📆 Last updated: May 28, 2026 by Karola Karlson

<aside> 👾

Hello!

Welcome to the Marketing Audit Questions Library.

This library was first available to the subscribers of the Marketing Fix newsletter.

➡️ Subscribe here for bi-weekly marketing advice (fixes, freebies, hot takes), based on 12y of hands-on growth roles in 50+ tech companies in the EU, UK, and US.

Choose your next step:

  1. Continue to read the brief introduction, and learn how marketing audits work, and how to write a good one.
  2. Scroll right down for the checklist of 95 Marketing Audit Questions.
    </aside>

<aside> 💎

Want to say thanks? Easy!

<aside> 📖

Marketing Audit: Quick Introduction

➡️ What is a marketing audit?

After working on 45+ marketing audits, each of which takes 20-40 hours, I’ve spent ca 1,350 hours of my waking life (that’s about 84 days!) switching between tabs and docs.

How did I end up writing the audits? And why?

It’s rare for agencies or consultants to offer marketing audits as a standalone service. They’re usually done in-house, by the CMO. Or by an external auditing agency as part of a bigger project.

And yet, the need for an audit of a company’s marketing activities arose every time I started working for a new brand.

A 360-degree marketing audit is the fastest way to:

  1. Get an exhaustive overview of what’s worked / not worked.
  2. Understand each marketing channel’s state and ROI.
  3. Research competing brands’ USPs and tactics.
  4. Map new ideas and opportunities for growth.
  5. Align company-wide goals with those of marketing.
  6. Get a prioritised roadmap for the next 6 months.

Think of a marketing audit as a complete check-up of your marketing strategy.

Audits are done 1-2 times per year, and give you a deep dive into your marketing efforts to see what’s working and what’s not, and what could be optimised for better results.

➡️ What does a marketing audit cover?

When conducting marketing audits for my clients, I usually spend 20+ hours collecting, analysing, and formatting the information.

The resulting Google Docs file is about 60 pages long (including screenshots).

That’s a lot of hours and pages…

But if you think about it, there are also many different aspects to marketing. A well-researched and actionable marketing audit covers every aspect of your marketing strategy, from acquisition to engagement to retention.

The best way to do a marketing audit is by taking the 360-degree approach.

You should cover all the key aspects of your growth and marketing strategy, from planning and reporting to detailed per-channel analysis.

Eight key chapters of a marketing audit:

  1. Results & Reporting
  2. Brand & Value Proposition
  3. Website/App & Acquisition Flow
  4. Customer Acquisition
    1. Growth loops
    2. Paid ads
  5. Social Media Marketing
  6. Content Marketing & SEO
  7. Email Marketing & Automation
  8. Summary & Next 12 Months’ Plan

➡️ How to get started?

  1. Define your marketing audit goals.
  2. Set up a Google Doc with all chapters.
  3. Make 2-4h every day to complete the audit in 1-2 weeks.

1️⃣ Start by defining what you want to get out of your audit.

Be clear about what the final audit result should look like before you begin the audit.

2️⃣ Set up a Google Doc with all chapters.

The hardest part if to start the project. Just do it.

I like writing marketing audits in Google Docs, as they’re good for formatting, including screenshots, and team comments.

Alternatively, you could use Notion or a Miro board.

3️⃣ Block 2-4 hours of time daily.

Writing a marketing audit is not a multitasking side task. Your brain needs to go into deep-focus mode where it can take in lots of information, analyse it, make connections, and come up with strategic takeaways.

I usually aim to write a full chapter in one sitting. It ends up saving a lot of time, because you don’t have to reopen all the tabs, get back into the mindset, etc.

It’s best to work on your marketing audit in the morning, when your mind’s not yet cluttered with Slack threads and meetings.

➡️ Can I use AI to save time?

There is one part of the marketing audit where AI tools like Claude Cowork can save you time.

That’s competitive research.

I like to create a list of 10-15 competitors, and ask Claude to scrape their website and socials, then create a spreadsheet with relevant URLs, positioning and value props.

But even then, I’ll manually click each of the URLs and analyse their websites and social posts to know what’s actually there. I also collect screenshots of good examples (website blocks, USP wordings, paid ad creatives) and add them to Google Docs with my own commentary and takeaways.

As to the rest of your audit, you’ll only waste time trying to cheat with AI.

The whole point of the marketing audit is to view, analyse, and process everything with your own wise human brain.

And, obviously, you’re the only person who can come up with meaningful takeaways and next steps.

So use AI cautiously. Otherwise, you’ll end up with lots of gibberish that does not lead to any improvements or change.

</aside>

 95 Marketing Audit Questions