Why and How to conduct a Brand Audit?

As part of brand strategy, auditing provides a thorough examination of the elements that make up your brand.

It determines how your company image is being used, whether it still represents the right values and personality?

How the target customers perceives your brand?

Why some aspects of your business succeed while others fail and if any changes needed to your marketing plan.

Businesses use brand audit process to analyze sales data and check their brand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This process is useful if you want to improve your branding, reach more target customers, increase revenue, or raise brand awareness.

We walk you through how to conduct an auditing process to keep your brand on track and in your control.

Why is brand auditing important?

Brand auditing is more than just another task to add to your "one day" to-do list.

When done correctly, these audits can help to structure the direction your business takes and open new opportunities for growth for your product or services.

A good brand audit process entails:

• Allows to determine your web analytics, company's positioning and plan any corrective methodologies you may need to implement. Also, allows you to discover your company's strengths and weaknesses.

• Assists you in better aligning your offerings with customer expectations, or vice versa.

• Allows you to become acquainted with the perceptions (positive or negative) that your target audiences may have about your company.

• Maintains your appeal to your target market, whether by being more modern or knowledgeable.

How to conduct a brand audit?

The scope of your auditing should include three essential areas for great brand strategy.

Internal branding (values, mission, and culture),

External branding (logo, visual language, tone of voice, website, marketing materials, social presence, and public relations), and

Customer experience will all be examined (your sales process, customer support and customer service policies).

1. Define Goals and set up plan to achieve it

It's time to set some brand goals after the stakeholder’s inputs are explored. Get started with what can help to examine these needs.

2. Start brand auditing process by framing questionnaires

When performing an audit process, set up questionnaires and utilize these questionnaires to find the right information and this will help you determine exactly what exercise needs to be carried out. Deep dive into the mindset of key brand stakeholders and validate their inputs to identifying any gaps that exist between your current and desired brand perception.

3. Survey your stakeholders

There are various groups of stakeholders with whom your company must be working alongside to grow exponentially. Assessing the existing internal and external stakeholders will assist your company to understand how each group feels, what is their perception about the organisation and identify measures to reflect the right message across all target markets.

4. Audit your website

Even if you have the most beautiful landing page design, if it isn't converting or communicates the exacts purpose the way it should, it's critical to figure out the reason. Website analytics figures out how well your content is functioning, how many people are visiting your website, how many times are pages being viewed, the bounce rate as well as the conversion rate and sales data.

5. Review your social data

Examine your social media to see how effective your social media marketing is and find out the following:

• What are the different categories of clients who interact with your brand on social media?

• Are these the target customers you're looking for?

• What do they have to say about your company?

6. Compare with Competitors

Now, you want to look at how your brand performs against your rivals. Competitor analyses help you identify your rivals’ shortcomings and use them to your advantage. Their flaws can become your strong point. A competitor analysis helps you improve and refine your value proposition. It’s important to focus on both direct competitors and indirect competitors. The following question can help in measuring competitors’ performance:

• What is the position of your competitors?

• What is your main point of distinction?

• What distinguishes your business?

7. Take action

Apply the methodology outlined above to create a framework and a game plan. Your vision for your company must be aligned with the needs and expectations of your customers. Identify your findings and distribute the information to the appropriate parties.

It is critical to create an action plan so that everyone knows how to proceed as a group. Conducting an audit process is difficult, But it's a worthy effort.

Your brand is the most valuable asset. Performing audits on a regular basis ensures that it remains healthy.