How to Do a Complete Brand Audit

Your brand is your company’s most valuable asset, and its health must be nurtured and managed. Your brand is what distinguishes you and your business from the competition in all the right ways, and a regular brand audit will help you make consistent progress towards business growth. Remember your brand is your clients’ sum total of THEIR emotional attachment and experience with YOU and your business.

Here at Marketing Leap, we base our marketing brand audits on three areas:

1. Branding – having a consistent brand presence is critical to ensuring that your target customer recognises your brand and business no matter where they discover you online.
2. Clarity – all business and social media accounts should always be in sync. Use the same profile picture across your social media channels, and make sure your cover photo includes information about your business.
3. Consistency – it’s essential for not just developing an efficient marketing presence. But also for solidifying brand penetration and familiarity.

If you want to learn more about these areas, read our previous blog here.

Does Your Business Need a Brand Audit?

While there are no absolute guidelines for when a business should do a brand audit we recommend to do one at least once a year. Below are some questions you can ask to determine if your business needs a brand audit:

Is the market changing?

The digital space is constantly changing. Also as people’s wants and interests shift, so will the market. Therefore, it is vitally important to stay ahead of the curve to remain relevant. Pay close attention to market developments to ensure your target customer recognises your brand and business no matter what platform they find you online

How are your competitors doing?

While it is critical to know what is happening in your market, be careful not to get too caught up in what other competitors in your market are doing. An annual brand audit will alert you to any updated offers or potential game changers your competitors, may be using. This in turn will allow you to take the appropriate steps to stay ahead and keep your business growing.

Do you have an updated catalogue?

Every so often your business may change its services to better achieve its goals. A brand audit may assist you in deciding whether your business’s public image and current inventory are still in sync. If it isn’t, you may make the necessary modifications before the inconsistencies begin to harm your business.

Are you still meeting the expectations of your target audience?

Sometimes, despite your efforts, sales or website traffic may drop. Problems like these are indicators. If it’s time to rethink your brand, a brand audit will help you find out where you’re going wrong. It could be time for some changes or even a rebranding strategy.

Steps to Conduct Brand Audit

If you’re wondering how to perform a brand audit, the following checklist will walk you through the processes, as well as check in on the general health of your brand. Use this list to develop a framework that works best for your company.

Step 1: Understand what you’re measuring.

Refer to your marketing strategy to reaffirm your company’s aim, vision, unique selling proposition, and positioning statements. Who are your target consumers, and what does your brand promise them? Clarify your brand’s perspective before measuring what others believe.

Step 2: Evaluate your outside marketing materials.

Examine the logo, brochures, sales sheets, product packaging, letterhead, business cards, and print advertisements for your firm. Are the overall design, colour scheme, and tone of voice consistent? How well does each item reach your intended audience?

Step 3: Examine your company’s website.

Where does web traffic come from? If you rely just on one or two sources for traffic, you will be susceptible to changes in those sources; attempt to diversify. These questions will help you to analyse your website better:

• Is your website attracting the right people?
• What is your bounce rate?
• What is the effectiveness of your conversion rate?
• Is it growing or shrinking?

Step 4: Analyse your social media statistics.

Examine your social media analytics to determine the effectiveness of your social media marketing. What types of customers connect with your brand on social media? Are these the ideal customers you’re looking for? What do others think about your brand?

Step 5: Create an Action Plan.

Using the information you’ve gathered, identify which aspects of your brand are effective, which need to be tweaked, and which are utterly off the mark. Create an action plan for updating your brand to match it with the goals and vision of your firm.

Step 6: Keep track of your progress.

Examine the results as you complete each component of your brand update to ensure the changes are having the desired effect. Brands eventually get stale. A brand audit every few years may help keep your brand fresh.

These are just a few steps to doing a brand audit that will set you up for success in the next fiscal year. A brand audit will enable you to speak directly to your ideal customer. You want people to see what you do and how you improve or add value to their lives and have NO CHOICE but to want to work with you. Need a Brand Audit for your business? Lets chat!

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