Maximizing Impact: The Definitive Checklist for Conducting a Digital Marketing Audit
If one of your overall marketing goals is maximizing impact, the definitive checklist for conducting a digital marketing audit is for you.
In this comprehensive checklist, we'll cover everything you need to know about digital marketing audits. This includes what they are, who needs them, signs you might need one, and the essential elements that should be looked at.
Let's dive in!
What is a Digital Marketing Audit?
Simply put, a digital marketing audit is a systematic examination of your organization's online marketing strategies, tactics, and performance. It involves analyzing various digital marketing channels, platforms, and campaigns to assess their effectiveness, identify areas for improvement, and find ways to optimize for better results.
Think of it as a health checkup for your online presence.
Who Needs a Digital Marketing Audit?
Any business or organization that wants to enhance its online presence, boost brand visibility, and drive better results from digital marketing efforts can benefit from a digital marketing audit.
Whether you're a small startup or a large enterprise, auditing your digital marketing strategies is essential for staying competitive.
Signs You Might Need a Digital Marketing Audit
If any of the following is true — even if you’re not sure but you suspect it’s true — you probably would benefit from a digital marketing audit:
- Your website traffic has plateaued or declined.
- Your conversion rates are lower than expected.
- Your social media engagement is lacking.
- Your email marketing campaigns are underperforming.
- Your competitors are outpacing you online.
- You're not sure if your digital marketing efforts are delivering a positive ROI.
What Digital Marketing Elements Should be Audited?
As part of your digital marketing audit, you should look at the following:
- Website Performance: Assess your website's design, usability, speed, mobile responsiveness, page crawlability, ease of navigation, links, errors, user behavior, and user experience.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Review your keyword strategy, on-page optimization, backlink profile, and overall search engine visibility.
- Content Marketing: Evaluate the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of your content across different channels. Also consider metrics such as number of visitors, visit duration, engagement/click rates and referral sources.
- Social Media Marketing: Analyze your social media profiles, content strategy, engagement metrics, and audience demographics.
- Email Marketing: Review your email list quality, campaign performance, deliverability, and subscriber engagement. Specifically, look at your unsubscribe rate, clicks, conversions, performance compared to industry benchmarks, list health and growth, content optimization for mobile, and call to action clarity.
- Paid Advertising: Examine your ad campaigns, targeting options, ad copy, landing pages, and ad spend efficiency. Assess data such as number of impressions, cost per click, click through rates, actions taken, conversion rate, and cost per action.
- Online Reputation: Evaluate what people are saying about you in Google Reviews, as well as in other online reviews on sites like Yelp. You may not be able to control what they say and/or write about you, but you can — and should — control how you publicly respond to all reviews.
- Analytics and Reporting: Ensure you're tracking the right KPIs, analyzing data effectively, and using insights to inform future strategies.
Additional Considerations to Include in Your Digital Marketing Audit
While looking at all the data you can track related to digital marketing, be sure to also include the following as part of your digital marketing audit:
- Competitor Analysis: Benchmark your performance against competitors and identify opportunities for differentiation.
- Compliance and Legal Considerations: Ensure your digital marketing practices comply with relevant laws and regulations, such as GDPR and ADA.
- Technology and Tools: Assess the effectiveness of your digital marketing tools and technologies and explore opportunities for optimization or integration.
Get Professional Help with a Digital Marketing Audit
By conducting a thorough digital marketing audit, you can gain valuable insights into your online presence, identify areas for improvement, and develop data-driven strategies to achieve your marketing goals.
Whether you're looking to increase website traffic, generate more leads, or improve brand awareness, a digital marketing audit is the first step towards maximizing your impact in the digital world.
But often it’s helpful to have a neutral third party perform the audit and evaluate your efforts.
Contact us today to schedule a professional digital marketing audit and unlock the full potential of your online marketing efforts!
Click here to contact us and get the conversation started.
Related Articles:
How to Create a Digital Marketing Strategy
