--- title: "How Our Marketing Audit Works: 5 Pillars, 25+ Frameworks" description: "How a marketing audit works: read only data access, five pillars, 25+ consulting grade frameworks, every finding priced in dollars, in 5 to 7 working days." url: https://marginfix.ai/how-it-works/ lastmod: 2026-10-24 --- [Home](/) / How it works # How we find the margin other audits miss. No black box. Your audit runs the same strategic, financial, creative and operational frameworks a top tier consultancy would use, across five methodology pillars, with senior human review at every step. ▸ You’ll know exactly where your margin is leaking, and the three fixes worth the most, in 7 days. [Request an audit](/book/) ◷ Next kickoff slot: Mon ◆ $10k–$50k findings guarantee ◆ No retainer · fixed fee 5 methodology pillars 25+ proven frameworks 5 to 7 working days to delivery **FINDING 01** *· AUDIT TRAIL* p. 19 → p. 10 1. RAW EXPORT · WORKING PAPER 2. QUERY · 90 DAYS CLICKS PURCHASES 3. “free *category* samples” 1,560 0 4. “*competitor* returns policy” 1,076 0 5. 40 queries · **$5,100/mo** · zero purchase intent 6. Names shown as placeholders. 7. ORCHESTRATOR · PAID SEARCH CLUSTER 8. Flags **31%** of search spend matched to queries with zero purchase intent over 90 days. 9. HUMAN GATE 10. Senior auditor · gate 4 11. Named in the delivered report 12. PRICED FINDING 13. CRITICAL −$61,200 / yr 14. Negative keyword list, 6 ad groups to phrase match. **~4 hours to implement.** How we work ## How our marketing audit works: five working principles. 01 Strategic clarity over guesswork Decisions grounded in established frameworks and benchmarks, not opinion or habit. 02 Evidence led recommendations Every recommendation is backed by data, modeling and a defensible rationale. 03 Prioritized by margin & effort Findings ranked on contribution margin impact against implementation effort. 04 Human review, always A senior auditor validates every finding to ensure quality and relevance. 05 Fast, without cutting corners A complete, boardroom ready audit in 5 to 7 working days, rigor intact. How it works · Machines for scale. Humans for judgment. ## The week, and where your auditor’s 14 hours go. Nothing advances unsigned. The homepage shows the totals. This is the operating schedule: what the machines run, what we ask of you, and where every one of the 14 senior auditor hours lands, day by day. Audit + Sprint · **$5,950** · 14 hours of senior auditor time [![Play The Week, a 115 second MarginFix film of one audit week from kickoff on day 1 to the signed report on day 7.](/assets/video/week.32e91960.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OHgVePglOY) Day 1 to day 7 · 1:55 · captions onAn actor retells this client’s audit. Identity protected under NDA. BEFORE Day 0 · access, not homework **You** Sign the NDA and grant read only access from the checklist. That is the whole ask. the clock hasn’t started DAY 1 Brief & discovery **You** Join the kickoff. Your CEO and your marketing team each sit a 1:1 pain point session. You never fill a form. **Machines** The Orchestrator is briefed from what your team actually said, not a questionnaire. Live with you: ◷ **0.5** h · kickoff call Live with you: ◷ **2** h · 1:1 sessions On your audit: **1.5** h · writing your brief DAYS 2 & 3 Diagnostic analysis **You** One 30 minute interim findings call on day 3. Nothing else on your calendar. **Machines** Intake: 6 agents map funnel, spend & market vs 74 audits. Then analysis: 18 agents dissect acquisition, retention, economics. Live with you: ◷ **0.5** h · interim call On your audit: **1.5** h · gate reviews DAYS 4 & 5 Synthesis & roadmap **You** Nothing scheduled. The audit runs. **Machines** Synthesis: 9 agents rank every finding by margin impact against implementation effort. On your audit: **2** h · gate reviews DAY 6 Human gate review **You** Nothing scheduled. **Machines** 4 agents draft. Your senior auditor pressure tests and prices every finding. **AUDITOR SIGNS ✓** On your audit: **3** h · final gates + pricing DAY 7 Delivery & sprint plan **You** The live executive readout, then a sprint planning session with your team. The 43 page report is yours. **Machines** **BOARDROOM READY ✓** Live with you: ◷ **1** h · executive readout Live with you: ◷ **2** h · sprint planning AFTER Day 30 & day 90 **You** Day 30: your auditor reruns your numbers with fresh data you provide. Day 90: a second check in. ✓ included · not billed Live with you: 6 h On your audit: 8 h = **14** hours of dedicated senior auditor time Typical allocation. Your auditor flexes these hours to where your audit needs them; the 14 hours are the commitment. Seven human gates across the four stages You never fill a form Boardroom ready in 5 to 7 working days Core methodology pillars ## Five pillars. 