The Silent Spend Toolkit

Seven yes/no questions that reveal how much visibility and control your organisation has over its marketing spend. Each answer maps to a governance structure that should be in place. Score out of seven with risk bands from High risk to Strong position.

Before any marketing initiative is funded, it must answer four governance questions. Fill in the canvas for a specific initiative. If any question cannot be answered, the initiative is not ready to be approved.

A 30-minute agenda that forces a decision. Work through four time-boxed stages - state the decision, present evidence, discuss, decide. Includes a failure modes reference for when the review starts to drift.

Marketing has no licensing and no standards. This test replaces them. Three sections to work through before hiring a marketer, engaging an agency, or reviewing an existing arrangement.

Map every area of material spend to one person who can approve, change, or stop it without asking permission. Identify gaps, assess risk, and document what action is required.

Rate your current agency relationship across ten dimensions - transparency, accountability, fee clarity, staff continuity, and more. Each dimension is scored 1 to 5. Total score out of 50 maps to a partnership health band.

Work through this before signing any marketing contract or renewing an existing one. Covers scope, ownership, performance, exit terms, and red flags that should prevent you from signing.

The governance questions to ask for Google Ads, Meta Ads, SEO, and content marketing. Each channel has six questions and a red flag - the most common way governance breaks down for that channel.

Ten warning signs that marketing governance has begun to erode. Governance does not fail all at once - it decays. This checklist identifies which decay indicators are currently present in your organisation.