Putting together an end-of-year marketing report is a great way for business owners and marketing teams to gain clarity and understand their marketing efforts at a much deeper level.

Marketing audits are great – but they can also be a little intimidating. Trust us: we’ve been doing them for years and still break into a sweat when the time comes around to put one together.

However, the fact that we’ve been doing them for years also means that we’ve found different ways to deal with the nerves and the entirety of the process. 

So, if you’re thinking about putting together an end-of-year marketing report but are unsure where to start… keep reading for all of our top tips and advice!

What is an end-of-year marketing report?

Put simply, an end-of-year marketing report or marketing audit is a blueprint of your marketing strategy for the past year. 

In most cases, these types of reports take into consideration:

• The different platforms and marketing channels you’re most active in
• Your marketing goals and objectives
• The money you invested in marketing that year
• Performance records for each channel (and, if possible, each piece of content)
• Suggestions for where to go next

All in all, a marketing audit is a great way to keep track of all the ins and out of your marketing strategy — and help you prepare for the new year with a clear vision of what will happen next. 

That’s why, when it comes to creating an end-of-year marketing report and audit, it’s important to include details about both where you’ve been and where you want to go.

Yes, looking back at what went right and what went wrong is a good way to plan for the future; but simply “planning for the future” without including any actionable steps probably won’t get you the results you’re hoping for. 

3 things to remember when putting together an end-of-year marketing report

There’s a lot that goes into creating an end-of-year marketing report — but you shouldn’t let this overwhelm you or deter you from putting one together.

On the contrary, once you get started with it you’ll soon realize that while it does take time and effort, the process is incredibly useful for you and your team. 

If this is your first time writing an end-of-year marketing report, here are three of the most important details to include.

1. Identify which marketing channels performed best for your brand

This is a big one – and it’s possibly the most important thing you can include in your marketing audit to help you visualize what’s to come.

Identifying the marketing channels that you’re most active on is a great way to see how your efforts are performing. 

Maybe you’re investing too much time somewhere that’s not bringing any results… or maybe there are other areas where you’re not investing enough time that could be the boost your business needs.

For example, your team might spend a lot of time working on LinkedIn infographics that never get any traction. But when you post a Reel on Instagram, your audience goes wild for the content and everything you’re saying. You might even be sharing the same exact information… but there’s just something off about the infographics that don’t draw folx in.

Realizing that this is happening – and seeing the actual, hard numbers – can be the final push you need to, in this specific case, ditch LinkedIn and dive headfirst into all things Reels. 

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A few things to keep in mind about each marketing channel…

As you’re identifying and learning more about these channels, here are a few things you can keep in mind and include in this part of your end-of-year marketing report:

• Growth: How many followers did you gain over a specific period of time? How many did you lose?
• Content: What are some of the best-performing pieces of content that you shared? Are there any similarities between them?
• Engagement: Are people commenting on your content? Do they share/save it?
• Budget: Are you allocating any budget to this platform? Do you run ads, pay for special software, or outsource the work? Is the investment worth it?

Run through all of the different platforms and ask yourself these questions to get a better understanding of how each one is doing — and then decide whether or not it’s worth keeping up with the work for the upcoming year, or if you’re better off not including it in your new marketing plan.

2. Evaluate your marketing goals

People change, businesses change… and goals change, too. This means that the goals you had at the beginning of the year are probably not the same goals today, right?

When performing a marketing audit, it’s important to take a close look at your goals and identify which ones…

• You’ve already achieved
• Can be updated
• Don’t align with your vision anymore
• Etc.

Evaluating your marketing goals will, in turn, help you put together a roadmap of actionable steps that can actually take you to these goals. That way, you’re not just thinking or dreaming about achieving something: you’re actually working toward it!

This leads us to…

3. Create a plan for what comes next

In order to move forward, it’s important to look back — and that’s exactly what you’ve done with your marketing audit.

You looked back at your performance, you looked back at the goals you set for yourself and your business… and now it’s time to use all of this knowledge and insight to plan for an even brighter future.

A great end-of-year marketing report doesn’t just stay in the past hoping for the best.

It brings your business into the now and into the “what could be” — and it’s also a great first step toward the always-popular marketing strategy refresh that most businesses go through at the beginning of each new year.

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After all, the point of a marketing audit isn’t to simply pat yourself on the back for reaching goals or to tear yourself down for making a mistake… it’s to teach you a set of valuable lessons that you probably wouldn’t have learned otherwise. 

TL;DR: Putting together an end-of-year marketing report

Putting together an end-of-year marketing report doesn’t have to be difficult or overwhelming. 

Also, the hard truth is that a marketing audit is a necessity for most (if not all) businesses out there, and it’s definitely worth the time and effort you and your team need to invest in it. 

Why? Because a good marketing audit can be the difference between a successful new year for your business or a total miss that leaves you spinning.

When it comes to writing your marketing audit, here are 3 of the most important things we believe you can include to help you:
1. The marketing channels that performed best for your brand
2. A list of your past marketing goals/objectives (and if you met them)
3. A detailed plan for what comes next

And, if you still feel like this all sounds like too much… ask for help! There are plenty of experts out there who are more than happy to set you up for success with a great end-of-year marketing report that highlights the good, the not-so-good, and the “what’s next” of your business.

Get in touch with us over at The Quirky Pineapple Studio and let’s work together to take a closer look at business and marketing, and plan for a bigger, better, and more impactful tomorrow!