Is Your Brand Working For You? A Mini Brand Audit for Your Business

Your brand encompasses various elements describing your business. It’s how other people see your business and weigh it against your competition. It’s how you portray your business through your customer interactions and your online presence. It’s how your business is portrayed visually: the font you select, the colors you choose, and the graphics or images that accompany your brand. It’s even how you share your story like your mission, vision, and values through your business: it’s in the vendors you support, the causes you care about, and the hours you’re open. Your brand is your identifier: it speaks for your business long after you’re finished talking.

Why is it important for your brand to work for you? Well, if people trust in your brand, they are more likely to buy from your business time and time again, thereby increasing sales, profits, and growth for your company. They are more willing to advocate for you when something goes wrong and serve as a cheerleader for your products and services when everything is right. They are your biggest, raving fans, and without customers, your business will not grow.

For example, one brand that has its brand nailed down is Chick-fil-A (PS: this is a client!). In essence, they sell chicken sandwiches, but their brand keeps people coming back for more than just the sandwiches (which is what you want to accomplish!). Here’s a breakdown of some of Chick-fil-A’s most memorable brand elements and how it keeps customers coming back for more:

• Quality is the name of the game: in their marketing and the words they use, they use “fresh” and “hand-breaded” to evoke that they take care in using fewer frozen products than their competitors. Their price (nearly $4 for a sandwich) also commands quality.
• Customers are treated with courtesy and friendliness: ever notice how the staff at Chick-fil-A seems to be always in a good mood? Within their training, the crew members were taught to prioritize customer service, being gracious and courteous to diners. This pleasant service speaks to the type of brand experience they want their customers to have.
• Chick-fil-A’s brand evokes playfulness: through the use of cows in their advertising to the fun typeface and phonetic spelling of common words, Chick-fil-A is seen as approachable and fun without coming off as childish or immature.

Now that you know the many attributes and touch points that make up a brand, it’s as good of a time as any to do a mini brand audit! Work through the list of questions below to determine how effectively your brand is working for you when it comes to closing sales and growing your business.

Your Brand’s Visual Identity

• Logo: Does your logo accurately depict your business without any explanation? Or does it require an in-depth conversation?
• Typography: Your font can tell a lot about your story: sans serif fonts are seen as more casual and less formal than serif fonts. Does your font match your brand’s image?
• Colors: How do your colors feel to your audience? Are they striking or inviting? Harsh or commanding? Elegant or extroverted? Make sure they draw attention to your brand and not away from it.
• Graphics: What type of graphics do you use to depict images for your brand? Are they stock images or are they heavily outlined graphics? Do they appear cartoonish or are they more serious?

Voice

• Tone: Does your business’s tone scream authoritative or in control? Or is it more unassuming and friendly? Make sure that the way you say things are accurately depicted by the tone of your business.
• Style: The style of your communication indicates what type of language your audience is attracted to. Are you commanding the language to make your target audience feel as comfortable as possible?
• Mode of communication: How are you communicating with your audience? Do you provide enough updates so they know what’s going on with your business?

Positioning

• Targeting: Who are you targeting for your business (busy, stay-at-home moms, or 40-year-olds in the construction industry)? Who’s currently attracted to your business? Is there a gap in the market that your product and service can fill (but your brand isn’t attracting a said audience to buy)?

Experience

• User experience: How would a potential customer journey throughout the acquisition journey? What steps will they need to take to have a seamless process with you?

Content

• Type of content you produce: What types of content do you produce? Leadership memos or blog posts? Email newsletters or Snapchat updates?
• How you distribute the content: Where do you send your most content to make sure it’s seen and read by your audience? Do you prefer to send information through more formal channels like PR Newswire? Or are you more interested in capitalizing on your current social media audience like Instagram?

Are you reconsidering some of your brand attributes and considering giving your business a brand detox? We’re here to help; reach out to us today.