Some of the most interesting jobs I have done are marketing audits. One was way back at the start of my career when companies were heavily vested in traditional media. The goal was to create a family look for the corporate communications and marketing program. So with pins and tape in hand and a conference room booked for the long haul, we began to assemble all of the print materials - annual reports, brochures, spec sheets, magazines, order sheets, news releases - anything intended for public or customer consumption went up on that wall.
It was a telling exercise for management and the communications and marketing staff - looking for consistency - reassembling and dissecting content - coming face-to-face with our company's marcom offering - no hiding away from these walls! It was a rewarding exercise that led to brilliant execution of a new corporate branding program based on product families.
Fast forward several years and once again I am conducting marcom audits for marketing communications channels: traditional and online. This time the audit results are more telling and stakes are higher as:
1. There are more players involved - management, communications staff, marketing specialists, tech writers, content authors, web and IT staff, e-content publishers, SEO specialists and search engine marketing specialists.
2. Content can be repurposed for any type of channel: traditional print or web or mobile
The marketing communication channel audits are telling when we look at traditional marcom versus online channels. Often because the primes are different people with different skill sets who come from different areas in the organization, the audit reveals a wide difference in the look and feel of the publications, websites and e-communications.
The solution is a holistic marketing audit that evaluates and optimizes all of the channels: print, web, mobile, telephone and email. That is what I had done just recently for a client. An excellent exercise with fantastic results and now well-optimized channels.
It was a telling exercise for management and the communications and marketing staff - looking for consistency - reassembling and dissecting content - coming face-to-face with our company's marcom offering - no hiding away from these walls! It was a rewarding exercise that led to brilliant execution of a new corporate branding program based on product families.
Fast forward several years and once again I am conducting marcom audits for marketing communications channels: traditional and online. This time the audit results are more telling and stakes are higher as:
1. There are more players involved - management, communications staff, marketing specialists, tech writers, content authors, web and IT staff, e-content publishers, SEO specialists and search engine marketing specialists.
2. Content can be repurposed for any type of channel: traditional print or web or mobile
The marketing communication channel audits are telling when we look at traditional marcom versus online channels. Often because the primes are different people with different skill sets who come from different areas in the organization, the audit reveals a wide difference in the look and feel of the publications, websites and e-communications.
The solution is a holistic marketing audit that evaluates and optimizes all of the channels: print, web, mobile, telephone and email. That is what I had done just recently for a client. An excellent exercise with fantastic results and now well-optimized channels.
