The world is continually changing and evolving, and so is our audience. Keeping up with the latest marketing and communications trends can seem like a daunting task, but it's vital to do if you don't want to get stuck in a brand standstill.
A brand is the most precious and valuable asset of any business. An effective brand delivers a clear message, emotionally connects prospects to products, instills user loyalty, motivates the customer to buy, and confirms a business's credibility.
The ultimate goal of any business is to stay relevant, and it usually takes a lot more than just having a good service or product to do so. Is your business struggling at the moment? Is there a dip in revenue and sales? Are you losing customers?
Not all businesses are going to experience continual positive phases. Ups and downs are to be expected but if you answered yes to any of those questions, you may want to perform a brand audit of your business right away.
In today’s business world, the competition is cutthroat. Differentiation is the only way for a company to stand out and survive its competition. A brand audit can help guide you in the right direction.
Why Do A Brand Audit?
A brand audit aims to track the performance of your business from the view of your customers. The process helps identify the current standings of your business and highlights where corrective measures may be beneficial. In addition to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your brand, a brand audit can provide you with a guide towards aligning your product message with the expectations of your customers.
What is Included in a Brand Audit?
1. Brand Summary
A brand summary assesses the current positioning of your brand. It evaluates how customers perceive your brand, what its strengths and weaknesses are, if it creates a lasting effect, and whether or not it is positioned to drive traffic and engage customers with your product. A brand summary is an overview of your brand’s current performance and addresses all these things and more.
2. Surveys
To address the concerns mentioned above, a business can develop a survey to better understand their customers’ needs, habits, and preferences. Researching your target market is one of the first and most important things you should do as a business owner. You won’t motivate your consumers to buy your product if you don't know what they need. Surveys directly ask them what they like and don't like and can provide you with insight into any changes in their preferences.
3. Compelling Positioning Statement
Branding is all about winning and keeping customers. A brand without customers is unsuccessful. To establish a clear vision for your brand, you need a positioning statement. A positioning statement describes how your service or product fulfills the needs of your customers. A good positioning statement is memorable, simple, and tailored to your target market.
4. Recommended Brand Element Changes
During the auditing process, there might be certain brand elements that aren't cohesive with your buyer’s persona. A brand audit may recommend changes to these elements in order to develop better, more enhanced versions. With the help of research, competitive analysis, brand positioning, and the audit itself, you can address any recommended brand element changes.
5. A 6-Month Production Calendar
A key part of developing an effective marketing strategy is a defined production calendar that aligns with your budget. This alignment involves a structured and organized production calendar to follow in order to meet your deadlines, without overextending your budget.
Benefits of a Brand Audit
A powerful brand is capable of captivating, inspiring, and engaging a broad target audience. It can get the attention of premium target consumers as well as encourage positive social conversation about your company which can lead to referrals.
A branding plan and audit can help you better achieve your branding goals by providing you with:
1. A Reality Check
A brand audit is like a reality check for your business because it tells you where your company realistically stands in the market. An audit allows you to identify your brand’s weaknesses and strengths and addresses opportunities for innovation and growth. If you’re experiencing a decline in sales and revenue, a brand audit will provide you with honest insight into your brand’s performance and impact in the marketplace.
2. Possible Improvements
It's important that your brand's message remains strong and clear in order to ensure the profitability of your business. A brand audit helps identify areas of concern and then comes up with recommendations for how to address them. Sometimes we just don't know where to start, right? A brand audit gives you a better understanding of where and howto go about making the sometimes confusing yet necessary improvements that your brand needs.
By evaluating your brand’s performance and ensuring that your business connects with the right audience, a brand audit will provide you with relevant information regarding the position of your company's brand.
Throughout the brand audit, you will discover the business actions that are benefiting you and what you can do to boost the weaker factors. For most companies, a brand audit is recommended once a year.
When Should You Do a Brand Audit?
·You are new in the market
·Your business has experienced recent growth
·Your business is struggling
·You are unsure of how to proceed with your business
·You want to rebrand your business
·You think that your business is not strong enough
A brand audit will thoroughly examine your business’s current situation and guide you towards smart business decisions moving forward. It will help you find opportunities to innovate by identifying your brand’s strengths and weaknesses.
If you’re interested in discovering more, check out our website and connect with us at https://sphericalstrategies.com. Team up with us and fulfill your branding needs! Let’s talk!
