A brand audit is a detailed look at your business to identify specific aspects of the brand. It tries to identify the brand’s performance as an identity, the strengths and weaknesses of the brand, potential problems faced by the brand, and rooms for improvement. When a business is established and run, there are specific goals that the business seeks to achieve. There are business values that it tries to adhere to. It has a target audience which it aims for and retain it on a long-term basis. To achieve these, the business has to gain insights with the help of brand audits.

A brand audit is a monitoring mechanism that is relevant at every stage of business. Upcoming businesses can direct themselves to the right direction through brand audits. Brand audits also help businesses that have grown significantly or are looking to move into a new direction. And of course, if there is a sense of lost identity or stagnation of the brand, a brand audit can be a problem solver. With tools like Pulse, checklists that facilitate brand audit and inspections can be created and used effectively. It gives a technology-driven boost to activities like brand audits. 

A brand audit can help the business in the following ways

Identify the brand positioning

A brand audit exercise helps businesses find out the brand’s positioning in the market. A business has specific predefined goals related to the brand. Through various internal and external research activities, you can identify the awareness around your brand. You can find out the trust your brand has been able to build and the credibility it commands. This can be done through surveys, checklists, analysis of metrics, etc. Many of these tools such as Assign and Track Operations, Checklist Templates, and Insightful Reports, are provided by platforms like Pulse.

Understand brand performance

Through the study of various key performance indicators, you will be able to gauge the performance of your brand. For example, if you have an online business, your brand’s performance can be measured in terms of various web analytics results. It would include the web traffic on your targeted geographies, number of page views, conversion rates, bounce rates, etc. Study of the customer feedback and questionnaires will give further insight into brand performance. A brand audit can also include the study of objective data about your competitor’s market presence and brand awareness. This provides you with yet another yardstick to measure the standing of your business and brand performance.

Identify strengths and weaknesses 

A significant contribution of a brand audit is that it helps you identify your business’s strengths and weaknesses. For instance, by measuring brand awareness, you will identify the need for improving your communication and marketing strategies. Similarly, if you notice a high bounce rate from your website, you can plan for better content and identify ways of improved engagement with your audience.

Realign to customer expectations 

A brand audit also helps you understand your customer better. It can be used to open up various communication channels with your customers. You can also get sentiment analysis insights out of the goldmine that is customer feedback and perception. Based on this information, you can realign your brand to address customer demands. You will be better placed to make informed decisions on whether to maintain the brand identity, realign it, or make minor adjustments to it.

Improving business performance 

The eventual benefit of a brand audit is that it improves overall business performance. Through a brand audit, you can carve out a more consistent brand persona, closely aligned to your goals and identity as a business. It increases brand equity among your target audience. This, in turn, means more sales conversions and customer loyalty at a less cost and effort. With customer retention in place, brands also gain better word-of-mouth publicity and referrals, leading to an increased customer base.

Conclusion

The eventual achievement of a brand audit is the all-round improvement of the brand. You come out of it with a plan of action that looks to capitalize on the strengths and work on the brand’s shortcomings. Brand audits are a perpetual monitoring mechanism that helps your brand evolve and stay up-to-date with the market pulse. And in the dynamic modern-day business world, it is a vital part of business management.