Online Marketing Amsterdam

Audits: insight and opportunities for improvement in one overview

About audits

An audit is the quickest way to discover where your brand, marketing or digital environment can make gains. The word audit refers to a systematic, independent examination conducted by an auditor to assess whether an organization meets certain norms and standards. Whether it’s your brand proposition, UX design, SEO performance or technical performance, an audit gives you an objective, data-driven analysis and a concrete improvement plan. At OMA, we perform audits on strategic, creative and technical levels, so you know exactly what steps are needed to achieve your goals. Auditing includes different types of controls within organizations, such as financial, compliance and operational audits, and is aimed at ensuring reliability and compliance of business information.

Audits are essential for organizations striving for continuous improvement and quality assurance. By conducting a systematic and independent investigation, audits clearly identify where processes, strategies or technical aspects are functioning well and where optimization is possible. This often involves evaluating the existing system to assess whether it is functioning effectively and in accordance with the set requirements. This makes it possible to operate at a higher level and better meet customer and stakeholder expectations. The way audits are organized and conducted helps determine the effectiveness of the audit process.

In addition, audits provide a reliable basis for decision-making. Instead of relying on assumptions or intuition, an audit gives you insight into concrete data and facts. This helps to set priorities and deploy resources effectively. Achieving objectives is essential here; audits help measure whether these objectives are actually being achieved. Audits also provide transparency within the organization by clearly recording findings and recommendations in an audit report.

When conducting an audit, checklists, interviews, controls, document analysis, conversations and observations are often used. This creates a complete picture of the current situation. Documents, along with records and checklists, are important pieces of evidence that are checked during audits. Interviews with employees are a crucial part of the audit process to gather information and verify procedures. Depending on the purpose and scope, an audit can focus on specific processes, products or the entire organization. Audits can have different purposes and focus on different parts of the organization, such as internal and external audits. Thus, both internal audits conducted by in-house employees and external audits by independent auditors can provide valuable insights.

In short, audits help organizations manage risks, seize opportunities and meet legal requirements and quality standards. In practice, audits are used to improve business processes and obtain certifications. They are essential for improving performance and strengthening the reliability and credibility of your brand and organization.

Description of audits

A growth plan is not a static document, but a living growth system that adapts to An audit is more than a checklist: it is an in-depth assessment of a specific component, process or the entire marketing and brand structure. We combine data analysis, market research and best practices to confirm strengths and uncover areas for improvement. Our audits can focus on:

Brand and positioning audit – Analysis of brand positioning, brand proposition, brand identity, visual identity, tone of voice and brand consistency
Strategic audit – Review of marketing strategy, growth plan, audience segmentation and competitive analysis
UX and UI audit – Understanding user experience, interaction design, navigation, wireframes, prototyping, accessibility UX and inclusive UX
Content and SEO audit – Analysis of content strategy, keyword research, metadata, link profile, content structure and long-tail SEO
Campaign audit – Evaluation of Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn campaigns, performance marketing and budget optimization
Technical audit – Verifying speed, load time, mobile first design, tracking (Tag Manager), conversion tracking and analytics
Funnel and CRO audit – Analysis of customer journey, conversion points, A/B testing, heatmaps, scrollmaps and funnel analysis
Financial audit – Independent audit of financial statements and financial reports to ensure accuracy, reliability and compliance with international standards. Financial audits are often conducted by external auditors, such as those commissioned by regulators or certifying bodies.
Operational Audit – Focuses on analyzing and improving operational business activities, processes and results.
Internal audit – Systematic, periodic audit performed by in-house staff, as a management tool to identify risks and improve processes.

Sample applications:

Improve brand consistency for repositioning
Optimizing the UX for higher conversion on an online store
Understanding SEO gaps for better organic findability
Analyze campaign performance for better ROI
Technical optimization for faster load times and better user experience
Audit financial statements and financial reports for compliance and transparency

In addition, audits can also help identify risks and ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations. Through a thorough analysis of processes and systems, organizations can identify and address potential bottlenecks early, helping to ensure robust and future-proof operations. Audits are often benchmarked against a standard, such as ISO or other quality and safety standards, to verify compliance.

Furthermore, audits provide a valuable basis for measuring the effectiveness of changes and improvements within an organization. Through periodic monitoring and the preparation of audit reports and plans, companies can monitor progress, celebrate successes and make adjustments as needed to continuously achieve better results.

Audits are essential to quality management: they help organizations meet quality standards and provide a quality management tool to demonstrate reliability and quality to customers and certifying bodies. External audits, conducted by external auditors, are often mandatory for certification or regulatory requirements and are commissioned by a client, such as a regulator or certifying body. The client ultimately receives the audit report for further decision-making.

Finally, audits increase transparency and trust, both internally within the organization and externally towards customers, partners and other stakeholders. A well-executed audit process underscores an organization’s professionalism and reliability, which can lead to a stronger market position and better collaborations.

Our working method

Goal Setting – Together we determine the purpose and scope of the audit.
Data collection – We analyze statistics, content, visual elements and technology.
Assessment & scoring – Each section is assessed for effectiveness, relevance and quality.
Advice & Action Plan – We deliver a concrete improvement plan with priorities and quick wins.
Discussion & follow-up – Together we determine follow-up steps, possibly with OMA guidance in implementation.

