[Want to embark on social media marketing for your game? This article from game marketer Duane Brown delves into how to audit your and your competitors' online presence, and presents logical steps to follow to begin the process of meaningful social marketing.]

An online marketing audit is a key first step when marketing your game company or next video game, and when entering the online and digital space. You should want to know where your customers and potential consumers are, and what they are doing online. In this article, I want to look at the whys and hows of an online marketing audit, and what I go through for many clients.

I want to talk about listening, and why it's your first step before jumping into that digital and online space for what may be your first time. However, before we get to that, let's take a brief step back and make sure you've set up business objectives and goals.

Business Objectives

This is where social media starts, and this is where it ends. Your business objectives are what you want to achieve.

Your goals are how you are going to measure yourself and your video games as you immerse yourself in the world of online marketing. The tools (Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm, LinkedIn) and technology come after you've looked at your business objectives and goals.

Maybe you want to help augment your customer service department, or increase awareness of your new product launch. Or better yet, you want to connect with your enthusiastic fans and see how you can improve some of your current products.

Regardless of what your objectives are, they usually fall into one of four areas:

1. Marketing of the company's brand
2. Advertising a new product/service
3. Customer services
4. Research & development

Once you've established some objectives, you need to start looking at how you are going to measure those objectives in six to 12 months. Setting goals isn't complicated, but they do need to be done.

Goals are going to vary across each organization but I try to get clients to setup S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely) goals when we talk about getting into the online and digital space.

The reason you want to have measurable goals is to prove that your efforts in online marketing and the digital space are having a tangible effect on your business in a positive way. I can't tell you how many times I've come across organizations and people who want to get into online marketing and have not done any objective or goal setting.

If you plan to hire an external person or firm to handle your online marketing then please make sure they have objectives and goals set up as well. Don't let them sell you on the tools, or use some of that fancy sizzle without worrying about the steak, because you won't be happy with the outcome.

Now that this is out of the way, let's get on to why you would want to do a online marketing audit.