How to Plan + Measure Your Brand ROI

Is all the energy, time, and money that you’ve spent on your branding been a waste of resources? Some people believe that branding ROI hard to measure. Research tells us differently.

According to a study done by CEB Global Inc., 57% of the average B2B buyer makes their purchase decision before being directly contacted by a representative. According to the most recent Edelman Trust Survey, 88% of people surveyed purchase from a company they trust. 87% of those people trust a company based on their perceived value of products and services. According to Psychology Today, consumers perceive the same type of personality traits in brands that they do in other people.

So, what does all those research results mean? It means that your brand makes a difference in conversions with customers and increased retention with valued team members. In other words, improved branding makes a difference to your bottom line.

However, think of the opposite effort in branding… what if you didn’t spend the time or energy effectively branding your company? That means no awareness of your company, no business conversions, no community impact, and no culture fit for the talent you hire. No bueno.

Before you measure the success of your brand, you need to clarify how you envision your brand. Once you know what your brand aspirations are, you’ll need to organize attributes associated with those aspirations.

Once you create your aspirational brand, then break down that vision into attributes or categories. How do you plan to create your brand and elevate it to it’s true potential? Create actionable steps to to reach your ideal and attainable brand. Considerations for this will depend on your audience and your business model.

Then you’ll need to execute your actionable steps (obviously). This will take time, depending on your goals. Once you’ve reached a place where you’ve implemented processes to reach your aspirational brand, you’ll need to check back in and measure your results. How do people feel about our brand? How has your business been impacted?

[quote Text=”Consumers perceive the same type of personality traits in brands that they do in other people.” name=”Psychology Today” name_sub=”2013″]

So, what metrics should you be checking for your brand success? Here are just a few milestones for brand ROI:

Market Position

What is your growth rate? What is your market share in your industry?

Reputation

How do you rank in your industry? What are the perceptions of your customer AND your team members? What has been your community impact?

Market Leverage

Are you able to recruit the right people to get on board with your brand movement? Are you able to raise appropriate funding base on your brand perception?

Customer Acquisition

How does your awareness compare with before your goal setting and execution? Do customers prefer you over your competition? What is your email marketing onboarding look like? How much have your inquiry and conversion rates increased?

Customer Retention

Are your newest customers satisfied and your Net Promoter score increased? Has the lifetime value of your existing customers increased over the span of implementing your updated brand? What’s your brand loyalty look like?

Business Outcomes

Have your sales and revenue increased?


Since we live in an agile world, most brand goals will evolve as a business matures. Any major change to a business means that your brand will need to be assessed. This may include change in leadership, an evolution of an agile product, evolved culture cultivation, etc.

Disclaimer: There are lots of reasons why the above milestones may increase or decrease. However, if you make major brand changes and you see these needles change, then you know your brand goals are being achieved efficiently and effectively.

What do you think? What milestones do you check for your own brand success?

I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, and feedback in the comments below.

~ Christine