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Introduction to Digital Marketing Audits
In today's digital landscape, conducting a digital marketing audit is crucial for any business aiming to succeed online. It’s an exhaustive review of your digital marketing strategies, tactics, and outcomes.Â
To effectively manage a digital marketing function for high performance, you will want to have a handle on how things are performing. We run a high level audit on everything below when we start with new accounts, and on a regular basis review the metrics which are most important to our clients.
Key Steps in Conducting a Digital Marketing Audit
To run a digital marketing audit, you must first identify the aims of your digital marketing activities. Then, collect and scrutinise data from all platforms where you're active. Assess the performance of any marketing you are running - for example content, SEO, PPC campaigns, social media interactions, and email marketing efforts.
Essential Platforms and Metrics to Evaluate
Your audit should examine your performance on any platforms (e.g. Facebook Ads, Website analytics, etc). that you are currently running.Â
But, what metrics should you look at in each platform? It’s impossible to provide a list that suits absolutely every business under the sun, but the below list looks at the primary channels and the key metrics to consider for each.
Google Analytics Metrics
Conversion Metrics:
Transactions:Â The total number of completed purchases on your website.
Purchasers: The number of unique customers who have completed a transaction.
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User): The average revenue generated from each active user. You can use this to understand how much you are willing to pay as an average cost per click to bring users to your website.
Revenue: The total income generated from all transactions on your site.
AOV (Average Order Value): The average amount spent each time a customer places an order.
Key Events: Specific interactions tracked during a session that lead to conversions.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of visits that result in a conversion to a goal.
Product List: A breakdown of products viewed or sold, often used for tracking product performance.
Channel Performance: The effectiveness of different marketing channels in driving conversions. You can use this to understand how different channels are contributing to your website’s conversion performance.
Location Performance: The conversion data segmented by the geographical location of your audience. You can use this to understand how different locations (e.g. cities or countries) are contributing to your website’s conversion performance.
UTM Performance: The effectiveness of custom campaign parameters in driving conversions. You can use this to get a deeper understanding of how campaigns are performing.
Traffic Metrics:
Users: The individuals who have had at least one session on your website.
Sessions: A group of user interactions within a given timeframe on your website.
Engaged Sessions: Sessions that include a defined level of user engagement or activity.
Engagement Rate: The proportion of sessions that qualify as engaged.
New Users: First-time visitors to your site within the selected date range.
Views:Â The number of times a specific page or screen is viewed.
Popular Pages: Pages on your site that receive the most views and traffic.
Channel Performance: An analysis of how different traffic sources contribute to your website's traffic. You can use this to understand how different channels are contributing to your website’s traffic.
Location Performance: Traffic data segmented by the geographical location of your visitors. You can use this to understand how different locations (e.g. cities and countries) are contributing to your website’s traffic.
UTM Performance: Traffic attributed to specific marketing campaigns as tracked by UTM parameters. You can use this to get a deeper understanding of how campaigns are performing.
Tips:
Day by day: We find it best to look at your data on a day by day basis. This will allow you to see any peaks and troughs. For example - are there any days where a particular channel or location had a spike in traffic and sales? You’ll want to know that and then dig into why that was the case!
Looking for a Google Analytics consultant or training? Say hello.
Google Search Metrics
Impressions:Â The number of times any of your pages have been displayed in search results, being the first 10 pages of Google Search results.
Clicks: The total count of user selections (clicks) on your search result links leading to your site.
Brand Queries: Searches that include your brand name, indicating direct interest in your company.
Intent Queries: Searches that reflect the searcher's intention to engage in a specific action or find a particular type of information or service. These are searches which do not include your brand name and hence are the direct result of SEO efforts.
Page Performance: Measures individual pages' effectiveness in search results, based on impressions, clicks, and other key metrics. This will allow you to review how each individual page on your website is performing.
CTR (Click Through Rate): The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click, showcasing the appeal of your page titles and descriptions.
Average Position: The average ranking of your website in search engine results, based on a sample of queries for which your site appears.
Tips:
Country: Make sure to set the country that you are targeting, as Google will automatically display your search results in other countries. By selecting your country of target the metrics will be significantly more relevant.
Looking for a Google Search / SEO consultant or training? Say hello.
Google Business Profile (Previously Google My Business) Metrics
Conversions:
Website Clicks: The number of times users clicked to visit your website from your business profile.
Phone Calls: The count of calls initiated by users directly from your phone number listed on your business profile.
Directions Requests: The number of times users requested directions to your business location through your profile.
Bookings: The quantity of service bookings or appointments made through your business profile.
Food Orders:Â For businesses in the food service industry, the number of food orders placed via the business profile.
