What is a communications audit?
A communications audit is a systematic review of how a brand communicates — the channels it uses, the messages it delivers, and the consistency it maintains across all touchpoints. The goal is to identify where communications are strong, where they are underperforming, and what should change.
In a campaign planning context, the communications audit sits within the broader marketing audit process. It uses three interlocking frameworks: the Communications Mix (which tools the brand uses), the PESO model (how channels are categorised by type), and IMC assessment (whether everything works together consistently).
The 7-element Communications Mix
The Communications Mix (also called the Promotional Mix) is the set of tools a brand uses to reach its audience. There are seven core elements — most brands use some combination of all seven, though not every element is equally relevant to every brand or campaign.
When auditing the mix, the question for each element is not just "does the brand use this?" but "how well? Is it effective? Is it the right tool for the brand's objectives and audience?" Rate each on the same Strong / Good / Fair / Weak scale used in the tool.
The PESO model
The PESO model provides a complementary way to categorise all communication channels — not by what they are, but by how they're accessed and who controls them.
A strong communications strategy typically has coverage across all four PESO types. Over-reliance on any single type creates vulnerability — a brand that spends heavily on paid media but has weak owned media has no asset that survives when the ad budget runs out.
IMC — Integrated Marketing Communications
IMC is the principle that all elements of the communications mix should work together — delivering a consistent message, in a consistent voice, with consistent visual identity, across every touchpoint the customer encounters.
Strong IMC doesn't mean every channel looks identical — it means they all feel like they belong to the same brand. A TV ad and an Instagram post will naturally look different in format, but a brand with strong IMC ensures both are immediately recognisable as the same brand, saying essentially the same thing, in the same voice.
Worked example — Irn Bru
Key takeaways from this profile: Irn Bru's communications are strongest in the channels it has historically invested in — advertising is iconic, IMC consistency is excellent, and the brand's irreverent tone of voice is one of the most distinctive in Scottish marketing. The clear weaknesses are direct marketing (essentially no CRM capability) and owned media (the website is functional but thin on content). These represent the biggest opportunities for improvement.
Tool walkthrough: field by field
The Communications Audits tool guides you through all three assessment frameworks — mix, PESO and IMC — and generates a formatted audit report. Here's what to write in each section.
Brand & Audit Period
The brand being audited and the time period the audit covers. The audit period contextualises the findings — a brand that has recently launched a new campaign or changed its social strategy should be evaluated in that context.
e.g. Irn Bru · Q3–Q4 2024Brand Overview
A brief summary of the brand and its communications context — what it sells, who it talks to, and any relevant background about its communications approach. This becomes the introductory section of the audit report.
e.g. Irn Bru is Scotland's iconic soft drink known for bold, irreverent advertising. It communicates primarily through TV, outdoor, and social media with a distinctive comedic tone of voice deeply rooted in Scottish culture.Communications Mix Ratings + Notes
Rate each of the seven elements on the Strong / Good / Fair / Weak / N/A scale. Then write Mix Notes synthesising what the ratings tell you collectively — where is the mix strongest? What's missing or underdeveloped? Which elements could be doing more?
e.g. Advertising is the clear strength — award-winning TV campaigns with high recall. Direct marketing is almost entirely absent, representing a significant gap in CRM capability and customer data.PESO Ratings + Notes
Rate performance across Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned media. Note that these categories overlap with the mix — Advertising is primarily Paid; PR is Earned; Social is Shared; the website is Owned. Rate how strong the brand's presence is in each type, then write a PESO Notes summary.
e.g. Paid media is excellent — substantial TV and OOH investment with distinctive creative. Owned media is weak — the website lacks content marketing depth and there is no email subscriber base to speak of.IMC Ratings + Assessment
Rate the three dimensions of IMC consistency: Message Consistency, Tone of Voice and Visual Identity. Then write an IMC Assessment paragraph. Does the brand feel like one brand everywhere? Are there channels where the consistency breaks down?
e.g. Irn Bru's IMC is a genuine strength — the irreverent tone is maintained consistently across TV, OOH, and social. Visual identity (orange, distinctive typography) is immediately recognisable across all touchpoints. Some inconsistency in production quality between broadcast and digital content.Recommendations + Overall Assessment
List specific, actionable recommendations based on what the audit revealed — one per line, grounded in specific findings. The overall assessment is a 2–3 sentence synthesis of the brand's communications position and its most important priorities.
Develop a direct marketing programme to build customer data and CRM capability · Invest in content marketing for owned media to reduce paid dependency · Extend IMC consistency standards to digital content production qualityConduct your communications audit now
Rate the full mix, PESO channels and IMC consistency, and generate a formatted audit report to save to your campaign.