Data

Marketing audit findings: all 74, ranked by value

A marketing audit typically surfaces a five-figure annual margin leak. Across MarginFix's 74 audits, the median highlight finding is worth $58,000 a year, the published range runs $31k to $134k, and 51 of 74 audits found at least $50k. Every figure on this page is derived from a published, senior-reviewed case study — and links to it.

74audits in the corpus
$4.5M+identified, in total
$58kmedian finding /yr
5–7 daysto findings

What a marketing audit finds: the five leak patterns

Every audit tests the same five patterns — defined in depth here. Prevalence below is the share of the 74 audits where the pattern appeared — most audits surface three or more.

Leak patternPrevalenceWhat it is
Non-incremental paid68%Ad budget buying conversions the business would have won anyway — classically, branded search against customers already intending to purchase.
Attribution inflation54%Several platforms each claim the same sale, so attributed revenue sums to more than 100% of actual — over-funding whichever channel claims most aggressively.
Mispriced offers47%Offers, bundles and discounts that sell below true contribution once shipping, returns, fees and payment costs are counted.
Retention leaks41%Solvable churn — failed-payment dunning, renewal drop-off and cancellation flows that quietly erase acquisition gains.
Discount habits33%Reflexive promo codes and standing discounts that give margin away to buyers who would have paid full price.

How big is a typical finding?

One highlight finding per audit, valued at its audited annual figure. Cost saves run larger than revenue gains.

Outcome typeAuditsMedian value
Revenue gain34 audits$57k/yr median
Cost save28 audits$64k/yr median
Efficiency12 audits$57k/yr median

Median finding by industry

IndustryAuditsMedian finding
Fintech7 audits$83k/yr median
Marketplace7 audits$66k/yr median
Pharma9 audits$64k/yr median
Manufacturing10 audits$64k/yr median
Retail8 audits$54k/yr median
DTC / Ecommerce10 audits$53k/yr median
B2B SaaS8 audits$52k/yr median
Subscription7 audits$51k/yr median
Services8 audits$47k/yr median

