time and budget.
9. Marketing is not delivering sufficient value to the customer.
10. The existing marketing investment is insufficient to achieve the set marketing objectives.

Common reasons for not carrying out an audit

1. The perceived cost
   
2. The time and resources needed to do it.
3. Its complexity.
4. The potential disruption.
5. A lack of understanding of its potential value and cost effectiveness.

The benefits of a regular marketing audit

1. Problems can be identified earlier.
2. The needs for crisis management is reduced.
3. Better planning leads to a more considered approach (less fire-fighting).
4. Change can be reacted to faster.
5. It’s easier to stay ahead of the competition.
6. Comparisons can be made against previous audits.

Dr. Antony Michail
Anacalypsis Strategy & Marketing Consultants Pty Ltd