Measuring the strength of your brand can be a difficult and time consuming task. At least it used to be. With modern technology, brand metrics and brand tracking can be measured in real time (or close to it) to give companies the latest data on customer retention, market share, and much more. Of course, all of this information is only as good as its ability to be utilized. This is why we tend to see brand positioning as part of a larger marketing effort which also includes brand adaptability and actionable takeaways.
With this in mind, today we will discuss brand metrics, brand tracking, and brand adaptability, and how these three components can work together to help strong brands grow stronger and to get weak brands back on track.
Brand Metrics Measure Your Brand’s Relative Strength
Most industry professionals are at least vaguely familiar with brand metrics. In the simplest terms: brand metrics are measurables which quantify the value of your brand. These metrics are frequently used to measure your brand against marketing projections and/or targets. However, metrics can also be used to set a baseline or as a postmortem after a marketing campaign. Here are a few common brand metrics which can be used to determine brand strength:
Brand awareness: the amount and the degree to which the public recognizes your brand is a great first step towards measuring brand strength. This is not a straightforward metric, as customers are typically asked a series of questions to determine their awareness of your brand. Common methods of measuring brand awareness include logo recognition, aided awareness, and unaided awareness.
Digital brand metrics: common digital brand metrics might include in-view time, viewable impressions, bounce rate, conversion rate, and so on. These metrics are ideal for e-commerce brands, but are useful for any company with a substantial online presence.
Measuring consumer demand: a staple of brand metrics, identifying and measuring consumer demand can be part of an overall market sizing effort. Your brand could be the strongest brand on earth, but that won’t mean much if no market exists to consume your products.
Brand Tracking as an Ongoing Brand Health Assessment Tool
Where brand metrics refers to the measurables of your brand health, brand tracking is the ongoing effort whereby brands continuously monitor their internal and external health. They key in brand tracking (and in all brand metrics) is to identify the metrics which matter to your organization, measure those metrics accurately, and monitor those metrics over time to track performance.
As we mentioned in the introduction, the concept of brand tracking used to be a major undertaking. It would involve predominantly in-person interviews, extensive customer campaigns, and long analysis periods. In the modern age, tracking brand metrics such as message testing can be done using advanced software which does most of the work in real time.
This isn’t to say that interviews and real consumer feedback is not still used. There are techniques such as in-depth interviews (IDIs) which provide invaluable feedback on a more personal level. The fact remains that overall brand tracking efforts can be viewed as more or less a constant measurement of brand’s performance which can be tweaked, updated, and altered at any time. This all flows into the consumer feedback loop as we will discuss in the following section.
Brand Adaptability Keeps Brands Agile and Responsive
Let’s say your brand has a robust system in place to determine key brand metrics, set goals for those metrics, track brand metrics, and analyze the real performance against those goals. This is the basis of a healthy brand tracking effort. Yet this data and its analysis are useless without a brand’s ability to act. This is why brand adaptability is so vital.
Let’s say your brand metrics are all strong besides favorability. Consumers know your brand, they recognize your brand, and your practical measurables are all strong. Still, customers are not likely to recommend your brand or view your brand in a positive light. There are several ways for brands to improve their favorability in the public such as improving brand materials, focusing on a brand personality revamp, or even giving back to the community. What is important is that your organization is prepared to take action on brand tracking analysis and re-measure over time.
Modern customers expect their favorite brands to be responsive. This can be a dangerous prospect for brands, but it can also be viewed as an opportunity. Brand weaknesses are holes in your overall brand strength. Public brand weaknesses offer a unique opportunity for organizations to say “we understand the problem, and we are going to fix it”. Making brand metrics, brand tracking, and brand adaptability part of your larger marketing strategy is a great way to keep your customers and investors happy.
Clock Tower Insight Branding and Marketing Solutions
Clock Tower Insight is proud to work with a wide range of B2C and B2B industries, including retail, CPG, food service, and advertising organizations. We believe in using powerful, cutting edge research to offer brand-specific insights. With this insight, we work with brands to turn the data into actionable information, and eventually into business growth. Our services include brand positioning, customer experience management, and much more.
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