Your brand is alive! It has a personality all its own, with elements beyond your control. Over time, you may discover that your identity has diverged from your original vision. Since brands tend to lose relevance slowly, it’s difficult to determine the precise moment that you should change – but a brand audit can help you decide if it’s time for a refresh.

Here are three steps to a successful brand audit:

Evaluate Your Identity.

Surveys provide an informative overview of customer perceptions. For the best results, ask open-ended questions, like:

• How was your experience with our website?

• Is our written material appealing? What do you like about it? What do you dislike about it?

• How does our logo make you feel? What are your initial thoughts when seeing it?

• What – if anything – would improve your opinion of this brand?

This article provides some useful tips for creating effective surveys.

Evaluate Your Strategies.

Try to be as objective as possible during your brand audit. Your analysis should be based on measurable data – not personal opinions. Analyze the effectiveness and consistency of your messaging platforms, including traditional marketing, advertising, email marketing, and social media. Look at website traffic data, such as the number of visitors recorded, and where they are coming from. You should also consider bounce rate, which is the number of people who visit your site, and then leave immediately. This article provides a great overview of the basics of web traffic analysis.

Create an Action Plan.

Figuring out how to proceed once you’ve collected all of this data is the most challenging part of the process. You have three options: do nothing; completely overhaul your identity; or refresh it to better align with your business objectives. Most brand audits result in a refresh – maintaining your core identity for loyal customers, while updating your marketing to better appeal to new prospects. Lego chose this option. A classic brand for nearly 100 years, the company has fought hard to remain relevant in an age of tablets, video games, television, and movies. Lego has rejuvenated its identity by embracing social media, using customers to generate content, and creating new characters to appeal to today’s kids.

If your brand no longer resonates with your audience, you risk alienating current customers, and missing out on new ones. A brand audit ensures that your message is still relevant – allowing you to maintain a powerful emotional connection with your existing customer base, while simultaneously pursuing new markets.