With almost 5 million users
across the globe, the internet is clearly the only place to be if you want to
increase your brand recognition.
Unfortunately, if you put a foot
wrong online, there's no hiding your mistake from this large audience. A brand
audit is the best way to measure how you're doing according to the grand scale
of things.
Find out more about what's involved
here.
What
Is a Brand Audit?
Brand development’s an ongoing
process, and what worked yesterday might not be as effective right now. A brand
audit helps to gauge where you’re at and helps you plan a way forward for your
brand.
A brand audit involves a detailed
examination of everything to do with your brand.
It’s a type of pulse check for your
brand, so you can figure out what’s working, what’s not, and what you might try
in the future.
The brand audit process involves
using data to precisely measure your performance objectively.
Every brand audit looks at the two
main types of branding. These are:
Internal
Branding
Internal branding involves aspects
of how your business relates to its employees. Some of the aspects of this type
of branding include:
- The tools and resources
available to your employees
- How your brand resonates with
employees
- Your positioning in the market
- Your USAP (Unique Selling
Proposition)
- Company culture and values
External
Branding
External branding takes your
business's promise to your customers into account. It involves things like:
- Visual identity in the form of
logos and other graphics
- Marketing and advertising
initiatives
- Social media presence
- Website
Close analysis of these two types of
branding allows you to compare your business with competitors and identify your
strengths and weaknesses.
Does
Your Company Need a Brand Audit?
All companies should indulge in a
brand audit project now and again. The tell-tale signs that your company's long
overdue for one are the following:
- You've noticed a loss in brand
identity
- You feel you need more brand
cohesion
- Customer loyalty seems to be
waning
Any time you want to redirect your
business focus or pivot your company offering is a good time to perform a brand audit.
How
Can You Benefit from a Brand Audit?
The main purpose of a brand audit is
to help you understand where you stand in the minds of your customers and
within your market in general. A brand audit report can help you with the
following branding aspects:
A
SWOT Analysis
The first step in growing any
business is determining the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
already in place. This is your starting point toward taking steps to improve
and decrease these aspects appropriately.
A brand audit helps reveal
data-driven answers to the following questions relating to a SWOT analysis:
Strengths
- Where does your brand excel
often?
- What are the strengths and
skills of your employees?
- Do you have something that
customers can’t get anywhere else?
- Is your branding in line with
your business mission and direction?
Weaknesses
- Does your business perform
poorly in some areas?
- Does your team show consistent
weaknesses like lack of motivation?
- Are some elements of your brand
inauthentic?
- Do you fail to follow through
on brand promises?
Opportunities
- Do any current trends benefit
your brand?
- Are there new branding techniques
you could use to improve your performance?
- Can you reach out to a new
demographic?
- Are there more positive aspects
to your brand that you could highlight?
Threats
- Can recent cultural shifts harm
your brand in any way?
- Could current events cast a negative
light on your brand?
- Are your competitors trying to
discredit your brand?
- Does your brand have negative
associations with entities or ideologies?
Determining
Customer's Perceptions of Your Brand
Nobody in your company can tell you
how customers perceive your brand. They're closely involved in it.
A brand auditor has no
preconceptions, placing them in a much better position to paint an accurate
picture for you. Thanks to their experience and objective analytical abilities,
they can more easily form a clear picture of the qualities associated with your
brand.
Realigning
Your Offering to Better Suit Current Times
Thanks to a brand analysis, you can
identify and improve areas where your brand can improve. Perhaps your service
has slipped, or you're not making the best use of modern marketing efforts like
social media.
A brand audit helps you explore your
customers' needs and expectations, so you can position your brand accordingly.
Comparing
Your Standing With That of Competitors
They can provide unbiased data on
how customers view your brand compared to others and provide you with
actionable insights on how you can improve.
A brand audit provides critical
insights into your competitors' strengths and weaknesses. This helps you to
find ways to make your brand stand out in a competitive environment.
Redefining
Your Branding Strategy
Armed with all these concrete facts,
it's much easier to find a way forward for your brand. Nowadays, you can't fly
by the seat of your pants when it comes to branding.
Customers have long memories, so you
need a calculated approach if you want to improve and grow your brand online. A
brand analysis gives you a solid starting point for building a better brand.
Without this valuable direction,
your company might never achieve its full potential.
Planning
a Better Branding Future
The New Year's an excellent time to
conduct a brand audit. That way, you can get a fresh start to your annual
marketing efforts.
Browse our blog for more information
for making the best use of the internet tools available to you.
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