Time to do your Communications Audit!

The Mechanics of a Professional, Objective Communications Audit
By Rodger Roeser
It’s that time of the year where it’s smartest to sit back and review the work you’ve done over the course of the past 12 months. How did your team perform, how did you perform and how did your marketing perform are three big questions that are perfect to answer and address during the month of December. It’s called a communications audit, and it may the wisest task you take on this year to ensure you have a more successful, more rewarding and more profitable next year.
The basics of a communications audit are pretty simple – you need to gather up all the communications activities you did over the course of the year. From ads to press announcements to letters to collateral to web statistics – everything that was communicated either externally, if this is an external communications audit, or internally if it’s an internal audit. Once you have all the “stuff,” what we like to do is either spread across a conference table or post it to a wall so you can take a step back and review on first blush the general look, feel and presence of the “stuff.” As you have a vision in your mind as what this should communicate overall, take a look and see if you feel is conveys that idea or that brand. If so, check off the ‘look/feel’ box.
Next, review the copywriting and verbiage being used in things such as ad copy, sales letters, press announcements and collateral. Does it come from a singular and branded voice, or does it feel disjointed and penned by several writers. This can be exceptionally challenging when different folks in different departments or varying agencies are putting items together without consideration of the entirety of the branded conversation. While good communications can certainly have some degree of variance, you want your materials to be consistent throughout in tone and feel. Are the materials conveying the thoughts and concepts you want them to convey, are they portraying your business in the light you wish it to be conveyed, and does it help foster engagement and truly share a story.
After you’ve reviewed tone of voice and tone of look, now you need to look at your metrics. Assuming you had a marketing plan for the year (you didn’t have a marketing plan, well, that’s another article but you need to do this to start making your plan for next year) now you can begin the measurement of how things actually functioned. Look at increases in web traffic, social media voice, articles published, interviews conducted, sales leads generated, impressions and so on and so forth – whatever key performance indicators (KPIs) were important for you and your business to measure. My favorite, most often overlooked KPI is overall sales – did they increase? If not, what the hell is marketing doing? Right? These metrics take on a variety of forms and can be broad or incredibly granular depending on the program, product, service or goal. For example, let’s assume you wanted to measure the increase in sales of windshield washer fluid. Assuming you had a campaign to push said sales, it’s relatively simple to have benchmarked current sales, then after the campaign gauge those numbers and divide it by marketing investment. Or, on a much broader scale, if you’re looking towards increase web traffic, what percentage did that go up based on general branding and awareness activity.
Now, if all this sounds like a lot of extra work, well – it is and it isn’t. But, I’m a firm believe that you “can’t manage what you can’t measure” so having a tight communications audit is a critical, but sadly often overlooked aspect, of a good marketing plan and a good marketing leader. It’s important to have the numbers, it’s critical to look at what is and what isn’t working. Is your internal team coming up with good ideas and strategies that are helping to achieve goals, or are they simply executing random tactics as they come up. Is your agency working with you to proactively drive business success, or are they simply executing tactics. And, if they’re simply executing tactics (assuming they’re your tactics you’re directing them to execute) are you measuring them against your goals?
And, are you able to do so objectively. Can your CMO or marketing directly truly share when something is not working well, or spend is too high or simply not producing. Sadly, in some internal situations, the fox is guarding the hen house when reporting results, so keep an objective third party in mind that has the ability and expertise to perform a comprehensive communications audit to keep your marketing and your results on track – while also looking at other opportunities that may be a significantly better investment based on the goals and results you seek.
About the Author
Rodger Roeser is the CEO of Greater Cincinnati’s premier professional services branding and marketing firm The Eisen Agency. Roeser is an award winning television, radio and print journalist, and an award winning public relations and marketing executive. He can be reached at RRoeser@TheEisenAgency.com.

Make 2015 Your Best Business Year Yet

Cincinnati PR, Advertising Firm Shares Five Things Every Small Business Owner Must At the End of the Year to Be Poised for Growth, Success in 2015


It’s the perfect time of the year to step back, take a deep breath and see what worked, what needs improved and what needs scrapped according to most business experts. Cincinnati and Cleveland public relations and advertising executive Rodger Roeser, also host of a national radio show on best practices in marketing and PR, says that while many executives may focus solely on the bottom line, he suggests that they take just a few moments and focus on marketing results – a simple investment of time that could not only save significant dollars, but also significantly improve performance.


1. Perform a communications audit


Roeser advises to take a look at all the pieces produced by your organization that were used for any type of public consumption, including letterhead, business cards, sales presentations, sales letters, press releases, advertisements and the like. Lay them all out on the conference table and make sure they follow your approved graphic standards and brand identity. Double check the messages being sent: are they hitting the mark, does it say what you want it to say? Are pieces outdated and does your material need refreshed? Is it easy to read and understand? What might some better and more interesting stories be about you, your team and your organization. Roeser advises consulting an expert if you feel you cannot be objective or lack the time.


2. Survey your existing clients


It’s never been easier than with the online software that exists, such as survey monkey or zoomerang – both free services. You simply craft a survey and email it out to your clients to glean valuable business intelligence. If you’re afraid to do that, you’re not following a basic tenant of business: listening to your client. Analyzing the results is also quite simple and you may find some easy things you can do to make some clients happy, but almost always, simply asking the question of “how can we make things even better,” is reward enough in that it lets customers know that they’re feedback is valued.


3. Set benchmarks before budgets


Look at what worked, what didn’t perform as expected and set a budget based on anticipated results and expectations. Marketing works because enough “oomph” is put behind it to make it work, and typically, integration is key. Look at your marketing mix and where the dollars are being allocated. Set goals, and above all, set benchmarks of where you are now and where you want to be in as many measurable facets of your organization as you can, such as overall sales, monthly sales, web traffic, store traffic, coupon redemption and the like. That way, you can look at your advertising, marketing and pr from of standpoint of “did it work” rather than “that’s a pretty color.” Most press releases, for example, that are crafted and distributed are poorly written because they are overly centric to the business sending it out, or mandated upon the agency to send it out. Don’t impose success when the release or product is the failure. Same goes with a bad ad, or bad customer service. Creativity and newsworthiness are subjective, while sales increases are not. Understand the difference.


4. If you don’t have one, find a community relations outlet for your business


There are hundreds of great causes and programs you can lend your business to, and dozens that will help strengthen and bolster your brand – if you need help, consult an agency. Cause marketing activities and community relations are proven to strengthen brand, increase sales and increase employee morale. It can be something you believe in personally, it can be large scale or small scale, but regardless, it should be part of your plan. Yes, it’s a good public relations move, but more importantly, it’s good for the overall health of your company and most likely, the community in which you and your employees live.


5. Do something different next year


Vow to do something different next year with your marketing, such as a podcast series, a custom publication or even start a blog. There are hundreds of new, fun, effective, inexpensive and creative outlets for marketing products, services or people. Again, consult with an expert, but do something and do something different. Remember, sometimes in marketing it can be okay to be that black sheep because the point is standing apart from the crowd and creating a distinctive and memorable brand. If your marketing is a bit stale, do something fresh. If you think blogs are new – it’s time for some fresh, proactive and creative counsel. Overall, marketing should be proactively effective and fun – regardless of industry.


Roeser adds that his agency provides a free service, called EMG Bootcamp, available by appointment, where business executives and practitioners can learn best practices, new services and technology, budgeting, and brand building exercises to better understand and develop strong marketing communications and sales team. EMG Bootcamp is an interactive, informative and fun two hour session.