A Super Simple Guide to Brand Identity Audits

Do you need to perform a brand identity audit? Let’s review the following questions to find out!

1. Are you using too many colors? 
2. Are you using inconsistent fonts? 
3. Does your website, newsletter, and sales pages have a visual hierarchy? 
4. Does your advertising look consistent across all marketing channels? 

If you’re an entrepreneur with the goal of creating big waves and big income with your brand, the last thing you want to do is confuse your audience with branding that looks (and feels) like a cluster-fuck. If you can’t answer these questions with resounding confidence, it’s time to perform a brand identity audit!

Every Single Aspect of Your Brand Identity Needs a Strategy That Creates Visual Unity.

When every aspect of your brand identity has a strategy for how it gets executed, you are ensuring that your brand is telling one consistent story that is recognizable and memorable to your target audience. 

To guarantee that you aren’t repelling your ideal clients with messy branding, we’re going to walk you through A Simple Guide to Brand Identity Audits.

Brand Identity Audit Step 1 – Create an Annual Date to Perform Your Audit.

Take a moment to think about the sheer volume of content, advertising, marketing campaigns, PR, and sales promotion that happens in your business throughout the course of a year.

Can you honestly say that absolutely everything you and your team create is consistent and on-brand? This is why you should perform a brand identity audit at least once a year. 

Ideally, you should aim to do a thorough audit of all your current visual communication every 6 months to make sure you’re accomplishing your goals. But if you have yet to incorporate brand identity audits into your business processes, an annual audit is the perfect place to start.

Pro tip: the beginning to the middle of the 4th quarter is a great time to perform your audit so that you have time to create a plan of attack for the new year!

Brand Identity Audit Step 2 – List Out All Brand Touchpoints.

Seriously, we mean them all. If you’re going to reap the benefits of a brand identity audit, you need to be thorough AF. 

Leave no rock unturned, and recruit a team member to help you combine a list of all of your brand touchpoints so that you can identify where improvements need to be made. 

This list includes, but is not limited to:

• Website
• Print materials
• Newsletter
• Social media content
• PDFs
• Freebies
• Podcast graphics
• Headshots and bio pics
• Email signatures
• Invoices
• Featured articles
• Product packaging
• Client gifts
• Confirmation/auto-reply messages
• Web ads
• Landing pages
• Workshop presentations
• Etc.

Brand Identity Audit Step 3  – Evaluate What’s Happening Visually at Each Touchpoint. 

Are you:

• consistently using your brand colors and type suite?
• correclty using your different logotypes in the right settings?
• editing photos and videos in the same way?
• you styling your fonts in a uniform way? 

If you have a pre-established creative direction and set of brand guidelines, take the time to identify where your brand touchpoints are incongruent.

If you haven’t taken the time to specify the creative direction and guidelines for your brand, well, we just identified the crux of your problem.   

Check out this article we wrote on the Creative Direction Process 101: All the Basics You Need to Know.

Brand Identity Audit Step 4 – Create Visual Guidelines (or Refine Existing Ones). 

Visual guidelines describe exactly how your brand identity should be applied in all settings where your brand can be found. 

Simply put, if your visual brand communication is all over the place you either a) are being lazy with the implementation of your visual guidelines or b) you don’t have guidelines altogether. In fact, 90% of users want to see consistent branding across all channels and platforms, which means you have a duty to devote more time and effort to consistent brand communication. 

When you begin to outline your brand identity guidelines, you’ll need to look at all of your “visual assets” such as:

• Visual hierarchy
• Logo variation 
• Symbols, shapes, and icons
• Typography and fonts
• Media (photo/video)
• Color palette utilization
• Packaging/mail specifications
• Sensory specifications (if a storefront)

Brand Identity Audit Step 5 – Create a Plan of Action to Clean Up the Mess, and Be Consistent Moving Forward.

Before you can be consistent moving forward, you need to ensure that you have completed the following:

• annually audit your brand identity
• create your list of touchpoints
• evaluate each aspect
• create/refine your guidelines

Not every inconsistency will be able to be changed, especially in marketing that has a short lifespan. But by getting ahead of your brand now through the implementation of guidelines, your brand will become more consistent and authoritative over time.

Before you move forward with applying your new/revised brand identity guidelines, make sure that every single one of your team members is clear on how your brand should look at every touchpoint, and create a process that allows you to review all branded material before it officially goes into circulation.  

Not sure if you have a firm grasp on what brand strategy means? Check out the 5 Lies You’ve Been Told About Brand Strategy Development.

At the end of the day, consistent visual communication is insanely powerful. 

Not only does your brand identity affect the ability of your audience to recognize your brand, but it also impacts the perceived value of your brand. 

• Messy and inconsistent visuals = untrustworthy and cheap.
• Organized and consistent visuals = reputable and valuable.

Moral of the story: don’t be cheap, and don’t be untrustworthy.

Isn’t it time that your brand finally reflects the powerful womn you know yourself to be?! Just a head’s up, Wild Womn Haus is stacked with a team of branding and marketing experts ready to jump into your brand and help you take it from “newbie” to “CEO”.

Is getting support with performing a brand audit your next step? Book a Complimentary 30-minute Call with our founder and lead brand strategist, Tristan Thibodeau, who can fill you in on the best approach to auditing your brand so that it is cohesive and tells a powerful story.

Ready to book a Complimentary 30-minute Call? Click here to schedule!

About the Author

Tristan Thibodeau is the founder of Wild Womn Haus and is a brand strategist for entrepreneurs in the wellness, beauty, and lifestyle brand industries. 

She specializes in helping companies create and maintain their image. She works with market research, industry analysis, and consumer trends to offer strategic insights for brands so that they can enhance their marketing efforts and grow their bottom line. 

Tristan also hosts The Wild Womn Hotline, which is a podcast that features expert-level conversations for growing your brand in bold and strategic ways. Follow her on Instagram @tristan.wildwomnhaus and follow the agency on Instagram @wildwomnhaus and TikTok @tristan.wildwomnhaus!