‘What should a digital marketing audit include?’ is a commonly asked question when a client is in the process of developing a new communications strategy or website that needs to be fit for purpose for the digital age.
Before you decide on an outline, it might be worth clarifying the definition of ‘digital marketing’ and ‘audit’. Both terms can mean something completely different to people depending on their experience and knowledge of the subject area, the love or hate for statistics and the time they are willing to put into reading an analytical report.
Audits tend to be about the current state of play, but what would be the point of writing them if you can’t make any recommendations for the future?
The term ‘digital marketing’ has changed its meaning several times over the past decade – simply because new platforms, channels and tools keep popping up that marketers are keen to explore in order to stay ahead of the curve.
In essence, digital marketing encompasses all the digital channels used to reach your target audience – whether it’s through email, mobile messages, social media, search engines (SEO), paid advertising on external websites, mobile apps and search engines (PPC, banner ads), or through editorial stories on relevant websites (digital PR).
Here are the 10 key points for a digital marketing audit outline that we would recommend for a medium to large sized, well-established organisation:
- Review of current digital marketing strategy, systems and tools, alignment with overall organizational goals
- Review of website performance – audience profile, user journeys, content and conversions
- Review of social media platforms – audience profile and engagement
- SEO analysis and keyword research
- Review of online and mobile advertising, paid search and paid social
- Review of past email and SMS campaigns
- Review of digital PR – quality and quantity of media coverage online
- Internal skills review
- SWOT and competitors analysis
- Summary of recommendations
Feel free to get in touch with us if you would like us to write the audit for you. We work with a huge network of freelancers and after an initial consultation, we would put together a team of experts in your field to work on the audit.