Brand Audit
What is a brand audit and why do I need one?
A brand audit is a deep dive look into your business and it's brand. Well that is the short and the quick elevator pitch, however there is much more involved. A brand audit can be as in depth as you would like it to be. Some clients know exactly what is needed in their business and I come in a do that needed thing for a few months, get them back on their feet and then step away. Some clients need me to stay around awhile and help monthly or quarterly to keep them on track, others want the deep dive, the need to be told what is wrong and how to fix it. Each business is different and has different needs.
Let's start with the easiest first. Let's say your business is changing names or services. You need someone to come in, help with the logo and design elements to get said business going in the right direction. This includes timelines, website work, some light PR, making of ads, getting social media up and running or making the swap to a more cohesive, engaging feed, and setting a lunch for the public as a reintroduction.
Next is the client that has recently launched a product or service, but just can't seem to get a grip on everything! There is so much to do, website upkeep, (yes, you need to add new content and photos on a regular basis, and yes, they need to be named properly for SEO and Google analytics), they need someone to help them with planning social media posts and engagement (yes, once you put a post on social media it HAS to be engaged with in order to have organic growth), making of ads for social media, do I market? how do I do that? and then there is the ordeal of ordering letterhead, business cards, business collateral and clients gifts, not to mention actually doing the thing you are passionate about that got you into business to begin with! whew!
Last is the deep dive. This group can really be subdivided but for ease of this blog let's say you have been in business but you just feel something is off. You are making progress but you feel things could be better you just don't what to do . This is where the true Brand Audit comes in.
A brand audit starts at the beginning and goes through everything, I mean everything...
Brand Strategy and Identity: Let's look at your brand identity, your logo, your colors, your design elements, your tagline, your messaging. Are they cohesive, do they make sense, does your brand even reflect what is it you do? What is the brand personality and does it reflect the business?
Perception: How is your business perceived in public? Amongst your peers? Do you have reviews? Are they good or bad? Is your brand easy to recognize or easily confused? Are your employees upholding your brand in public? Does this line up with your core values? Does your brand create an emotional connection with your consumers?
Website: Is your website easy to use for the consumer? Are there broken links? Does it covey your brand? For someone outside your industry does it make sense... For example as a photographer I speak in f-stops and aspect ratios, those words mean nothing to my client, they want to know the who, what, and how much... they are already on my site, they are not interested in how I set the camera to take the image, they just want their images to look as good.
If you are a business that is brick and mortar, how are your customers greeted at the door, how are the moved through your store and the purchasing process, is it easy, do people get ignored or lost? On the back end...how are you handling orders, deliveries, inventory, special requests. Simple mistakes can be the difference in a good year and a great year, or if you can stay in business.
Before you look to your future, you need to understand what’s working, what’s not, what can be improved, what needs to go, what needs to evolve, and so forth. A brand audit shines a light on your strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, opportunities, etc. It’s only once you have that big-picture view of your brand that you can identify the right solutions to close the gap.