Your Brand’s Health Matters, Too

by Troy Dean | Jul 6, 2016

How to Keep Your Brand Healthy

Wellness check-ups are an important part of your overall health. They help you find and solve health issues before they arise or become too big to handle.

But, did you know the same goes for your organization’s brand? Conducting an audit can help you keep your brand healthy and find new opportunities for growth within your industry.

Together, let’s explore the implementation process of an audit, why it’s important, and the benefits an audit brings to your organization.

First, Pick a Winning Team

To conduct a successful brand audit, you have to identify members of your organization who can contribute honest and unique feedback about your brand. Pick a diverse team including someone who’s worked with your organization for 25 years and someone who started a few months ago. Board members or key influencers and donors can also diversify the team and bring unique input.

Next, Analyze Your Competitors

What are other organizations like yours implementing to keep their brands healthy? Figure out how yours stacks up compared to your competitors.

Then, SWOT Analyze the Heck Out of Your Brand

Wondering what we’re talking about? You’ve come to the right place. A SWOT analysis helps you look at your internal Strengths, Weaknesses, and your external Opportunities and Threats. List them out:

This will give you an overall picture of how your organization is running and what issues need to be addressed STAT. It’s like taking your temperature or your blood pressure. An audit helps you gauge how your organization is perceived both internally and externally, and determine which issues are the most important vs. those that can be dealt with later.

An audit can benefit your organization in a number of ways. It can help foster internal and external conversation about your mission and vision. Sometimes we get carried away thinking about creating revenue, following leads or engaging our audience—it’s easy to forget why your organization exists and its purpose. A brand audit can refocus your goals and tactics back to the heart.

An audit can also cut costs by helping you think strategically about your marketing priorities. A good understanding of your brand empowers. It empowers your employees, your stakeholders, and your external audiences. You won’t have to spend marketing efforts trying to explain who you are and what you do. Instead, you can focus on equipping your internal and external audiences to become brand ambassadors.

Lastly, a brand audit can help your organization grow through a clear understanding of who you are, what you do, and why you do it. In healthcare, continual consultations with your doctor, monitoring your health status, and prescribing solutions help you stay healthy. In business, continual audits of your brand will poise your organization for a big growth spurt.