Success Champions
5 Things you can do to audit your own brand By Stephanie Powell
A “A brand’s story is what first opens the door for you to begin to establish relationships with your audience. Relationships that lead to trust, loyalty, and (you guessed it) sales!”
strong, authentic, intentional brand is a CRAZY, powerful tool (think: Disney, Apple, Nike). Your brand tells a story, whether you want it to or not. Why not control that narrative, instead of allowing someone else to do it for you based on what they think it is? If you don’t tell them what the story is, they’ll make one up based on their own assumptions (and we all know what assuming does, do we not?). Your brand story is too important to give anyone else the mic but you. A brand’s story is what first opens the door for you to begin to establish relationships with your audience. Relationships that lead to trust, loyalty, and (you guessed it) sales! Because your story is what catches their attention and makes them say “These guys. I want to be a part of what they’re doing. They get me and we care about the same things.” The audit below focuses on just your
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Brand Identity. Your brand and your brand identity are NOT the same. Your brand identity is made up of the visual representations of your brand (logo, fonts, colors, etc.). Your brand is what everyone else says it is (not what you say it is, ya dig?). If you’re reading this and suddenly feel very unsure as to whether or not your brand is where you need/ want it to be and telling the right story, invest in a professional brand identity audit. Brand identity audits involve taking a deep dive to figure out whether or not your brand is performing the way you want, saying what you want, and talking to who you want. And if it isn’t, what steps do you need to take to get it there? It will not only give you invaluable information, but insights, recommendations, and often action items as well. Brand Audits are one of my FAVORITE things to do for clients. No b.s. Here’s a very simple 5-step version for you to do yourself.
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Make sure you have clear and definitive answers to the following five questions (it’s a five within five, I know). For funsies, I included some answers in parentheses, just as a guide. Knowing these answers is the first step in achieving brand clarity. If you don’t know what your brand is supposed to be and who it’s supposed to serve, how can you evaluate its effectiveness?
