I think it’s fair to say that, given the right parameters, marketing ROI is reasonably easy to calculate. For example, you can use data to draw direct correlations between increased traffic and sales whenever you send a targeted email as part of a promotional email campaign. Data makes annual conversations with our clients about the ROI of marketing a lot easier.

But what about the ROI of a Brand Audit?

(Quick Note: A Brand Audit involves conducting both quantitative and qualitative analysis of your brand, evaluating both the internal perceptions of the brand as well as its external impact on customers, prospects, and the marketplace.)

When it comes to Brand Audits, it’s a lot harder to conduct dollars-spent, dollars-returned analysis. In proving ROI, focusing on the dollars and cents might be the wrong strategy. Instead, consider this: everything related to marketing and branding should be hyper-focused on a business goal. For some tactics, that might be increasing new leads or new sales from current customers. Dollars and cents. For branding, we’ve seen Brand Audits achieve business objectives like:

• • Identify and break down silos between departments
  • Increase competitive differentiation
  • Unify sales and marketing team goals and messaging
  • Raise awareness of your true value proposition
  • Understand and influence customers’ perception of the brand

Brand Audits have a long-term impact on your business and your ability to attract new interest in your company. I’ll be the first to admit it’s hard to create charts that prove a powerful brand brought in X dollars that year.

But I’ll also tell you there’s a cost to NOT doing a Brand Audit.

1. Lost Focus

As a leader, you are charged with driving the company towards specific goals. Being able to achieve these goals depends on having your team and your key customer groups pushing for the same thing. While leaders need to direct the brand with internal operations and external communications, it’s the customer who ultimately owns the brand and determines whether it will be successful. For this reason, when we conduct Brand Audits we are particularly concerned in discovering how the brand is understood by the leaders and employees compared to how it is perceived by customers. We help identify any gaps between how the leaders view the brand, how employees represent the brand, and how customers experience the brand.

2. Wasted Ad Dollars

Do you know what makes your brand special? Would your customers agree with you? If your ads can’t immediately communicate your brand’s unique value proposition in an emotionally engaging way, you are spending money to get lost in the noise. Brand Audits help companies identify their strongest points of differentiation from the competition, including the emotional hook that helps brands quickly connect with their target audiences.

3. Feeble First Impression

Your brand’s graphical elements – your logo, photography, brand colors, design guidelines – send a message to your audience about your company. It says something about your identity, products, and the value you are going to provide them. While a logo isn’t the final word on whether or not you make a sale, it is often your first impression with new customers. Taking a look at your graphical elements and strategically connecting them with your customers’ expectations help create a memorable brand experience. When it comes time to research products and services your company offers, you want your target audience to remember your name.

4. Lost Customers

Customers constantly evolve, even within a set industry. Your brand needs to continue to evolve to remain relevant to your target audience. A Brand Audit takes a pulse of how some of your most loyal customers feel about your brand and measures it against new customers’ and prospects’ opinions of your brand. With this insight, your leadership team can adapt to shifts in your target audience’s expectations or give you confidence in your ability to deliver on these expectations.

Determining the ROI of a Brand Audit isn’t as easy as a dollars-in, dollars-out analysis, it’s true. But Brand Audits help companies analyze who they are to their customers and prospects, and identify ways to deliver targeted messaging that help take the brand further. In the process, not only does messaging and design elements tighten up, but people can feel like they’re a part of what your company is doing.

Check out more about Brand Audits by reviewing our Analysis service. Or, if you’re like me and like to explore opportunities by talking with someone, give us a call: 717-569-8274.