Why we're releasing a campaign management audit

At Badsender, we’ve been providing support in email strategy, CRM, deliverability, and email design for 15 years. And through our audits and consulting projects, we’ve consistently found that: It doesn't always move as quickly as we'd like.

Because the tool is poorly utilized, data doesn't flow correctly. And implementing a scenario or new customization takes weeks.

Tools and processes hinder more than they help. That's where our Campaign management tool audit.

What we observe on the ground

Your marketing teams know exactly where they want to go. The vision is clear, the strategy to deploy is defined, priorities are known, teams are motivated. It's the tools and processes that are holding them back.

Deploying a new scenario takes weeks. Implementing a customization becomes a project in itself. And meanwhile, no one really knows what data is available, how data flows between tools, or to what extent the ESP is truly being utilized to its full potential.

What we regularly hear on assignment:

• «We have some scenarios that we don't really know what they do anymore; the person before me set that up.»
• «The technique says it's not possible, but nobody really knows why.»
• «We need to have finer opt-in granularity and a preference center, but no one dares to tackle the subject; it's too sensitive.»
• «Our ESP is surely doing more than we're using it for, but we don't know where to start.»
• «We'd like to increase the level of personalization, but we're not even sure we have the data to do it.»

These situations are the normal consequences of organizations that move fast, with evolving tools, changing teams, and documentation that doesn't keep up. Before accelerating the strategy, we must understand what's slowing it down.

Two levels of intervention

Depending on your situation, we offer two types of assignments:

1. The diagnosis starts with a specific problem to solve A malfunctioning scenario, dropping performance. Rather than examining everything, we focus our investigation on what's truly blocking progress, cross-referencing what your teams observe with what is actually in place in your tools. You leave with a clear analysis of the situation, identified causes, and prioritized actions to unblock the situation.
2. The audit Draw up a comprehensive status report. Data flow, opt-in and opt-out management, GDPR compliance, active segments, production scenarios, customization level, stack suitability for marketing objectives: everything that often exists in people's minds, put on paper. It is supplemented by a concrete roadmap and support for your teams towards greater operational autonomy.

The two share the same methodology. What changes is the depth of the analysis and the post-delivery support.

Our 6-step methodology

Kick-off meeting

We don't start analyzing until we understand the context. This first meeting allows us to validate the brief, understand the trigger event, clarify marketing objectives, gather your expectations, and obtain the necessary platform access. It's also the time to schedule interviews with the right people.

2. Pre-analysis

Before meeting your teams, we conduct our initial analysis in the ESP. This first exploration allows us to identify areas of surprise, inconsistencies, and questions we wouldn't know to ask without seeing what's actually in place. It is this perspective that adds value to the subsequent interviews.

3. Interviews of your teams

We then exchange with the relevant teams: marketing managers, ESP operators, CRM teams, GDPR contacts, IT departments. Each profile has its own set of questions, built around what we observed during the pre-analysis. The goal is to understand the real functioning, to capture the unsaid, the tensions, the gray areas. What people know how to do, what they really do, and what no one does because everyone thought it was someone else's responsibility.

In-depth analysis

This is the core of the mission. We cross-reference what we observed in the tool with what we heard in interviews. We evaluate data quality, system flows, segment relevance, production scenarios, personalization levels, sending pressure, GDPR compliance...and above all, the alignment of the stack with the actual marketing objectives. Does what is in place allow us to achieve what marketing wants to do? Is ESP being fully utilized? Are there available features that would meet needs but that no one is using?

5. Documentation and Reporting

You will receive a factual assessment: what is working, what is blocking, the discrepancies between what is said and what is actually in place, the identified causes. And a concrete roadmap with prioritized actions: quick wins achievable quickly, medium-term projects, fundamental issues.

6. Support

An audit without follow-up is often a good intention that fizzles out in daily life.. This is why the audit is supplemented by support: skills development for your teams, regular monitoring of action implementation, and roadmap adjustments if necessary. The goal is for your teams to master the new processes and gain operational autonomy, not to depend on us indefinitely.

Why choose Badsender for this audit?

We are independent of any publisher., Our conclusions are never influenced by a commercial partnership. If something is wrong, we say so.

For over 20 years, we have managed campaigns, built scenarios, and deployed strategies for mid-sized and large enterprises across all market ESPs: Adobe Campaign in all its versions, Actito, Batch, Selligent, SFMC... We know these tools inside and out.

We know how to identify where the bottlenecks are. In the tools, but also in the processes and team organization. Because that's also where the real causes lie.