I’ll show you how to run a focused, practical audit of your marketing stack in 2 hours and find the redundant tools that are quietly costing you ~30% of your recurring SaaS budget. This is the exact process I use with startups and scaling companies: fast, evidence-led, and aimed at decisions you can act on the same day.
Why this audit matters (and why you can do it fast)
Most teams accumulate tools the same way they accumulate browser tabs: one urgent need becomes a purchase, then another tool solves a slightly different problem, and suddenly you’re paying for five products that do broadly the same thing. The cost is not just subscription fees — it’s duplicated tracking, confusing data lineage, duplicated integrations, more maintenance, onboarding effort and slower decision-making.
Two hours is enough if you focus on what matters: cost, coverage, overlap, and the people using the tools. You won’t rearchitect your stack in that time, but you will create a prioritized list of quick wins that typically free up 20–40% of wasted spend and reduce operational friction.
What you need before you start (5 minutes)
Access to your billing/subscriptions list (Stripe, Airwallex, GCP/AWS billing or spreadsheets).A shared doc or spreadsheet where you can capture findings (I include a ready-made table below).One stakeholder per major function on quick-call standby (Marketing, Sales, Ops/IT/Dev, Finance).15–30 minutes of console access: SaaS admin dashboards, analytics, or your CRM’s integrations page.The 2-hour audit timeline
Block two focused hours. I follow this timeline — adjust per your org size.
0–10 minutes: Quick billing sweep — list tools and monthly/annual cost.10–40 minutes: Categorize tools (core, support, experimental) and map owners.40–80 minutes: Evidence check — usage, integrations, overlap, value (meet brief stakeholders if needed).80–110 minutes: Prioritize consolidation opportunities and draft decision criteria.110–120 minutes: Create immediate actions: cancel/put on hold, consolidate, or keep and document.How to categorize tools fast
Use three simple categories:
Core — tools required for revenue operations and customer experience (e.g., CRM, billing, core analytics).Support — things that enable marketing but are not unique (email service providers, automation, A/B testing, heatmaps).Experimental — low-cost or trial tools used for short experiments.Tag each tool with:
Owner (who uses it daily)Monthly cost (normalized)Last active (when last used/last login)Primary integration points (e.g., pushes leads to CRM, fires events to GA4)Business value (qualitative: conversion driver, reporting, retention)Quick decision criteria — what tells you to cut or keep
For each tool answer three quick questions:
Is this tool owned and actively used by a named person/team?Does the functionality overlap with another tool we pay for that already covers >=80% of use cases?Can we replace it without a >2 week implementation and >20% drop in a tracked KPI?If you answer “no” to (1) or “yes” to (2) with “yes” to (3), it’s a cancellation candidate. If replacing it requires long dev work or will materially harm conversion, keep it and plan consolidation later.
Evidence checks to run in 40 minutes
These are the fastest, highest-impact checks I run:
Billing report: list all marketing SaaS subscriptions >£10/month.Active user count: check admin panels for last-login and number of seats being used.Integration map: open your CRM/automation integrations to see which tools send/receive data.Event overlap: in analytics or Segment, search for duplicate event names or two systems recording the same event.Reports consumption: ask stakeholders “which reports/dashboards do you use weekly?” If no one uses it, it’s a candidate to remove.Example audit table (copy this into your sheet)
| Tool | Category | Monthly Cost | Owner | Core Integrations | Overlap | Action |
|---|
| HubSpot | Core CRM | £450 | Head of Sales | Mailchimp, Stripe | Mailchimp handles email | Keep (migrate email to HubSpot in 2 months) |
| Mailchimp | Support Email | £70 | Growth Marketer | Zapier | HubSpot already sends transactional email | Cancel in 30 days; export lists |
| Hotjar | RFM / UX | £39 | Product | GA4 | Mixpanel + Hotjar overlapping session data | Keep for now; replace with full Mixpanel heatmaps next quarter |
Common redundancy patterns I always find
These patterns are predictable and easy to act on:
Multiple ESPs (Mailchimp + SendGrid + ConvertKit) — consolidate to one platform that supports campaigns + transactional where possible.Two analytics setups (GA4 + Mixpanel + Segment) where tracking is duplicated — keep one source of truth for product events and use the others for high-level reporting only.Automation + reverse automation — Zapier workflows that duplicate what a modern iPaaS or the CRM can do natively.Multiple AB testing tools or personalization layers — pick one and sunset the rest.How to cancel without breaking things (practical steps)
Canceling a tool often stalls because teams fear lost data or broken integrations. Use this checklist:
Export critical data (lists, templates, campaign history, analytics data) before cancel.Map integrations and switch the downstream process first — e.g., point webhooks to the new tool before disabling the old one.Communicate a clear deadline and owner for migration.Put a 30-day hold (suspension) if the vendor allows — it reduces fear and lets you verify nothing broke.Simple ROI calculation to prioritize
For each cancellation candidate calculate:
Annual savings = monthly_cost × 12Migration cost = estimated hours × fully loaded cost per hourNet first year benefit = annual savings − migration costPrioritize items with the highest net first year benefit and low operational risk.
Policies and governance to prevent future bloat
After you reclaim spend, put guardrails in place:
Two-person approval for new SaaS subscriptions above £50/month (requestor + IT/Finance).Quarterly stack review (15 minutes) — update ownership and usage.Centralized procurement list (single source of truth for subscriptions and integrations).Tag each subscription with an expiration date and migration plan if there’s overlap.Quick negotiation and consolidation tips
Vendors expect churn and will often give discounts if you consolidate spend. When you’re ready to consolidate:
Bundle licenses — ask for a single invoice and lower per-seat rates.Use churn leverage: tell the vendor you're considering cancellation and ask for a 20–30% discount or enhanced support features for the same price.Consider a phased migration to keep momentum while minimizing risk.If you follow this two-hour approach, you’ll come away with a prioritized list of cancellations and consolidations, an evidence-backed estimate of the amount you can save, and a migration plan you can execute without disrupting operations. Implementing even a few of the removals usually frees budget for experiments or higher-value tools that move revenue, not just complexity.
