Time for a brand audit
Have you ever looked at your brand and thought “it could be better?”. Or maybe you’ve asked yourself, “Does this brand truly present my vision in all of its authenticity?”.
It’s a common challenge in the world of brand management. If you’ve ever pondered these questions, you’re not alone.
I ask myself that all the time!
You’re probably thinking, “wait, what? You too?”. Yep, me too.
Like us, our brands evolve over time. Whether it’s a slow, gradual development or a rapid transformation through experimentation and learning, our brands can evolve as quickly as we can. The more we test new ideas and learn through client interactions, the more clarity we find within ourselves and our brands. Remember, brands don’t have to be stagnant.
Some people have clear visions of the future, while others, like me, are more fluid. I won’t necessarily change the foundations of my core business, but my brand can be nimble and adapt where needed.
Adapting and shifting your brand can take much more effort for businesses with an established brand. However, you don’t have to do everything at once. You just have to be more strategic and methodical about the change, especially if it’s a complete rebrand. But before we jump ahead, let’s look at the fundamentals of a brand audit and how you can conduct one yourself if you’re not ready to engage a consultant like me.
So, what exactly is a brand audit?
A brand audit is like a checkup for your brand and a crucial tool for evaluating your branding performance and market position. It’s the key to uncovering your brand’s potential because it helps you:
Identify strengths and weaknesses
Gaps in the market
The effectiveness of your branding efforts.
The core components of a brand audit include:
Alignment to business strategy
Analysing visual identity
Evaluating brand voice and messaging
Assessing customer and employee perception
These elements provide a holistic view of the brand is perceived internally and externally.
Regular brand audits are crucial for businesses to stay relevant and competitive. They help detect misalignments, understand customer needs, and identify market growth and differentiation opportunities. I encourage businesses to conduct an annual brand audit to ensure:
Vision and strategic alignment
Market adaptability
Branding performance
An audit helps ensure the brand is connected to the business vision, successfully communicates value to the desired audiences, and maintains consistency and clarity in brand messaging.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to conducting a brand audit.
1. Set Objectives: what do you want to achieve from the audit? Objectives can include improving brand perception, addressing declining market share, or realigning the brand with a business.
2. Look inside: Assess the brand’s mission, vision, and value, review brand identity elements, and evaluate product/service offerings. Collect employee feedback to assess internal alignment and brand advocacy.
3. Look outside: Assess customer perception through polls, conduct competitor analysis by analysing their digital presence, examine current market trends, and analyse customer feedback and reviews.
4. Look online: Check your website, analyse social media engagement, and review your search engine presence. Where could you improve consistency, messaging or visual representation of your brand?
5. Listen to yourself: Review advertising across channels, promotions and campaigns in the market, and your content strategy. Do they align with the brand’s voice, audiences and goals?
6. Dig into your data: Analyse sales, financial performance, and customer data to tailor your brand strategy. Do you have a clear view of your customers’ journeys and touchpoints with your brand? Are there patterns in engagement that can be transferred to other channels?
7. Pop a SWOT: A simple yet practical SWOT analysis helps to identify critical areas of success and areas needing improvement.
8. Take action: Create a roadmap for adjustments and set measurable KPIs to track progress after implementing the changes. Your audit is the baseline, and change is measurable.
Conducting a brand audit with this structured approach can help identify where your brand stands out in the market, identify gaps in how you articulate your uniqueness, uncover opportunities for improvement, and ensure the brand remains competitive.
Need help?
Sometimes, it’s a little challenging to zoom out and look at your brand objectively. If you want a little outside perspective, book in a free consultation and let’s chat.
I also offer donation-based brand audits on a quarterly basis. Learn more about why I do this.
