Last week we published a blog about a download we created to help you with your marketing audit. If you’re staring at your marketing right now with that feeling of “overwhelm” filling your head, I can relate to that! When something like an audit feels like a lot, I know how hard it can feel to push myself to dive in. Having a framework, like the download we created, is helpful for making sure you don’t miss any details when you audit your marketing—but how do you prevent that feeling of overwhelm that it can bring from stopping you?
While it’s important to look back at what you’ve done so that you can make informed choices about your marketing, it’s essential to enjoy the process and stay away from the state of overwhelm that prevents you from moving forward. And we are all about forward motion here! And we know, that we all get stuck once in a while so here are some tips on how to take on your marketing audit with open arms.
Use the Marketing Audit as a Moment of Creative Inspiration
The first thing that will help is to keep your eyes on your goal. Why are you doing a marketing audit in the first place?
When we do an audit for a client, I look at it as a source for creative inspiration as well as a way to find new opportunities to be more successful. Inspiration strikes when you make space for new ideas to come through, and what better way to do that than to look at what you’ve already done and find ways to improve it.
Looking at your social media you might decide—hey, my target audience seems to be on Instagram, and there are so many tools I’m not using on that platform. Or, wow—TikTok is really cool and I love creating video content, maybe I should give that a go? Or, my Facebook Page isn’t really doing much for my business right now. Maybe I should refocus and spend a little more time creating content for LinkedIn?
This is your chance to weigh in and make real changes that help you get closer to achieving your big goals.
Keep it simple
Conducting a marketing audit is not rocket science. It is simply an opportunity to reflect on what you’ve done so far and make some choices on how to do it better.
Just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean it’s easy to motivate yourself to do it! By reminding yourself it’s not rocket science, you’ll take some of that feeling of overwhelm out of it, and help you face this task.
Next, take your time and try to enjoy this process. Get grounded, listen to binaural beats, meditate, do whatever you do that helps you get into a place where you can slow down and focus.
Finding a way to get focused is actually harder than doing the audit itself. Promise.
Take it piece by piece
You don’t have to do your audit all in one sitting. In fact, you’re far more likely to get creative when you can sit with one area of your marketing and spend time reviewing all of the elements. Give yourself a week to take on the entire audit. It won’t take you more than a few hours, max, but you are allowed the freedom to do it in more than one sitting. What works well for me is to schedule my time like this:
- 60 minutes on the website
- 60-90 minutes on the social media platforms that are already being used
- 30 minutes on your online reputation
- 60 minutes exploring platforms that aren’t currently being used
There are no rules!
If you’re a non-linear thinker like me, you might struggle with step-by-step instructions. If you’re using our marketing audit guide, you don’t have to answer every single question. In fact, don’t even think of them as questions that need answers!
Really, the questions are just prompts to help you think critically about your marketing. What is most important is that you consider what kind of content your audience is responding to best, where they are responding to it and how that is helping you achieve your overall business goals.
Remembering there are no rules will help with that feeling of overwhelm!
My last piece of advice is this: quit with the negative self talk. The audit is an opportunity for growth and improvement. Pat yourself on the back for even creating content to audit in the first place. Give yourself another pat on the back for deciding your business is important enough that you are willing to take a look at what you’ve created and find opportunities to do it even better.
Want to get your hands on the marketing audit worksheet, if you haven’t already? You can grab it by clicking here. And don’t forget to sign up for updates, to make sure you don’t miss out on more useful marketing tools like this one!
Need a little more help with your marketing planning? We’ve got more on target audiences here:
Or check out our previous blogs on goal-setting: