What Is A Brand Audit & How to Complete One (Step-by-Step)

If you’re wondering ‘what is a brand audit’ and why your company needs to complete one, then we’re explaining it all in this guide.

Often brands stick with the same identity and messaging for years even when it’s no longer working or when the market has changed.

For example, maybe your current offering worked great 10+ years ago before the digital world boomed but now it’s missing the mark. Take Claire’s accessories for example; their stores hadn’t changed for years and they assumed customers would stay loyal. Nothing about their brand had evolved in line with their customers (primarily teens who prefer online fast-fashion like Shein) so they went elsewhere.

They failed to recognise this shift early enough which led to them going out of business.

This is where a brand audit comes in as it helps you recognise:

• What parts of your brand are working
• What parts of your brand are outdated
• How to remain relevant in an ever-changing, competitive market

Whilst building brand consistency and brand familiarity is a good thing (i.e. customers feel safe choosing brands they know), failing to keep up with your customers and their changing habits can be detrimental.

In this guide we’ll explore what a brand audit is, how to complete a brand audit, and why a brand audit might be necessary.

What Is A Brand Audit?

A brand audit allows you to measure how your brand is perceived by customers and how it supports business goals. This might seem obvious but a business is always changing and relying on something that worked once upon a time is not the way to build a business.

A brand audit involves reviewing different elements of the company including:

• Brand identity
• Messaging
• Customer experience
• Digital footprint
• Customer touchpoints
• Brand positioning

This ensures your brand remains competitive and appealing in a highly competitive market.

The reality is other businesses will be trying to outperform you and are competing for the same customers. More so than ever, people have more choice when it comes to any type of product or service so you need to continue to meet their needs the best.

Aside from external benefits, conducting a brand audit also has internal benefits by bringing everyone in the company onto the same page. This means everyone is aligned and knows what the company stands for and why.

This is key as you need engagement from all members of staff as this leads to a better output and a better experience for your customers when everyone is rowing in the same direction.

Why Is A Brand Audit Important?

A brand audit is important because it helps a business understand how its brand is perceived by customers and whether it is effectively communicating its values, message, and identity.

Over time, branding can become inconsistent across platforms or lose relevance as markets, customer expectations, and competitors evolve. A brand audit identifies gaps between how a company wants to be seen and how it is actually perceived, allowing businesses to make strategic improvements.

Conducting a brand audit also helps strengthen customer trust and support long-term business growth. By evaluating areas such as marketing performance, customer feedback, visual identity, and competitive positioning, companies can uncover opportunities to improve their reputation and better connect with their target audience.

Ultimately, a brand audit ensures that branding efforts remain aligned with business goals.

When You Should Consider A Brand Audit

Auditing your brand once a year is a good sense check to make sure nothing has gone too far off track. Whilst keeping up with the market is key to staying competitive, it’s important you also stay true to your brand and what it stands for.

This makes an annual audit worthwhile to make sure everything still makes sense.

Aside from this there are some pivotal moments which would require a brand audit, including:

• Reduction in sales and profits: If you’re losing money consistently, there’s always a reason why. Maybe the market has changed or certain products no longer fulfill user needs. Either of these would necessitate a brand audit.
• Negative shift in customer perception: Society is always changing and so are customer habits and their views. If your brand does not keep up with these, it will struggle. Conducting a brand audit ensures your products and services still keep up with your customers and what they’re looking for.
• Competitive marketplace: Regardless of what sector you’re in, you’re going to be up against competition who are trying to steal your customers through creative strategies and offers. A brand audit can ensure your brand stays relevant and appealing to your customers so they don’t stray elsewhere.
• Unclear impact of brand: Sometimes you get a feeling that your brand is just no longer hitting the mark and your customers don’t seem as engaged as they once were. If you’re unsure on how it lands in the market, a brand audit can help you establish and maintain your position.
• Significant change: If a new senior joins the business, for example a new CMO, they need to fully understand the business (including its strengths and weaknesses) so they can make strategic decisions going forward.

How To Conduct A Brand Audit

Now the most important part – how to conduct a brand audit. We’ve discussed what a brand audit is and why it’s needed, but how do you start reviewing every part of your brand?

It can feel like a big task but we’ve made it more manageable by breaking it up into bitesize chunks. Also make sure to download our brand audit checklist which keeps you on track and can be used as a record of what’s been done.

Really get to know your brand

You need to understand your brand and get to the root of it. You might have known this once but it’s probably changed since your brand first launched. For example, the size of your team has changed, your products or services might have evolved, the way you communicate with your audience has altered, there are so many things that can be different to when you first started out.

This means going back to basics and understanding what your brand really stands for and what’s important to you. These are your core business goals and everything your brand does should align with this, but it’s easy to get lost along the way.

By getting to know your brand, you can ensure everything is still relevant from your brand identity (logo, messaging, typography) to your target audience and brand positioning. This means you can make more strategic decisions going forward which make sense for how you want your brand to be perceived.

