3.02 – Auditing The Impressions Your Business Makes
Auditing the Impressions Your Business Makes
To ensure you’re consistently making positive impressions, it’s essential to take inventory and assess every interaction with prospects, customers, and other stakeholders.
Surveying Your Marketing Materials and Communications
Start by gathering samples of all materials that represent your business: stationery, ads, signs, brochures, merchandise, online communications, and any other branded items. Evaluate these items using the following questions:
- Does your business name and logo look the same every time you make an impression?
- Do you consistently use the same colors and typeface?
- Do your marketing materials present a consistent image in terms of look, quality, and message?
Identify and isolate items that don’t fit with the others, whether they use outdated or incorrect logos, colors, or tones. Remove inappropriate items and assess what’s left.
- Does the consistent portion of your marketing materials accurately reflect your business?
- Do your marketing materials adequately appeal to your target market?
For example, if your customers value top quality, do your materials convey a high-quality image? Conversely, if your customers value economy, do your materials look too upscale? Ensure your materials reflect the right attributes, whether it’s quality, convenience, or reliability.
Creating an Impression Inventory
Your business makes impressions through various channels: in person, online, in ads, and through correspondence. Every contact can contribute to or detract from the image you want to project. Follow these steps to create an impression inventory:
- Define Your Company’s Impression Points: List all ways your business comes into contact with customers and prospective customers. Include everything from ads to proposal covers.
- Define the Target Market for Each Impression Point: Determine whether each impression point is for attracting new prospects or communicating with existing customers. Get specific if necessary, such as targeting different customer types or product lines.
- Rate the Quality of Each Impression: Assess each communication vehicle’s quality and rate it as Good, Average, or Poor based on how well it conveys your business image, message, look, and style.
- Assign Responsibility: Identify who is responsible for each impression point. Often, many impressions are made by people who don’t see themselves as marketers.
- Evaluate Costs: Determine the cost of each communication in terms of development, media, printing, or other expenses. This helps you see where you’re over- or under-investing in different functions.
Improving the Impressions You’re Making
Assess the quality and effectiveness of your business’s impressions by asking the following questions:
- Are You Allocating Your Efforts Well? Ensure you’re spending enough to keep current customers happy and not focusing solely on attracting new ones.
- Do Your Communications Fit Your Image and Objectives? Evaluate each item to ensure it contributes to the desired image rather than reflecting outdated decisions.
- Is Your Image Consistent, Professional, and Well-Suited to Your Audience? Confirm that each piece of communication fits the overall image and goals of your business.
Using Your Inventory
Use your inventory to guide changes and strengthen the image you project to your market. Phase out and replace poor-quality impressions, and improve average ones. Keep this inventory handy to ensure all aspects of your brand are up-to-date and reflect your desired image.
