Did you know that whether you’ve thought about it or not, your brand says a lot about your business?

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You may have given it no consideration at all, or thought about it in great depth. Regardless of where you are in the process it could be time to have a brand review.

You can do this yourself, all it takes is a bit of time and some brain power. Maybe a chocolate biscuit.

Take a look at your business. Look at…
– your website
– your social media
– your printed materials
– your email signature
– your newsletter
– the documents you send out to clients and prospective clients

How do you feel about all of these things? Do they tie in with your values? Are they consistent? This is about not just how your brand looks, but the kind of language you’re using, the messages you’re putting out there, how you are communicating with others.

If someone saw a post from your business on Facebook and another on Twitter, without seeing your business name, would they know it was you? Do you stand out? If not – what can you do to cut through the noise?

Even if you’ve not thought about your brand, you’ll have an image of some sort through whatever means you’ve been creating items. You may have a “temporary” logo that you’re using, or leaflets that you’ve created or a website that you popped up because you needed one right away. There are loads of things that you’ll have needed and made at some point, so take the time to look into them now and see how you can work to create a business image that sings about your brand.

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Some areas to look at are:

YOUR LOGO
Does this match your business? Is it in alignment with all that you stand for, encapsulating your business values and personality? If not, then you may need to consider having it redone. Your logo is an element of your brand that will be plastered everywhere, it needs to be recognisable as YOUR business and something that you’re proud to put in front of people.

PRINTED ITEMS
What message do these have of your  business? Similar to your logo – does it match your business and showcase your offering in the way that it should? Are you proud to hand these out? Make sure that you’re handing things out which are current and relevant.

YOUR WEBSITE
Is it something that you want to direct people to? Does it look different to your competitors so that there’s no doubt that it’s yours and not theirs? Is it up to date? Spend some time on each page adding new things, taking away anything which goes against your brand values. If you’re ashamed of your website then you definitely need to take action now!

SOCIAL MEDIA
Where do your customers hang out? I get quite a lot of my work from Facebook so I spend a lot of time hanging out there in groups and making sure that my Facebook page is up to date. Focus on the networks that bring you the most return and ensure that the messages and images that you are putting out are also in alignment with your brand.

YOUR EMAILS
Take a look at your email signature and make sure that its current. Does it mention anything that doesn’t exist anymore? Is there anything you could add to it that may be of interest to the people you email day-to-day? Also, if you send out a newsletter, how do you feel about how that looks and about the content that you are providing? Is it something that you would like to receive yourself? If not, then you might like to review how it looks and what you include.

Make sure that you cover everything that people see. In my case this includes quotes, invoices, terms and conditions, business cards, this website, social media, my email signature and my newsletter. It also includes proposals and brief sheets, anything you can download from my website and places online where people can find me, such as directories.

Your brand should be synonymous with your business everywhere that you connect with people.

Check out the above points and see how consistent your business image is.

Please comment below if this has been helpful and if you have anything else to add in terms of touch points which could help others out.

If you’d like a hand with your brand review, why not schedule a free session to chat through it?

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