Conversations: The number of messaging interactions between your business and potential customers initiated through the business profile.
Reviews:
Average Rating: The mean score of your business ratings given by customers on your Google Business Profile.
Total New Reviews:Â The number of new reviews your business has received within a specific timeframe.
Average Time to Respond: The average duration it takes for your business to respond to customer reviews.
Visibility:
Total Impressions: The total number of times your business listing was viewed across Google services.
Mobile and Desktop Maps Impressions: The number of impressions of your business listing specifically on Google Maps, separated by mobile and desktop devices.
Mobile and Desktop Search Impressions: The number of times your business listing appeared in Google Search results, differentiated by mobile and desktop devices.
Google Ads Metrics
Account-wide Metrics: You should look at these metrics across your account, as well as for individual campaigns.
Conversion:
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): The average cost to acquire a conversion through your ads.
AOV (Average Order Value): The average value of a transaction made by a customer who clicked on your ad.
Cost: The total amount of money spent on your Google Ads campaign.
Conversions: The number of times users take the desired action after clicking on your ad.
Revenue: The income generated from conversions through your Google Ads.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): The amount of revenue earned for every dollar spent on your Google Ads.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks on your ads that lead to conversions.
Age: The distribution of conversions segmented by the age groups of the users.
Gender: The distribution of conversions segmented by the gender of the users.
Traffic
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): The average cost to acquire a conversion through your ads.
AOV (Average Order Value): The average value of a transaction made by a customer who clicked on your ad.
Cost: The total amount of money spent on your Google Ads campaign.
Conversions: The number of times users take the desired action after clicking on your ad.
Revenue: The income generated from conversions through your Google Ads.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): The amount of revenue earned for every dollar spent on your Google Ads.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks on your ads that lead to conversions.
Age: The distribution of conversions segmented by the age groups of the users.
Gender: The distribution of conversions segmented by the gender of the users.
Keyword Data:
Search Keywords: The specific words or phrases that advertisers bid on in Google Ads, where ads are shown based on these keywords matching user search queries.
Search Terms: The actual queries that users type into Google that trigger your ads to appear. This can provide insight into the exact words people use when they see your ads. You will want to review these and ensure that they are relevant to what you offer - it is very common that irrelevant terms come through!
Keyword Quality Score: A metric that Google uses to assess the relevance and quality of your keywords and PPC ads. It influences your cost per click (CPC) and is determined by factors such as expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience. You will want your keyword quality score to be as high as possible.
Landing Page Experience: A measure of how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad. It affects your Quality Score and thus your ad position and CPC. Factors that improve landing page experience include relevant content, easy navigation, and quick load times.
Ad Relevancy: This metric evaluates how closely your ad campaign's keywords relate to the messages in your ads. High ad relevancy can lead to higher click-through rates and better campaign performance.
Tips:
Day by day: We find it best to look at your data on a day by day basis. This will allow you to see any peaks and troughs. For example - are there any days where a particular campaign or location or other that had a spike in traffic and sales? You’ll want to know that and then dig into why that was the case!
Search Networks: 9 times out of 10 you should only be running on Google Search and not Search Partners or Display Network.
Looking for a Google Ads consultant or training? Say hello.
Facebook Ads Metrics
Conversions:
Purchases: The total number of purchase events recorded by the Facebook pixel as a result of your ads.
Events:Â The total number of conversion events recorded by the Facebook pixel as a result of your ads.
Revenue:Â The total dollar value generated from conversions on your ads.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend):Â The revenue generated for every dollar spent on ads. It's calculated by dividing the total revenue by the total ad spend.
CPA (Cost Per Action): The average cost to acquire a conversion, calculated by dividing the total spend by the number of conversions.
Reach: The number of unique users who saw your ad at least once during the reporting period.
CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions):Â The average cost for 1,000 impressions on your ad.
Amount Spent:Â The total dollar amount spent on your Facebook ad campaign during a specific period.
Traffic:
Clicks: The total number of clicks on your ads. This includes all clicks within the ad, such as likes, reactions, comments, or clicks to a website.
LPVs (Landing Page Views): The number of times users landed on your ad’s destination URL after clicking the ad.
Impressions:Â The total number of times your ads were on screen.
Click Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of times people saw your ad and performed a click. It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions.
Click Through Rate All:Â The click-through rate for all actions taken within the ad, including all engagements.
Click Through Rate Link:Â The click-through rate for clicks on links within the ad that direct users to a specified destination, such as your website.
Click Through Rate Outbound:Â The percentage of outbound clicks compared to the number of impressions. Outbound clicks include clicks to external destinations.
Frequency:Â The average number of times each individual has seen your ad. It is calculated by dividing the total number of impressions by the reach.
