How often are you reviewing your Marketing?
In a perfect world, we would be constantly reviewing and assessing our activities but let’s face it, we all get busy! Some months/years are more hectic than others (yes, 2020 I’m looking at you) and suddenly you’re back to the start of a 12-month cycle of planning for the next year.
Before you sit down to write your next annual marketing plan, there’s an important step you need to do first – a marketing audit!
An audit on your own marketing activities doesn’t need to be arduous and frankly, depending on the size of your team and your autonomy within the business, this might just be an afternoon in the boardroom with some snacks and breaking down your year. On the other hand, your organisation might benefit from a more formal report that shows you’ve put thought and rigour into analysing your marketing before diving into the following year (hint; the finance brains on your Board will loveeeeee a formal plan!)
Whatever the execution looks like, there are some common factors that you should include:
What worked and what didn’t?
How much resource (dollars, people, tools, contractors) did you dedicate to marketing and was that the ideal amount?
If you had clear goals already set for the year – how did you results stack up against them?
What did your customers say?
Is your collateral still aligned to the brand?
What did you competitors do in that same time frame?
Does your product/service still solve a problem your customers have (that is, you’re still meeting their needs and for bonus points, you’re doing it in a way your competitors are not)
We’re pretty strong believers that there is no such thing as a “set and forget” marketing plan. They need to be flexible and someone (ie you!) should always be keeping one eye on the ball.
You can even implement an audit on a quarterly basis and or apply the same process to big-ticket items like events and debrief them immediately afterwards.
An audit shouldn’t be a list of right and wrong – it’s a discussion that will ultimately bring to the surface all the good stuff that we want to build on for the next 12 months.
And then make your annual planning that much easier!
If you’re looking for someone to partner with you to help you audit your current activities and help you plan for the following year check this out or fill in the form below so we can have a chat!