This is not the post about the importance of branding. You're beyond that. This one is the post about getting started with one of the most important elements of branding: your front-line communications.
"Audit" in this context is just another way of saying that you're going to take a close look at an element of your operations with an eye toward improvement. One of the first material steps you can take to effectively enhance how your customers perceive your company is conducting a communications audit.
Get everything together. Everything. Brochures, websites, email templates, text content, magazines, the products, press releases, business cards, signage, ads, the music that plays when your customers are on hold, anything that the world perceives your product or service through. If it's not already, get it all on paper.
Once you have everything together, scan through all of it quickly. Is there cohesion or chaos? Does the look, feel and tone of your communications represent the unified vision, goals and fundamental objectives of your organization or are you sending mixed signals to your customers?
Not concerned about cohesion in communications? Without it, your customers may never experience, understand or recognize the core values of your organization and brand, and brand recognition is why your customers will be loyal, why your customers will pay a premium for your product or service. Whether you're a local printer or a national brand, you can leverage the value of a communications audit followed by an organized effort to improve.
