Tuesday, 02 April 2019 10:44

Why A Brand Exploratory Is Crucial For Your Business Success

You’ve got your business plan figured out, your location chosen, and your A-Team on-board. You’re on track for success, but none of that will matter without an effective, consistent, and unique brand for your business. But, how do you begin to build up your brand? The first, and arguably most important step, in the process is to conduct a brand exploratory, or brand audit.

What Is A Brand Exploratory?

Ideally, you should conduct a brand exploration before you design your logo, decide on your brand, and establish your business. However, a brand exploratory can be done at any point in the lifetime of your business.

Basically, a brand exploratory, or brand audit, is a complete survey and analysis of the current state of your brand, your target markets, and your competition. By the end of the brand exploratory, you should have a well-painted picture of how you brand currently appears in the market, how your target audience sees your brand, and how your brand stands in relation to your competitors.

A brand audit is the first step in your overall development of your brand. Once insights have been collected, you can then move onto designing your logo, creating a professionally branded website, and strategically building up your brand.

How Will A Brand Exploratory Help My Business?

As the owner of your business, your perception of your business may be warped. Don’t worry, everyone views their own business and other possessions through rose-tinted glasses.

For instance, take your apartment or house. You may think of your home as the most wonderfully decorated home ever, and you may believe your friends see it that way as well. But, more often than not, visitors do not share your sentiment. Some may think your decorations are tacky and unappealing, while others may feel an air of pretension when they enter your home.

The same can be said for your brand. You may see your brand as a flawless standard that accurately depicts your services. But, your customers may see it in an entirely different light. Maybe your services/products aren’t clearly detailed in your brand, or perhaps customers confuse your business with others due to design similarities.

Ideally, your brand should not just clearly represent your business and your services/products, but to also appear professional, differentiated, unique, and uncomplicated simultaneously. A brand exploratory can help you understand how your brand feels to others.

A successful brand audit will shed light on your consumers feel about your brand, to help you better shape your brand to represent your business. Additionally, a brand exploratory has the potential to:

  • Identify new target markets for your business.

  • Develop additional differentiations between your business and the competition.

  • Recognize opportunities to improve the reputation of your business.

Where Do I Start My Brand Exploratory?

At FiG Advertising + Marketing, we specialize in brand development strategies and brand audits are part of our process. We’d be happy to conduct a thorough brand exploratory for your business, but you have the ability to run through a brand exploratory on your own.

If you’re eager to get started on your own brand exploratory, the first step is to ask yourself a handful of questions to develop a starting spot:

  • What services/products does your business offer?

  • Who is your ideal customer?

  • What does your competition look like?

  • How is your business differentiated from others?

  • What do you clients say about you? What do you want them to say?

  • How does your logo currently communicate your brand?

From there, you can begin to develop rough personas of your ideal customers and begin to understand what their needs are and how your business fills that gap for them.

A brand exploratory can be exactly what your business needs to reach new customers and grow exponentially. It can identify new markets to go after, develop new ways to differentiate your business, and give you the edge you need to succeed.


 

Are you ready to give your brand an audit? FiG Advertising + Marketing is here to help you out. We’ll help you develop your entire brand starting with a brand exploratory all the way to developing your new business cards. Contact FiG today and see how we can benefit you.