All 74 findings, ranked by annual value

#FindingIndustryTypeValueTime
1Scaling spend was hiding a $134k annual margin leak.DTC / EcommerceRevenue gain$134k/yr6 days
2Volume rebates were paid on orders that never hit the tier.ManufacturingCost save$118k/yr7 days
3Incentive spend acquired users who never funded.FintechCost save$96k/yr7 days
4Late-quarter discounting was quietly eroding ACV margin.B2B SaaSRevenue gain$92k/yr7 days
5Acquisition ignored default rate by channel.FintechEfficiency$88k/yr7 days
6Congress and KOL sponsorship showed no measurable return.PharmaCost save$88k/yr7 days
7Online ads were paying for in-store demand.RetailCost save$88k/yr7 days
8Interchange margin varied wildly by acquisition channel.FintechRevenue gain$83k/yr7 days
9Referral rewards were paid on self-referred and gamed volume.FintechCost save$83k/yr7 days
10CAC looked fine — until we split it by cohort.MarketplaceEfficiency$82k/yr7 days
11A surcharge lag was never passed into customer contracts.ManufacturingRevenue gain$79k/yr7 days
12Unbranded search was paying for traffic the brand site already won.PharmaCost save$78k/yr7 days
13A $1.2M ad budget hid a 40% wasted-impression rate.B2B SaaSCost save$74k/yr7 days
14Courier incentives overlapped organic supply in dense zones.MarketplaceCost save$74k/yr7 days
15DTC ads were cannibalizing higher-margin retail.ManufacturingEfficiency$73k/yr7 days
16Broker commissions were flat across very different loss ratios.FintechRevenue gain$72k/yr7 days
17Rising freight never reached the price list.ManufacturingRevenue gain$72k/yr7 days
18Loyalty points cost more than the repeat they drove.RetailCost save$71k/yr7 days
19Patient-acquisition spend ran above what reimbursement paid.PharmaCost save$71k/yr7 days
20A billing config gap left usage overages uncharged.B2B SaaSRevenue gain$70k/yr6 days
21Dealer co-op funds were subsidizing competitors’ leads.ManufacturingCost save$69k/yr7 days
22Returns processing cost was missing from channel economics.RetailCost save$69k/yr7 days
23A discount habit was training the best customers to wait.DTC / EcommerceRevenue gain$68k/yr6 days
24The cheapest leads were the most expensive customers.B2B SaaSEfficiency$68k/yr6 days
25Buyer subsidies outran the repeat GMV they were meant to unlock.MarketplaceEfficiency$66k/yr7 days
26Paid search was bidding on supply the platform already ranked for.MarketplaceCost save$66k/yr6 days
27Detailing and sample spend produced no prescribing lift.PharmaCost save$64k/yr7 days
28Distributor margin was set once and never revisited.ManufacturingRevenue gain$64k/yr6 days
29HCP and patient budgets were optimized in isolation.PharmaCost save$64k/yr6 days
30Seat true-ups were under-billed as accounts grew.SubscriptionRevenue gain$63k/yr6 days
31Supply-side incentives outlived their purpose.MarketplaceCost save$63k/yr6 days
32Intake was dropping a third of qualified calls.ServicesRevenue gain$62k/yr6 days
33FBA fees and returns had overtaken the margin on the hero ASINs.DTC / EcommerceRevenue gain$61k/yr6 days
34Free planning support cost more than small accounts earned.FintechRevenue gain$61k/yr6 days
35Seasonal media weight ignored when the category actually converted.PharmaEfficiency$60k/yr7 days
36Bestsellers were priced below their true landed cost.DTC / EcommerceRevenue gain$59k/yr6 days
37Free assembly and delivery were bundled below cost on big-ticket lines.RetailRevenue gain$58k/yr6 days
38Media ran outside the eligible-population windows.PharmaCost save$58k/yr6 days
39Promotional fee waivers were never switched off.MarketplaceCost save$58k/yr6 days
40Annual plans were discounted below their retention value.SubscriptionRevenue gain$57k/yr6 days
41CAC payback was twice what the board believed.FintechEfficiency$57k/yr6 days
42Configurator upsells were discounted below their cost.ManufacturingRevenue gain$57k/yr6 days
43Small-order handling cost exceeded the margin on the order.ManufacturingRevenue gain$57k/yr6 days
44Subscription churn was masked by aggressive new-trial spend.DTC / EcommerceEfficiency$55k/yr7 days
45Click-and-collect was subsidizing the delivery it replaced.RetailRevenue gain$54k/yr6 days
46Retainers were priced below delivery cost.ServicesRevenue gain$54k/yr7 days
47The agency’s ‘winning’ campaign was the biggest loser.DTC / EcommerceCost save$53k/yr7 days
48Fixed-fee packages were scoped below the hours they consumed.ServicesRevenue gain$52k/yr6 days
49Free-tier support cost more than the plan earned.B2B SaaSRevenue gain$52k/yr6 days
50Weak payment recovery was leaking revenue as involuntary churn.SubscriptionRevenue gain$52k/yr5 days
51Growth spend was outrunning retention.SubscriptionEfficiency$51k/yr5 days
52Markdown timing was leaving margin on the shelf.RetailRevenue gain$49k/yr6 days
53Retail-vet channel discounts were set below margin.PharmaRevenue gain$49k/yr6 days
54Dead SKUs tied up the margin in slow catalog lines.ManufacturingRevenue gain$48k/yr5 days
55Free shipping was quietly deleting the margin on every third order.DTC / EcommerceRevenue gain$47k/yr5 days
56Lead spend ignored close-rate by source.ServicesEfficiency$47k/yr5 days
57Partner referral fees were paid on deals sales had sourced directly.B2B SaaSCost save$47k/yr6 days
58The pause and skip flow was leaking straight to cancellation.SubscriptionRevenue gain$47k/yr6 days
59Travel and onboarding time was going unbilled.ServicesRevenue gain$47k/yr6 days
60Affiliate commissions were being paid on sales the brand already owned.DTC / EcommerceCost save$44k/yr5 days
61Quoting ignored callback and warranty cost.ServicesRevenue gain$44k/yr5 days
62Subscription acquisition ignored regulatory-driven churn.PharmaEfficiency$44k/yr6 days
63Take-rate was leaking through unmanaged refunds.MarketplaceRevenue gain$44k/yr7 days
64Paid was subsidizing a channel sales already owned.B2B SaaSCost save$41k/yr5 days
65Shipping tiers didn’t match cohort value.SubscriptionRevenue gain$41k/yr6 days
66Trade-show spend had no attributable pipeline.ManufacturingCost save$41k/yr6 days
67Vendor promo funding wasn’t covering the margin given away.RetailCost save$41k/yr5 days
68Every location bought the same keywords against each other.ServicesCost save$39k/yr5 days
69Job-board spend was spread evenly regardless of fill rate.ServicesEfficiency$39k/yr6 days
70Bundles were cannibalizing full-price hero SKUs.DTC / EcommerceRevenue gain$38k/yr5 days
71Payment fees varied by tender and went unmanaged.RetailRevenue gain$38k/yr5 days
72Content spend had no path to revenue.B2B SaaSCost save$36k/yr7 days
73Win-back campaigns were re-buying customers who’d have returned free.SubscriptionCost save$33k/yr5 days
74Retargeting was paid twice for the same customer.DTC / EcommerceCost save$31k/yr5 days

Marketing audit findings FAQ

What does a marketing audit find?

Findings cluster in five patterns: non-incremental paid spend (68% of MarginFix's 74 audits), attribution inflation (54%), mispriced offers (47%), retention leaks (41%) and discount habits (33%). The median audit's highlight finding is worth $58,000 a year, and most audits surface three or more distinct leaks.

What is the most common marketing audit finding?

Non-incremental paid spend — ad budget buying conversions the business would have won anyway, classically branded search against customers already intending to purchase. It appeared in 68% of the 74 audits in this library, making it the most common finding by a wide margin.

How much is a typical marketing audit finding worth?

The median highlight finding across 74 MarginFix audits is $58,000 of recurring annual margin. Cost-save findings run higher ($64k/yr median) than revenue gains ($57k/yr median), and the published range is $31k to $134k per audit.

Book an audit → See the benchmark Browse the case studies What an audit costs