How to Navigate a Brand Audit
WHY YOU NEED IT. WHAT YOU GET.
There are many reasons why you might have landed on this page today. Maybe you aren't hitting your sales goals. Or your competition is doing more business with a lesser product. Or your visuals and messaging are kind of...blah.
How well do you know your customers and prospects? How effective are your marketing tactics? What's the best direction to take to achieve growth? Are you hiring and retaining top talent?
THESE ARE TOUGH QUESTIONS. BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS, A BRAND AUDIT CAN HELP YOU FIND OUT. IT’S OFTEN THE FIRST STEP WE TAKE IN OUR LONG AND FRUITFUL CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS.
LET'S GET STARTED.
WHAT’S A BRAND AUDIT?
A brand audit is a thorough and honest look at the way your brand communicates, exposing all its strengths and areas of improvement.
By evaluating the goals, processes, activities and promises that comprise your brand, you will gain new insights into the core systems of your business.
It's often said that the label is impossible to read from inside the jar. That's why it's so effective to have an agency partner take an unbiased look at your brand, free of the filters that exist inside your company.
Upon completion of an audit, your agency partner should provide you with an actionable strategy for how to improve your messaging and communications.
9 SIGNS YOU’RE READY FOR AN AUDIT
Your brand is a living thing. It has a unique personality you can’t fully control. Over time, you watch it grow, nurture it and guide it to fit its environment perfectly. But if it's neglected for too long, it becomes unhealthy and ineffective. And if this is left unchecked, it can do serious harm to the company.
So when is an audit necessary? Here are nine telltale signs.
Your marketing is ineffective
Sales are flat or sliding
Sales people aren’t motivated
Key personnel are leaving the company
Customers are confused by or unaware of your offerings
Your product is a commodity
You're fighting downward price pressure
You're losing customers to your competition
Your competitors are disruptive
CAPTIVATE YOUR TARGET MARKET
If any of those nine signs resonated, it might be time to evaluate:
Brand identity and voice
Current marketing tactics
Operational, cultural and sales goals
Target market and ideal customers
Every single piece of marketing communication is something that tells your brand’s story.
There’s no one-size-fits-all model for auditing your brand. But there are best practices for knowing where to look, how to start and how to convert your efforts into actionable steps.
The end result? An enthralled audience that’s eager to know more about who you are and how you make their lives better.
STRATEGY vs TACTICS
Every brand worth its salt has one or multiple Big Goals to work toward. More revenue, talent retention, market share acquisition, more enabled channel partners, prospect education and an improved customer experience are all good examples.
These goals are the foundation of the marketing strategy, which is your overall plan. It’s the map that will lead you years into the future, and it will help you win new business and grow the company. A successful brand audit identifies the Big Goals and builds a clear and effective marketing strategy. Then, marketing tactics are all the things that bring the strategy to life.
It is not possible to have optimized tactics if you don't have the right strategy in place.
In short, it’s always best to start with the plan. Work wide, then narrow down the specifics of your plan. Think of it like building a house. Start with the blueprint, then coordinate your electric, plumbing and masonry to fit. The color of the tile in the bathroom comes WAY later, so don’t get lost in the minutiae early on; it's a waste of time and energy. Get to that stuff later, once you understand what you want to accomplish.
TACTICS IN OUR TOOLBOX
Tactics may also include things not commonly associated with marketing—the feel your office gives visitors, customer and staff reviews of your company, how active your employees are on social media and so much more.
Get the picture? Your brand is literally everything that contributes to how a customer or employee views the company.
WHY STRATEGY FIRST?
Higher impact, long-term gains vs smaller impact, short-term gains. Define the architecture so you can effectively build.
POSITIONING YOUR BAND: ANSWER THE 3 CS
Your brand position answers the question, “Why should I care about this company?” When done well, it increases awareness, highlights your competitive advantages, differentiates your brand from alternatives in the marketplace and communicates your value to customers. One place to get started: the 3 Cs.
THE IVOR ANDREW PROCESS
Our process is always the same, but recommendations are unique to your needs. Phase 1 is a formula we’ve developed and replicated to learn everything about your brand. Based on our strategic findings from Phase 1, we create marketing tactics in Phase 2 that result in more awareness, positive attribution, retention, leads, revenue and growth.
Phase 1: Strategy Building
Discovery period with key internal staff and partners
Interviews with a diverse customer base
Competitive marketing and company culture analysis
Attribute-based audit reporting
Begin tactical conversations
Findings presentation given to key stakeholders
Phase 2: Tactic Recommendations
Differentiated value proposition
Brand promise, positioning, voice and messaging
Print and digital marketing recommendations
Website recommendations
Internal communication tactics
Customer-facing marketing tactics
Creative proposal given to key marketing staff
OUR APPROACH: DARE TO BE DIFFERENT
Whether you choose to do the branding thing alone, opt for a different agency partner or choose to work with Ivor Andrew, you can now begin to answer that overwhelming question:
How can I get a healthy and effective brand?
Spoiler: Don't be like everyone else. Be different. Stand out. It's scary at first, but your customers will reward you for it.
Social Proof - Brands that have benefited from a Brand Audit /Real
LET’S MEET UP.
If you’re ready to see just how much the right brand can change your company, don’t hesitate. It might be the best call you make all year.
