How to Run a Marketing Audit and Maximise Your Budget This Year

The start of the year is the perfect time to step back, assess your marketing efforts, and make sure you’re focusing on what really works. With budgets under pressure and the agricultural sector facing ongoing challenges, every penny of your marketing spend needs to count. A marketing audit helps you cut waste, identify gaps, and build a plan that delivers real results.

But where do you start? This guide will take you through four essential audits that will sharpen your marketing strategy and set you up for success.

Strategic Audit: Are You Spending in the Right Places?

A strategic audit looks at the bigger picture—are your marketing activities aligned with your business goals? Are you focusing on the right channels? Are you seeing a return on investment?

This isn’t just about digital versus traditional marketing; it’s about understanding how all your efforts—online and offline—work together. Do you know where your leads and sales are coming from? If you’re investing in trade shows like LAMMA or Dairy Tech, do you have a clear way of measuring their impact? Are leads from these events being captured centrally in a CRM, and are they being nurtured effectively?

How to Audit Your Marketing Strategy:

• Define clear objectives – What do you want to achieve? More leads? Increased brand awareness? Clear goals drive better decisions.
• Understand lead sources – Do you know exactly where new business is coming from? Are offline ads, events, or PR campaigns contributing, or is digital doing the heavy lifting?
• Evaluate event ROI – How many leads came from industry shows? Were they followed up effectively?
• Check budget allocation – Are you splitting spend effectively across events, digital channels, and offline activities? Are you tracking what delivers the best return?
• Review CRM processes – Are leads housed centrally and followed up with personalised content and offers?
• Assess messaging and branding – Does your marketing reflect who you are and what your customers need?

By taking a holistic view, you’ll ensure your marketing budget is being spent in the right places and delivering tangible results.

SEO Audit: Make Sure Your Customers Can Find You

A strong online presence starts with visibility. If your website isn’t showing up in search results, you’re missing out on potential customers. An SEO audit helps you understand how well your site is performing in search engines and what improvements are needed.

How to Audit Your SEO:

• Check your keyword rankings – Are you appearing in search results for relevant terms? Use tools like Google Search Console or SEMrush to track performance.
• Test your website speed – Slow-loading pages harm rankings and frustrate visitors. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to check for issues.
• Look for broken links – Dead links damage your credibility and user experience. Tools like Screaming Frog can help find and fix them.
• Assess mobile-friendliness – Most users browse on mobile, and Google prioritises mobile-friendly sites. Run your site through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
• Review your content – Is your website answering customer questions effectively? High-quality, relevant content improves rankings and engagement.

By addressing these issues, you’ll increase your chances of being found by the right people at the right time.

Website Audit: Is Your Site Helping or Hurting Your Business?

Your website is often the first impression potential customers get of your business. If it’s slow, difficult to navigate, or not up to date, you could be losing valuable opportunities.

A website audit should cover functionality, usability, and analytics. Tools like Microsoft Clarity can help you understand how visitors interact with your site—where they click, where they drop off, and how they navigate your pages.

How to Audit Your Website:

• Assess user experience (UX) – Can visitors find what they need quickly? A simple, intuitive layout is key.
• Check for outdated content – Make sure your product pages, contact details, and blog posts are current and relevant.
• Analyse conversion rates – Are visitors turning into leads or customers? If not, review your call-to-action buttons, enquiry forms, and checkout process.
• Ensure it’s secure – If your site isn’t using HTTPS, search engines and customers may see it as untrustworthy.
• Test across devices – Check how your site looks and functions on desktops, tablets, and mobiles.

A well-optimised website works harder for your business, helping you attract and convert the right audience.

Social Media Audit: Is Your Content Connecting with the Right People?

Social media is a great way to engage with your audience, but without a clear plan, it’s easy to waste time and resources. A social media audit helps you focus on what’s working and improve your approach.

How to Audit Your Social Media:

• Check engagement rates – Which posts are generating the most likes, comments, and shares? Look for trends in content performance.
• Review follower growth – Are you attracting the right audience, or just increasing numbers for the sake of it?
• Assess platform relevance – Are you using the right social channels? If your audience isn’t active on a platform, you might be wasting effort.
• Analyse consistency – Are you posting regularly? Sporadic posting can weaken audience engagement.
• Review ad performance – If you’re running paid social campaigns, are they delivering leads or sales? If not, adjust targeting and messaging.

A focused social media strategy builds relationships, increases brand awareness, and drives real business results.

Let’s Make Your Marketing Work Harder

A marketing audit isn’t just a box-ticking exercise—it’s a powerful tool to sharpen your strategy, cut wasted spend, and drive better results. At Hillsgreen, we specialise in quick, no-nonsense audits that give you clear, actionable insights into your SEO, website, strategy, and social media.

💡 Want a quick, free marketing audit? We’re offering a top-level marketing assessment to help you identify your biggest opportunities. Answer a few quick questions, and we’ll send you tailored insights.

Click here to get your free audit

Now is the time to take stock and make sure your marketing budget is working as hard as you are. We’ll help you pinpoint what’s working, fix what’s not, and build a plan that delivers real growth.