What is a Marketing Audit?

A Marketing Audit will help you get back to your roots.  It provides an historical context that helps to clarify the marketing state of the organization.  Think of it like a retrospective that maps out the path that the organization has taken.

It especially helps organizations that have lost their way, but it can also be a valuable tool for organizations that are trying to break out of their current mould.  If you go through the exercise, you’ll be surprised at how it can help to identify the viable market strategy options.

Components of a Marketing Audit:

1. Marketing Environment Audit
   Take inventory of the environment in which the organization exists.  What are the demographic, economic, an environmental factors?  Are they likely to stay the same or shift in the immediate future?
   
2. Marketing Strategy Audit
   Does the organization have a stated set of marketing objectives and goals?  What is the current ‘brand’ of the organization?  A way to kick-start the discussion is to ask, “If the organization was a car company (Toyota, Ford, Volvo, etc), what company would it be and why?”
3. Marketing Organization Audit
   Is the marketing formal or informal (i.e. separated as a function, or embedded in the Sales or R&D groups)?  Are marketing efforts consistent throughout the organization?
4. Marketing Systems Audit
   What systems, technological or organizational, exist to support marketing information, planning or control?  What processes are followed to develop or introduce new products or services?
5. Marketing Productivity Audit
   What is the profitability (both revenue and cost) across the different products and services?
6. Marketing Function Audit
   Describe the ‘4 Ps’ of the organization: Product/Service, Placement/Distribution, Price, and Promotion/Advertisement.  Describe how these aspects of evolved over time.

It requires some dedicated time to perform a Marketing Audit, but rest assured that going through this exercise will kick-start your ability to understand where you are and where you’ll need to focus your marketing efforts.

Source: Marketing Management by Kotler, Philip and Peggy Cunningham (2004)

Chris McPhee, MBA
Email: Chris.McPhee@Marketing-Matters.org