25+ proven frameworks. Pick a pillar (strategy, measurement, search, creative, operating model) to see the frameworks inside. Pillar 01 ### Strategic & consulting grade frameworks Anatomy of a finding ## What one leak actually looks like. 1 · SIGNAL The agent flags an anomaly A $6M DTC skincare brand was spending $14k/mo on branded search ads, bidding to win clicks it already got organically for free. 2 · VALIDATE A senior auditor pressure tests it The auditor checked competitor conquesting and incrementality (did the spend cause sales that wouldn’t have happened anyway?), confirming ~80% was pure cannibalization. 3 · QUANTIFY It becomes a ranked action Reallocate the budget, keep a small defensive floor. Modeled impact: **$134k/yr recovered**, effort: low. What you receive ## A 43 page audit you can act on Monday. ✓ **Executive summary**: the three findings that matter most, quantified. ✓ **Channel by channel teardown**: where every dollar goes and what it returns. ✓ **Margin & unit economics model**: your real contribution, mapped. ✓ **Prioritized 90 day roadmap**: sequenced, with expected lift and effort. DAY 0 · signed NDA + access checklist DAY 3 · interim findings call DAY 5 TO 7 · 43 page report + live readout DAY 30 · second measurement (fresh data you provide) [See the sample report →](/sample-report/) [![Sample report page 3 of 43, the verdict: $223,100 per year identified across 23 findings, 2 critical. Three findings account for 70% of the total.](/assets/deliverable/report-exec-780.webp)](/sample-report/) The human gates ## AI does the volume. Humans own the judgment. A model can process a thousand data points in seconds, but it can’t be accountable to your board. So a senior auditor reviews and signs off every stage before it advances: seven human gates across the four stages. That’s why the output reads like a consultant wrote it, because one did. Under the hood, our senior auditors work with an orchestrated system of 37 specialized analysis agents. It’s how [a consultancy scope audit](/compare/marketing-audit-vs-consultant/) ships in 5 to 7 working days. ![Portrait photograph of the founder of MarginFix](/assets/founder/cristian-bragau-2026-10.jpg) Cristian Bragau Founder & Lead Auditor · 10+ years of auditing experience ✓ Agent output flagged for review ✓ Senior auditor validates & corrects ✓ Only then does the stage advance ✓ Read only access ✓ NDA on request ✓ CCPA & GDPR ready ✓ Data deleted ≤ 30 days after close Audits your: Paid Acquisition · Lifecycle & Retention · Tech Stack Signal Health · Financial Margin Erosion The guarantee ## $10,000 to $50,000 of findings, or your money back. The method is only worth what it finds. If your audit doesn’t surface your tier’s guaranteed $10,000 to $50,000 in identified margin or savings, you don’t pay. [Request an audit](/book/) What this audit is not ## Three things we will never sell you. NOT AN AGENCY PITCH We sell no media management and take no implementation retainer, so there’s no incentive to find problems only we can fix. The audit is the product. [See what a normal agency markup looks like](/agency-markup/). NOT A DASHBOARD You get a decision document with an owner and a deadline per finding, not another tool to check. Nothing to log into, nothing to maintain. NOT A RETAINER One fixed fee, one deliverable, done in a week. If you want a second audit next year, that’s a new decision, never an automatic renewal. ## Methodology questions. #### How do you choose which frameworks to apply? Every audit runs the full five pillar method, but the depth per pillar flexes to your model. #### Do the frameworks work for my business type? Yes: model agnostic across DTC, B2B SaaS, marketplaces, subscription and multilocation services. #### Isn’t this just theory? No. Each framework is applied to your actual data and turned into a specific, quantified action. #### Who reviews the analysis? A senior marketing auditor validates every finding and presents the report live. #### How are findings prioritized? Scored on contribution margin impact against implementation effort, highest return first. #### What if the method finds nothing worthwhile? If it doesn’t surface your tier’s guaranteed $10,000 to $50,000 in identified margin or savings, you don’t pay. ## See the method applied to your numbers. Request an audit today. Prioritized findings in 5 to 7 working days, or your money back. 1 Book & grant read only access 2 30 minute kickoff call 3 Report & live readout in 7 days Fixed fee · No retainer · Limited monthly capacity Request an audit Tell us about your business (name, work email, phone and monthly ad budget) and a senior auditor replies within one business day. **$10k–$50k of findings, or your money back** *Fixed fee. No retainer. NDA first.* [Request an audit](/book/)