Marketing

Assessing the Overall Marketing Capability & Strength – An Outline of Key Audit Points

We help CEOs and their companies solve their most challenging go-to-market, sales growth and demand generation problems. Our expertise in problem-solving sales and marketing helps identify the key growth levers and accelerate value-creation.  We leverage our own experience, domain expertise and emerging best practices to deliver optimal performance to help you attain and frequently outperform your objectives.  We also specialize in the assessment, recommendation and implementation/execution of sales and marketing solutions that will help you drive high-performing sales revenue growth results. To start off, here is how we help some of companies with an audit/assessment of their overall B2B marketing and Demand Generation capability as well as rank the performance of their marketing.

Here is also a “10-Point” assessment that I start out with for most companies:

The Basic 10-Point Assessment:

  1. Marketing Cores
  2. Marketing Strategy & Budget
  3. Team Capability
  4. Execution & Performance
  5. Website
  6. Demand / Lead Generation
  7. Content Marketing
  8. PR & Analyst Relations
  9. Product Marketing
  10. Marketing Systems & Technology

 

And below is a more comprehensive “18-Point” audit/assessment – this may not be for every company (this is typically done for larger companies or for those who want a comprehensive deep-dive).

The Detailed 18-Point Assessment:

  1. Business Foundation
  2. Marketing Cores
  3. Marketing Strategy & Budget
  4. Team Capability
  5. Execution & Performance
  6. Brand & Positioning
  7. Website
  8. Demand / Lead Generation
  9. Funnel Conversions
  10. PPC & SEO
  11. Content Marketing
  12. Customer Experience & Marketing
  13. PR, Media & Analyst Relations, Social Media
  14. Events Marketing
  15. Product Marketing
  16. Partner / Channel Marketing
  17. Sales & Marketing Alignment
  18. Marketing Systems & Technology

 

Here are some more details to shed more light on the audit points above:

The Foundation
  • Market size & company’s share
  • Segmentation
  • Competitive advantages
  • Financial strength
  • Internal marketing
  • Tolerance for risk
  • Opportunities for growth
  • Top Strategic Goals that marketing supports
  • Competitors & Competitive Strength
  • Unit Economics relating to Marketing
    • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
    • Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

 

Marketing Cores
Assess and rate the “overall strength” in these core areas:
  • Brand
  • Positioning & Value Proposition
  • Target Buyer Persona profiles
  • Leads database
  • Lead Generation
  • Lead Nurturing
  • Sales/Marketing Alignment
  • Website Management
  • ABM – Account-Based Marketing
  • Channel Marketing
  • Content Strategy
  • Customer Marketing
  • Event Marketing
  • Product Marketing
  • PR & Communication
  • Marketing Operations

 

Marketing Strategy

  • Marketing Planning
  • Marketing Processes
  • Budget Management
  • Marketing Goals
  • Geographic markets
  • Verticals
  • Go-to-Market Strategy
  • Segmentation
  • Strategic Planning
  • Talent Plan

 

Marketing Team Composition & Capability
  • Talent / Headcount Plan
  • Missing competency gaps
  • Team composition
    • Tenure
    • Experience
    • Level / Role / Title
    • Objectives
  • Rate the team’s capability/strength:
    • Marketing Executives & Managers
    • Content Marketing
    • Email marketing
    • Event planning/production
    • Graphic design
    • Lead Management/Nurturing
    • Marketing / Data Analysis
    • Paid Search
    • SEO Marketing
    • Social Media
    • PR
    • Video marketing, production, editing
    • Website management
Brand & Positioning
  • Brand Awareness
  • Recognition
  • Mentions
  • Messaging & Positioning
  • Elevator Pitch
  • Consistency of Messaging
  • The “Story” Track
  • Slogan or the #1 aspiration massaging
Execution, Performance & Results
  • Performance vs. Benchmarks
    • Review Google Analytics
    • Review AdWords Performance
    • Review KPI Dashboards
    • Review Funnel Conversion Dashboards
  • Content
  • Marketing-Sourced Opps & Sales
  • Customer retention rates
  • Employee retention rates
  • Inbound job candidates
  • Inbound links
  • Lead Generation
  • Lead Nurturing, Drips and Sequences
  • Lead Scoring / Quality
  • Lead volume
  • Lead conversion (Leads > MQLs > SQLs > Opportunities)
  • Lead-to-sale conversion rates
  • Paid Ads
  • SEO Performance
    • By top keywords
    • Change and improvement to P1 ranking
  • Referrals
  • Social media engagement
  • Social media reach
  • Subscribers (blog, email, newsletter, etc)
  • Website traffic & organic growth

 