Tips:
Day by day: We find it best to look at your data on a day by day basis. This will allow you to see any peaks and troughs. For example - are there any days where a particular campaign or location or other that had a spike in traffic and sales? You’ll want to know that and then dig into why that was the case!
Attributions: This metric in Facebook Ads refers to the action credits assigned to specific ad interactions within a set conversion window. Attribution helps advertisers understand which ads, placements, and customer touchpoints contributed to a conversion. You should use this to understand whether your audience is converting immediately or within a specific sales cycle period of time.
7-day Click: Refers to conversions that occur within 7 days after a user clicks on your ad. This attribution window allows you to see the longer-term effect of your ads on user behaviour and conversion.
1-day Click:Â This measures conversions that happen within a single day after a user clicks on your ad. It's useful for understanding immediate conversion responses to an ad click.
1-day View: Tracks conversions that happen within 24 hours of a user simply viewing your ad (without necessarily clicking it). This window highlights the impact of ad visibility and exposure on conversions.
Looking for a Facebook Ads consultant or training? Say hello.
Social Media Metrics
Pages:
Likes: The total number of likes or followers on your page.
Reach: The number of unique users who saw any content associated with your page.
Clicks: The total number of clicks on your page, including link clicks, profile clicks, and more.
Total Followers: The total number of followers or subscribers your page has.
New Followers: The number of new followers gained during a specific period.
Video Views: The total number of views on videos posted on your page.
Age:Â The demographic breakdown of your page's audience by age.
Gender: The demographic breakdown of your page's audience by gender.
Posts:
Engagements:Â The total number of interactions (likes, comments, shares) on your posts.
Comments:Â The number of comments received on your posts.
Reactions: The number of reactions (like, love, haha, wow, sad, angry) received on your posts.
Shares: The number of times your posts were shared by users.
Organic Reach:Â The number of unique users who saw your post without any paid promotion.
Paid Reach: The number of unique users who saw your post due to paid promotion.
Post Engagement Rate:Â The percentage of users who engaged with your post out of the total number of people who saw it.
Post Reach: The number of unique users who saw your post.
Instagram Specific:
Profile Impressions: The total number of times your Instagram profile was viewed.
Profile Views: The number of unique users who viewed your Instagram profile.
Taps on Website Link: The number of times users tapped on the website link in your Instagram profile.
Taps on Text Message Link: The number of times users tapped on the text message link in your Instagram profile.
Taps on Phone Link: The number of times users tapped on the phone number link in your Instagram profile.
Taps on Email Link: The number of times users tapped on the email link in your Instagram profile.
Taps on Directions Link: The number of times users tapped on the directions link in your Instagram profile.
Tips:
Day by day: We find it best to look at your data on a day by day basis. This will allow you to see any peaks and troughs. For example - are there any days where a particular post had a spike? You’ll want to know so you can focus efforts on these posts in the future.
Email Marketing Metrics
Open Rate: The percentage of recipients who opened an email out of the total number of emails sent. This metric helps gauge the initial engagement and appeal of your email subject line.
Click Rate (Click-Through Rate, CTR): The percentage of recipients who clicked on one or more links contained in the email out of those who opened the email. This indicates how engaging and compelling your email content and call-to-action are.
Unsubscribe Rate: The percentage of recipients who unsubscribed from your mailing list after receiving an email. This rate can provide insights into overall recipient satisfaction and relevance of content over time.
Revenue: The total amount of money generated from a specific email campaign. This can be tracked through integrated eCommerce platforms that link specific transactions back to the email that initiated them.
Transactions: The number of completed purchases that occurred as a result of clicking a link within an email. Tracking transactions helps in understanding the direct impact of email marketing on sales.
Looking for an Email Marketing consultant or training? Say hello.
Utilising a Digital Marketing Audit Checklist for Thoroughness
One of the best ways to ensure that you’re keeping your finger on the pulse is to employ a checklist to ensure your audit overlooks nothing. After you’ve run through the above metrics checklist and identified metrics which you’d like to view, put these in a checklist so that each time you run an audit you ensure to go through them.
Interpreting Your Audit Findings: Examples and Insights
Accurate interpretation of data is vital. For instance, a high bounce rate might signal that your landing pages are not resonating with your audience. Or a low open rate for emails could suggest your subject lines aren’t captivating enough.
Getting the metrics is the first part, understanding them is second and last is putting together insights from your understanding. It’s the connecting of the dots of data to make sense of all of it.
Conclusion: Actioning Your Audit Insights
The final and most crucial step is to action the insights gained from your audit. Implement the necessary alterations to refine your digital marketing strategy, aiming to drive better outcomes and a higher return on investment.