7 Tricks to Track Your Branding Results

Measurement is a key to improvement.  How do you track your brand’s improvement?

1. Develop your benchmark. Where are you today? So often marketing plans work on the future.  Make sure you have an idea where you stand today so you’ll know how successful your branding efforts are two years, five years from now.  Describe where you are now.  Describe where you want to be.

2. Compare your organization to the various competitive choices available to your target market. If your brand is similar to a competitor, you’ll want to track their status as well.  Make a list of your competitors.

3. Analyze your Keywords. Outline your brand’s phrases and words.  Some of these phrases you may have selected.  Some your current client’s/customers have selected.  Some your potential client/customers (or your competitor’s customers!) have selected for you. What 3 words describe your brand? Is it ONE WORD — all the better. But you’re better off to gather several keywords. Include your brand strategy phrases.

4. Create a Google Alert or two or three or four. This will automatically send you info when keywords/phrases are indexed on Google.  Your Brand. Your brand’s keywords.  When does your organization get “mentioned” on the internet? How about your competitors?

5. Incoming phone calls/emails.  Where did you hear about us? What did you hear about us? Ask.  Write it down.  Keep track by month/year.  What other people say about you is much more important than what you say about you. Ask your customers how they would describe your business.

6. SEO Organic Results. Where does your PR and URL come up in Google searches for your key words? Yahoo?  Mike’s Tools is a quick way to get some idea.  Make a list of words, the date and your rank.

7. Measure aided and unaided awareness. (This can be a bigger undertaking but provides better info.)

This seven tips may also provides tactics for rebranding your current brand by updating and honing your message to match the current perceptions of your target market.