At Reputation Guards, we always like to ask our customers to tell us about their brand — to give us the 4-1-1, the unvarnished truth, the secrets of it. 90% stare back at us with utter disbelief. They don’t know where to start, and once they go down that rabbit hole it gets messy. What do we mean by this? Well, most small businesses, when creating their brands fly by the seat of their pants. They don’t really give it that much attention. They simply tack ideas onto other ideas, and after a while, they find out they’ve built a house of cards. Most businesses are too preoccupied with the logistics, with the day-to-day minutia, that they simply disregard their brand. And brands, we have a motto at Reputation Guards, “are the backbone of your whole project.” In this article, we’re going to cover what a brand audit is and why you might desperately need one. Reputation-guard
What is a Brand Audit?
A brand audit is a process of evaluating and assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that a company faces. It is also a way to measure the effectiveness of a company’s marketing efforts and identify opportunities for improvement.
A brand audit should be conducted by an unbiased third party who has no vested interest in the outcome of the assessment. This person is called a professional auditor. Someone who won’t sugarcoat the results and who is there just to do a job — a real mercenary, not a lick-spittle or a Yes-man.
The professional auditor will conduct interviews with key stakeholders including employees, customers, and suppliers. They will also look at data from social media sources like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to find out what people are saying about your brand or business. The auditor will examine your website to see how it compares with competitors in terms of design, content, and navigation.
The professional auditor may also want to meet your suppliers to see if they can provide any insights into your business operations or marketing strategy.
The Importance of a Comprehensive Brand Audit
A comprehensive brand audit will basically give you a full report of your “Brand Health”. It will tell you whether you have a nasty cold, whether you need a quick pill for your cholesterol levels, or whether you have a very aggressive tumor gnawing your insides. It will give you a comprehensive look at your company’s competitive advantage and its potential risks. Reputation-guard
A brand audit covers all aspects that have an impact on the company’s performance. It is not just a marketing audit but also includes an assessment of the company’s operations, financial standing, and competitive environment.
Why You Need to Hire A Professional Auditor For Your Brand Audit
A brand audit is a good way to see where your company stands in the market. It will help you understand where you are, what your competition is, and how you can improve your business.
Brand audits are an important part of the marketing process for small businesses. They help companies understand their brand identity and pinpoint everything that might be weighing them down. Fortune 500 companies perform these types of reviews monthly. Exhaustive audits give them a clear idea of what the public, what their consumers, and what the world, in general, thinks of them. They then use these reports to either praise their departments, particularly PR and Marketing or give them a rather stern dressing down.
Audits are also essential for startups who need to build their brands from scratch. They provide a roadmap for the company’s future growth, as well as a plan for how they can compete with other brands in the same industry.
Some of our clients, here at Reputation Guards, even perform audits weekly. Why? Because they have a strong social media presence. This means their online reputation is constantly under threat of fire. What they post. What is posted about them? Comments. Etc. The more you interact with the world outside your control, the larger the threats are — the more at risk you put yourself at. In such cases, it’s important what people are saying about you, and if it’s negative, own up to it. YOU control the narrative, and that control is partly based on the results of your brand audit. Reputation-guard
How Much Does A Brand Audit Cost? What To Expect From The Consultant?
A brand audit is a process of digging deep into your company’s brand and its position in the market — of flinging open the closet and seeing its many skeletons. A brand audit can be done by an external consultant or internally. It is a rigorous process that helps in understanding where you stand in the public’s eye.
The cost of a brand audit depends on many factors such as who performs it, the size of the company, the nature of the business, and many more. The average price for a brand audit is between $1,000 and $10,000.
Why Every Business Needs an Annual Brand or Marketing Audit
Every business needs to make sure that they are staying on top of its marketing game. The best way to do this is by performing an annual brand or marketing audit. This audit will allow the company to see what they are doing well and what it could improve on. It will also help them identify any new opportunities in the market so that they can stay ahead of the competition. These reports can also be used to share the company’s growth plans with investors. In many cases, they will include such facts as Marketing Goals, Marketing Strategies, Marketing Activities —- and the results of each in every one of them