Your Brand Identity Audit

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” We’ve all heard the expression, but have you ever thought about it from a business perspective?

A crucial attribute of being a leader in the fitness industry is understanding your customers. Without this understanding, the benefits of client communication are lost and there is a gap between what is provided and what is truly needed. When feedback is communicated, your clients become your most valuable resource.

Customer feedback is the easiest and most effective way to decipher whether or not your marketing strategies are effective. Which brings us back to the idea that, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” If you were to ask your customers to describe your brand in one picture and one word — what would they say?

You can think of this as a brand identity audit. This audit will allow you to gain a better understanding of the customer perception of your brand.

To perform this audit, I recommend reaching out to your customer base with a simple question: “When you think of XYZ Fitness — what is the first image and word that comes to your mind?” Once you have obtained responses from each of your members, create a visual with these words, images and feedback. This will allow you to easily evaluate what your customers see and take away from your business. Does it match your values, brand identity and marketing strategy?

Ideally the images and words you receive from your members would be in line with your brand identity, but some responses might surprise you. If a majority of the responses are not in line with your brand, you may need to further review and revise your marketing efforts.

Not only will your business and bottom line benefit from customer feedback, but your customers will appreciate you for requesting their input. Let them know how valuable they are, and take their feedback as steps toward a stronger community, better relationships and a more effective and responsive business.

Lauren Furmanski is the global marketing coordinator at MYZONE. She can be reached at lauren.furmanski@myzone.org or visit myzone.org.