What are audits? Types of audits and why they are important to your organization

Audits offer clear insight into the current performance of your brand, marketing activities and digital strategy. They make untapped opportunities visible, identify bottlenecks in your brand proposition, branding trajectory or content strategy and give direction to improvements. Without an audit you often keep working on feelings, while data and analysis show where the biggest gains are, for example in positioning advice, UX and UI design or conversion-oriented design. An audit substantiates decisions and increases the chance of successful optimization of your brand activation, employer branding and storytelling.

Types of audits: internal audits and external audits

There are different types of audits you can commission, depending on the purpose and scope of the investigation. The two main categories are internal audits and external audits.

Internal audits are conducted by employees of your own organization. These audits often focus on improving own processes and ensuring quality within the organization itself. Internal audits help you to identify risks and areas for improvement early and thus work continuously to a higher level in, for example, brand identity, corporate identity and content creation.
External audits are conducted by an independent party, often an external auditor or a certification body. These audits are important to comply with regulatory requirements, obtain certifications or strengthen customer and partner confidence. External audits can also be used for a full marketing audit, which includes evaluating the go to market strategy, positioning workshop and value proposition canvas.

Perform audit: do it yourself or have it done?

You can conduct an audit yourself with internal auditors, especially when it comes to process improvements within your own organization. The advantage of this is that you can move quickly and get straight to work on improvements in your brand strategy, employer marketing or digital marketing strategy.

However, sometimes it is wise to have an external audit conducted by an outside organization. This provides additional assurance and objectivity, especially for audits that involve certification, laws and regulations or assessing a complete system, such as a business model canvas or the implementation of a full-funnel approach.

Taking audits to the next level

By conducting regular audits, both internal and external, you lift your organization to a higher level. You not only gain insight into what is going well, but also where there are opportunities for growth and improvement. This is how you ensure that your processes, products and services continue to meet the highest standards and expectations in the areas of branding, content strategy, UX design and performance marketing.

Audit processes: from preparation to reporting

An effective audit process consists of several carefully planned steps, which together ensure a thorough and reliable audit of the organization. Whether it is internal audits, conducted by the organization itself, or external audits by an independent party, the process follows a set structure aimed at testing against standards, criteria and legal requirements.

Preparation is the first and perhaps most important step of the audit process. It determines which parts of the organization will be audited, what standards or criteria apply and what the purpose of the audit is. This can range from testing against internal quality standards to meeting external requirements or legal requirements. At this stage, an audit plan can also be drawn up, which includes, for example, segmentation at the target group level, buyer persona development and customer journey mapping.

During the conduct of the audit, data is collected through observations, interviews, document analysis and checking processes. Internal audits often focus on improving in-house processes, while external audits are primarily designed to independently assess the organization’s compliance with external standards and regulations. This may include aspects such as SEO audit, content clusters & pillar pages, conversion tracking and marketing automation.

The implementation is followed by the assessment of the findings. The auditors compare the collected information with the predetermined criteria and standards. Any deviations or areas for improvement are accurately recorded, for example in the areas of branding trajectory, tone of voice development, UX and UI design or digital strategy.

The final step is the report. The audit report clearly presents all findings, conclusions and recommendations. This report forms the basis for further actions and improvements within the organization. By going through the audit process regularly, organizations can continuously check whether they meet the set requirements and make timely adjustments where necessary, for example in optimizing the customer journey, content creation or paid social strategy.

In short, a structured audit process – from preparation to reporting – helps organizations work on quality, reliability and compliance in a systematic way. Whether for internal audits or external audits, following a clear audit process is essential to ensure that the organization complies with all relevant standards and legal requirements.

Frequently asked questions about audits

How often should I have an audit performed?

At least once a year, but more often for major campaigns, rebranding processes, or technical updates.

Are audits only useful when problems arise?

No. Audits are also valuable for confirming that your current strategy or implementation is effective.

Can OMA combine these audits?

Yes. We often conduct combined audits (e.g. brand strategy + UX + SEO) to get a complete picture.

Does OMA also implement the improvements?

Yes, we can start implementing the improvements immediately after the audit.

Reviews

Eric Wiesmeier

Michael en Jasper zijn echt briljant! Mannen, dankjewel voor het hele proces van merkpositionering tot en met relaunch van onze website.

Noelle Carr-Ellison

I am working with OMA for a multi restaurant business. These guys have really made a difference to us! I recommend wholeheartedly!

Becky's Bootcamp

Ontzettend blij met Michael en Jasper. Ze zijn ontzettend vriendelijk, meedenkend, enthousiast en willen je ook echt helpen groeien. Wat ik persoonlijk heel fijn vind is dat ze bij een ''startende onderneming'' budgetwijs meedenken. Michael en Jasper voelen heel vertrouwd, en dat is heel fijn samenwerken. (Ow en.. wij zijn pas een maand of 3 bezig, en ik ben al zo hard gegroeid! Op naar meeeeer!!)

Victor Mulder

Bij Oma is het altijd gezellig.
OMA – kort voor Online Marketing Amsterdam – voelt eigenlijk gewoon als thuis. Je krijgt wat te drinken, een hapje erbij, en ondertussen word je op slimme ideeën getrakteerd waar je echt wat aan hebt. Altijd een goed verhaal. En nog beter: Oma heeft altijd gelijk. Marketingadvies waar je niet omheen kunt. En waar je met plezier voor terugkomt. ❤️