Part of Brand audit
Communication audit
We put what you say everywhere side by side.
Afterwards you know where your organisation contradicts itself, which message is missing, and who tells a different story than the rest. Not a list of tone-of-voice rules. A list you can start on Monday.
What you get
One report where your organisation hears itself talk, and a short list of what needs to happen first.
What is a communication audit?
A communication audit maps how an organisation communicates: which messages go out, through which channels, to whom, and whether it says the same thing everywhere. WIT.agency examines five things for this: consistency, completeness, alignment, tone and reach. We read everything you publish and send, talk to the people who write it, and test it with those who receive it. You get one report showing where it diverges, why that happens, and what needs to happen first.
It differs from a brand audit: a brand audit examines what you stand for, a communication audit whether you say that consistently everywhere. Organisations with multiple departments, locations or partners usually don't have the first problem, but do have the second.
Marketing agency based in Belgium · Works locally, nationally and internationally · For businesses and for agencies
This is why they call us.
“Every department tells a different story about the same company.”
Do people ask you something you've already explained three times? Then it wasn't said.
What we look at
Five questions. Five honest answers.
Communication rarely diverges in just one place. That's why we cut it into five parts you can judge and fix separately. Where the weight falls, you only find out after the first stack of material.
Consistency
Does everyone say the same thing when asked separately?
We put your website, your newsletters, your sales documents and your social media side by side and note where the story shifts. It usually starts by the third source.
Completeness
Does the most important thing actually get said?
We look for what's missing: the question your audience asks that never gets answered anywhere. That gap is more often the problem than the contradiction.
Alignment
Do the parties know what each other says?
Departments, locations, partners and suppliers. We look at who puts what out, and whether anyone watches the whole. Usually not.
Tone
Does it sound like the same house?
Formal on the site, chatty on social media, bureaucratic in the letter. We check whether the differences are intentional or just grew that way.
Reach
Does it land with who needs to hear it?
The biggest gap is almost always here. A lot gets communicated to people already convinced, and little to those who need it.
What it comes down to
From saying a lot to saying the same thing.
What's there now
The website talks about sustainable business. Sales talks about delivery times. Job postings talk about ambition.
Each piece is correct on its own. Together they don't say it's the same company.
What's there afterwards
The same three sentences everywhere as a starting point, and after that every department picks its own proof.
One frame everyone can fill in their own way. That's what the Consistency and Alignment questions deliver.
Illustrative example, not from an actual client.
The deliverable
Here's what it looks like when it's done.
One document, no folder of screenshots. We go through it together, and after that it's yours.
- 01The verdict per question, and what it means
- 02Your messages side by side, per channel and per department
- 03What your audience literally says back
- 04Where the story shifts, with the source noted
- 05What needs to happen first, and what can wait
How it usually goes
A fixed way of working. No fixed package.
This is the usual sequence. Where we go deep and where we keep it short gets decided during intake.
Intake
We ask the questions. Who all communicates, about what, and where you think the friction is.
at the table
Collection
We gather what went out over the recent period: site, newsletters, social media, sales documents, internal messages.
supply material
Analysis
We answer the five questions, put the sources side by side, and talk to the people who write it and who receive it.
share contacts
Walkthrough
We go through the report together, until you agree or know exactly why not. We end with what needs to happen first.
at the table
Where it varies
If only one department communicates outward, the alignment part stays short. If the doubt sits entirely with your partners, the work goes there.
Where it never varies
An audit that only looks inward measures nothing. That's why we always talk to the people who receive your message.
What it costs
No rate card. One number.
A communication audit for a business with one website and a newsletter is a different job than one for an organisation with six locations each running their own communication. That's why there's no fixed price tag.
What there is: once the approach is set, the number is fixed. No hourly billing, no extra costs halfway through.
What determines the scope
How many parties communicate.
One department, or also locations, partners and suppliers who speak about you.
How many channels there are.
Site and newsletter, or also social media, press, events and internal communication.
How many audiences you serve.
Customers only, or also employees, candidates, authorities and partners.
One language or several.
Each extra language needs its own audit, not a translation of the first.
Honestly
Sometimes you need something else.
You don't know what your brand stands for, so there's nothing to align yet.
Look at Brand auditThe message is right, but too little or too much gets published.
Look at Content marketing strategyIt's not a communication problem, it's a channel problem.
Look at Marketing auditYou're looking for a report to justify a decision that's already made.
Then we're not the right fitClient quote coming.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before they start.
What does a communication audit cost?
There's no fixed rate, because scope varies by organisation. Price depends on the number of parties communicating, the number of channels, the number of audiences, and the number of languages.
Is a communication audit a fixed package?
No. The five questions are fixed, since those are what make it a communication audit. How deep we go on each one isn't. That gets agreed at intake.
How long does a communication audit take?
A communication audit runs from intake to the report conversation, and that timeline mostly depends on how fast we get the material and how fast we reach your audience.
What material do you need?
Everything published over the recent period: your website, newsletters, social media, sales documents, press releases and job postings. If possible, also what circulated internally.
Do you also talk to our staff?
Yes. Staff are your biggest communication channel and usually the least managed. What they tell a customer weighs heavier than what is on your site.
What if multiple departments are involved?
Then the audit becomes more valuable. Where several departments communicate outward without anyone watching the whole, contradiction arises naturally. We name that factually, with the source, without putting anyone in a corner.
What's the difference with a brand audit?
A communication audit checks whether you say the same thing everywhere. A brand audit checks whether what you say is worth saying and whether it is yours. They touch at the edges, and sometimes we do both together.
Does this work for a government body or nonprofit?
Yes, and there the question is often sharper. Organisations with multiple governance levels, partners and audiences drift apart faster than a company with one sales channel.
Hear what you say first. Then adjust.
The call where we work out whether a communication audit makes sense for you takes thirty minutes and costs nothing.
Book a 30-minute call