The dawn of New Year is a great time to launch fresh strategies that can transform your brand into one that is more valuable in the eyes of clients and potential clients. Like most great resolutions putting more time, thought and effort into evolving your brand always comes with the best of intentions; a brand New Year is ripe with possibilities and promise.
In order to take advantage of those possibilities and to make opportunities find their way to you, you have to optimize every ounce of your brand’s potential. We highly suggest that before 2020 unfurls, that you carve out a day to look objectively at all of your brand’s elements. Is it time for new headshots? A website refresh (or overhaul)? Have you mapped out a detailed and comprehensive marketing plan and calendar? What is your online social media strategy? What worked and didn’t for you and your business in 2019?
Are you experiencing a dip in sales or is your competition nipping at your heels, or has your website traffic slowed to a turtle’s pace? These are all clear signs your brand is in desperate need of a brand audit.
Business owners are a passionate bunch and it’s challenging for any of us to shift into a pragmatic mindset to figure out what is in the best interest of our business for growth. The primary purpose of a brand audit is to ascertain how your business is performing in the eyes of your desired demographic.
Companies every few years should consider re-Branding or re-Freshing their overall look, voice and/or vibe to ensure it is still perceived well and thus is resonating as you want it to. A brand audit is the perfect time to take a look at your current brand and see where it has shifted since its inception.
Brands are like living creatures with life cycles. They start with promise, grow steadily and then eventually plateau. It’s at this stage when brands can potentially lose relevance to its customers. In this 24/7 world, consumers won’t bat an eye as they move on to the latest shiny object unless you can hold their interest.
A brand audit helps you uncover whether or not:
- Your branding is outdated
- Your products or services have changed
- Your current brand is inconsistent
- You’re not reaching your target audience anymore
- You’re preparing for change, growth or evolution
A comprehensive brand audit should also identity these items:
- Your brand’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (via a SWOT analysis)
- The current value and awareness (do they get you) of your brand
- Your brand’s new product development channels (if applicable)
- Your brand’s competitive standing in the existing market via a competitive analysis
- Your brand’s customer personas
- Your brand’s perception, image, reputation and attitude in the marketplace
Once you’ve gathered all of your information and assessed the combined strength of your brand you can decide which course of action to take. A comprehensive brand audit will often reveal new growth opportunities and new ways to make your brand click with both an existing and a new generation of target customers who represent your brand’s long term future.
If you find yourself struggling as you attempt to do your own review/audit, give us a call. We offer our One Day intensive which covers a brand audit, crafting positioning and establishing unique differentiation. We are at the ready to help. It is what we do every day for our clients.
Let’s all bring our best brand foot forward in 2020.