Demand & Lead Generation
  • Lead Flow – Goals & KPIs
  • Dashboards
    • Measurement, Analytics & Reporting
    • Marketing Metrics & KPIs
    • Leads Trajectory
    • Funnel KPIs & Conversions Dash
    • Insights Gathering & Effect on Marketing Strategy
    • Marketing-Generated Opps &  Revenue
    • Marketing Contribution Analysis
  • Campaigns & Programs
  • Lead Generation Process
  • Campaign Management
  • Calendar & Campaign Planning
  • Conversion Tracking
  • Paid Banner Ads
  • Direct marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Events/shows
  • Inbound Marketing
  • Inbound Phone Call
    • process & alignment with sales
  • Influencers
  • Insiders Content
  • Capturing Leads
    • Landing Pages
    • Conversion Optimization
    • No-form capture methods
  • Lead Database & Lead Management
    • Growth
    • Lead Lifecycle
    • Lead scoring / decay
    • Data quality
    • Lead Statuses
      • Assess Lead Status Values & identify improvements
      • Here is an example – this is crucial to get right for effective automation
  • Lead Nurturing, Drips & Sequences
    • Methodology
    • Process
    • Framework
    • Effectiveness & Performance
  • Lead Scoring
    • framework & methodology
    • what is working, what is not
    • sales feedback and score quality
  • Organic search
  • Outbound marketing
  • Paid Search – using B2B methods
    • We will rate the performance over the last 4 quarters via these channels:
      • AdWords
      • LinkedIn Ads
      • Twitter Ads
      • Other search engines if it makes sense in your context
      • Quora Ads
      • Banner ads on influencer/VIP sites with lead capture
      • FB ads – the B2B approach
    • Retargeting
  • Premium content (ebooks, podcasts, white papers, webinars, etc)
  • Referrals
  • Reporting of Marketing ROI to executive teams
  • Retargeting – overall
  • Social media
  • Sponsorships
  • Syndicated Content Campaigns
  • Traditional advertising (print, radio, TV, billboard)
  • Webinars
    • External – using Thought Leaders / Authors / Influencers / VIPs
    • Internal
    • Calendar of planned webinars
    • Banner Ads on the website
  • Website optimization for Lead Generation
    • Website Master Tools / Admin
    • Audit for SEO and quality
  • Analysis of Lead Sources
    • Which sources drive the Pipeline and deals
  • Analysis of Active Paying Customers
    • What campaign influenced our customer purchases
      • Analyze by 1st touch and Last touch
      • which campaigns influenced 40%/50%/80% of our customers and lead to a decision
      • which assets touched 40%/50%/80% of our customers and lead to a decision
    • Analyze the number and frequency of touch-points that generated customers
  • Analysis of Lost Leads – Middle of Funnel Leakage
    • Why are leads dropping off and not making it to MQLs or from MQLs to SQLs
  • Analysis of Lost Opportunities – Middle of Funnel Leakage
    • Analysis of prospective customers – why they are lost in the middle of the funnel

 

Content Marketing
  • Asset Management
  • Blog
    • quality
    • frequency
    • analysis of the funnel
  • eBooks & Whitepapers
  • Email Newslettters
  • Infographics
  • Landing Pages
  • Original Research Reports
  • Promoting Content
    • channels
    • Linkedin
    • Slideshare
    • Medium
    • Twitter
    • Quora
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Webinars
Customer Experience / Marketing
  • Customer NPS – Net Promoter Score
  • Customer Buyer Journey
  • Customer Relationships
  • Customer References / Opt-ins
  • Retention & Customer loyalty
  • Customer Service
  • Customer Newsletter
  • Customer Case Studies
  • Customer Quotes on the website
  • Customer Videos / Interviews
PR, Media & Analyst Relations, Social Media
  • External communication strategy
  • Media coverage
    • Maintaining a database of media contacts
    • Monitoring placements and mentions
    • Pitching process for product reviews and stories
  • Analyst Relations
    • Maintaining a database of analyst contacts
    • Process for engaging and updating Analysts
  • Bloggers
    • Dynamic database of industry bloggers
    • Securing guest posts on industry blogs
    • Relationship management / engagement
  • Community involvement
  • Speaking engagements
  • News Releases
    • published in the media
    • strategy & frequency for the website
  • Social Media
    • Engaging with customers, leads, influencers, publications, bloggers and analysts
    • Thought leadership & brand development, sharing original content
    • Monitoring social media mentions

 

Events Marketing

  • Which industry events and trade shows attended
  • Process for managing events and sponsorships
  • Process & calendar to submit for speaking engagements
  • Process & calendar to submit for industry awards
  • Leads and Conversions
  • Post-Event Alignment with Sales
  • Internal Events
    • Lunch & Learn
    • Meetups
    • Combined Partner Events

 

Product Marketing

  • Product Collateral
  • Battle Cards
  • Datasheets
  • Spec Sheets
  • Solution Briefs
  • Product – Alignment With Marketing
    • New Product Launches
    • Innovation
    • Product Quality
    • Product vs competition
  • Website product pages with clear and simple information

 

Partner / Channel Marketing

  • Partner Strategy
  • Partner Program
  • Partner Portal
  • Partner Events
    • Combined
    • Participating
  • Partner Newsletter
  • Affiliate/partner programs
  • Promotions
  • Referrals
  • Partner Training

 

Sales & Marketing Algnment

  • SLA – Sales & Marketing
  • Taxonomy & Definitions
    • Leads
    • MQLs
    • SQLs
  • Marketing to Sales Hand-Off Process
  • Conversions from SQL to Opps vs. Benchmarks

 

Marketing Operations

  • Analyses & Marketing ROI /  ROMI
  • Dashboards
  • Data Management
  • Attribution Tracking & Methodology
  • Lead Management
  • Marketing Enablement

 

Marketing Tech
  • Chatbot app
    • Process & Method
    • Conversion Analysis
    • Apps – Drift / Intercom, etc.
  • Marketing Automation
  • Marketing setup in the CRM
  • Outbound Email Marketing Service
  • Marketing Analytics
  • Project Management
  • Content Management System
  • SEO Management Tools
  • Social Media Management

 

Posted on by Zorian