Review marketing materials

We’ve touched on this above when talking about your brand identity, but all of your marketing materials need to be reviewed to ensure they still make sense for where your brand is currently at.

For example, are you still printing business cards that no one seems to look at or take note of anymore? Business cards can be great in some instances i.e. you attend a lot of exhibitions or networking events, however if this is no longer the case, physical business cards might be redundant.

Another example might be still printing a brochure of all your products but most of your sales come through online where your website shows everything digitally. The money you’re spending on printing could be better utilised elsewhere.

Your marketing materials includes the below:

• Product packaging
• Business cards
• Promotional merchandise
• Brochures
• Leaflets
• Signage and banners
• Vehicle branding
• Event and exhibition materials
• Branded documents and stationery

Review your digital presence

Your digital presence is just as important as any physical marketing materials as your website is often the first thing you customers will see.

Social media is also an increasingly popular platform where people go to learn more about the brand and to also feel more of a human connection to it. Like printed marketing materials, it’s easy for your digital presence to become outdated and for the right messaging to get lost.

When you’re busy with other things, it can be easy to leave outdated blogs, the wrong website copy, broken website pages, old social media handles, and outdated imagery across different digital platforms.

Reviewing our online presence helps you evaluate the content you’re putting out and how you’re being perceived online. You don’t want people to find an old Instagram account for example with your old logo and messaging on as this creates a disjointed experience.

Or

For people to browse your website and find a blog about products or services you no longer offer which can lead them to being disappointed once they realise they are no longer available.

Assess brand perception

Assessing brand perception helps you understand how both customers and employees currently view your business. This can be done through customer surveys, social media polls, or in-app feedback forms to collect insights into overall satisfaction and brand sentiment.

Reviewing platforms such as Google Reviews can also help identify recurring themes, whether positive or negative, such as improvements needed in customer service or the quality of products.

Giving customers the opportunity to leave ratings and feedback provides valuable data that can help shape future improvements. Internally, employee reviews and feedback sessions can offer insight into how your team perceives the brand and encourage ideas for improvement, helping to strengthen internal alignment and company culture.

Review findings

Once you’ve completed your brand audit, the next step is to review all of the information so you spot any common themes or trends. This means looking at what is currently working well within your brand and where there may be inconsistencies such as outdated messaging or gaps in the customer experience which can be improved.

This is also the stage where you should prioritise actions based on impact and importance otherwise it can delay the whole process. For example some changes may be quick fixes, such as updating outdated branding across digital platforms, while others may require a longer-term strategy, such as repositioning your brand or refining your messaging.

Bringing all findings together allows you to build a clearer picture of how your brand is currently performing and where improvements can be made to better align with your business goals and audience expectations.

Implement into your brand strategy

A brand audit is only valuable if the insights are used to make meaningful improvements moving forward. Once you’ve reviewed your findings, these should be implemented into your wider brand strategy to ensure your brand evolves in the right direction.

This could include:

• Refining your brand messaging
• Updating your visual identity
• Improving customer experience
• Changing how you communicate online
• Reallocating marketing budget to channels that deliver better results

Your brand strategy should act as a guide for future decisions and help create a more consistent experience across every customer touchpoint. Regularly reviewing and updating your strategy based on audit findings ensures your brand stays relevant, aligned with your goals, and competitive within your industry.

Brand Audit FAQs

How often should you complete a brand audit?

There’s no specific frequency on when you should conduct a brand audit but doing this annually is a good sense-check that your brand is still on track. If you’re in a fast-moving industry, it’s best to complete a brand audit every 6 months to make sure you’re still keeping up with wider industry changes.

Who conducts a brand audit?

A brand audit is usually completed by internal marketing or branding teams who dive into different elements of the brand to ensure it’s still performing. External branding agencies might also be used (or a combination of both) as they can provide a fresh, unbiased perspective and have expert knowledge of branding.

When not to complete a brand audit?

If your brand is new or a startup, conducting a brand audit is probably not the best decision straight away as your brand needs time to gain traction. You’re not going to become a household name immediately and your brand needs time to resonate with customers so it can grow.

What Is A Brand Audit & How to Complete One (step-by-step)

A brand audit is a key part of maintaining a successful brand even in a fierce market where competition can be rife.

You can’t assume that because your brand once worked it always will as the market is constantly changing and so are you customers. Without keeping up with these changes you’ll lose market share as customers will want to shop elsewhere.

A brand audit is your chance to properly sit down and evaluate all of your brand from your website, to your social media handles, to your printed collateral.

Bottom line: if it doesn’t make sense for your brand anymore, don’t do it.

The best way to conduct a brand audit is by using an external branding agency. As they are outside of your business, they have a fresh perspective and can look at everything in line with your true business goals. At Discovery Design, we help businesses take their brand to the next level so they can continue to win in their market – regardless of competition.

Get in touch with our team to find out how we can help you.