Pro-tip; for your brand management platform to be a success long into the future, it’s vital that you carry out annual audits of the tool. By doing this you can get a clear understanding of which templates and assets are being used and how your team is using them.
How to monitor, maintain and build the effectiveness of the platform
An effective audit of your brand management platform may help you to see:
If there are templates that are out of date or not being used anymore.
If any out-of-date or unused templates can be updated or repurposed.
If there are any templates that people are using in a different manner to how you intended.
If there are any opportunity gaps that you can fill which can save you time and money.
Your brand management software should have a reporting area where you can carry out this analysis.
Carrying out the audit
The two key things to take into consideration when auditing your brand management platform are:
What resources are being used?
Who is using your platform?
Below are some suggestions to help with these two steps.
What resources are being used?
You will want to take a look at the reporting area of your brand management platform and delve into the data. You can analyse your templates and other resources, to help you:
Find out what your top-performing templates and assets are.
Identify which templates and assets have reached the end of their life cycle.
Spot seasonal trends in usage.
Find out what has been successful across teams and usage differences.
Data is useful for analysis. However, you can also tell a lot by looking at the artwork that is being created.
Your brand management platform may allow you to view a gallery of artwork that has been created using specific templates. This can help you understand exactly how each template is being used.
Pro-tip; viewing this gallery can also help you find out if the templates are meeting the needs of the team or if people are using them in a different way than you initially expected. This will help inform any further support that may be required.
Who is using your platform?
As well as auditing the templates themselves, you’ll also want to get a clear understanding of exactly who is using the platform.
When it comes to this aspect of your audit, you will want to:
Discover your platform advocates and champions.
Uncover the number of members that are currently engaging with the platform.
Ascertain the teams that use it the most.
Identify infrequent or inactive users and teams.
What to do after you have carried out your audit?
Your audit should present you with lots of useful information. Armed with this new knowledge you should:
Speak to these advocates to find out if there’s anything they wish they had at their disposal.
- Talk to infrequent and inactive users and teams to find out why they have lapsed.
Discover if there’s anything they need which isn’t available in the platform.
Ask team members whether there is anything they need that could help save time, money and increase productivity.
Recruit advocates to help you re-engage infrequent or inactive users.
When it comes to the templates and assets themselves, a good quality audit can help you:
Remove old templates and assets that are at the end of their life-cycle.
Repurpose any templates or assets.
Create new templates or assets that are missing from the platform.
Provide users with certain features, functionality, or assets that will increase engagement.
By looking closely at your templates and speaking with key team members, you can ensure that you’re keeping your platform fresh and up to date. And by doing this, you’re increasing your chances of running a successful, effective, and time-saving platform long into the future.