Conducting a Year-End Brand Review: A Step-By-Step Approach

As the end of the year quickly approaches, now is the perfect time for some intentional reflection on the past year and your growth over that time. This is especially true as an entrepreneur who is the face of your brand because your brand is an extension of yourself, and needs to evolve as you do. 

Before embracing all the positive changes and big opportunities you have planned for next year, it’s essential to step back and assess your brand. This involves evaluating what's working, what's not, and identifying areas where you may have outgrown your brand. 

Making these adjustments now is key to ensuring that your brand is positioned to get visible, and make a big impact in 2024.

My Brand Tree Formula 

My Brand Tree formula offers a holistic approach to defining, creating, and assessing your brand. Not only does it help keep everything consistent and clear when you’re first creating your brand, it also helps you understand where you've grown and what changes are needed to align your brand with your current realities and future direction. 

If you want to discover more about my Brand Tree formula, check out this blog post.

Each element of the tree, from the soil to the leaves, represents a critical aspect of your brand, and examining each one annually ensures that your brand remains true to your evolving journey. Let's delve into these elements, understanding their significance and what to look for in each.

SOIL: Who are you as the face of your brand?

The soil is the foundation of your brand, encompassing your core values, mission, and brand personality, among other things. It’s crucial to ensure that this base layer stays reflective of who you are today – this is what sets the stage for the rest of your brand to thrive. Here are a few things to consider reviewing in the soil part of your brand each year: 

• Core values - Are they still in line with your personal beliefs, and are they accurately reflected in your brand? 
• Vision statement - Does it still accurately reflect the difference you want your brand to make in the world?
• Brand archetype - Does your main archetype still accurately represent who you are, or have you gone through some growth that has influenced a change? 

ROOTS: Who is your brand aiming to attract?

Roots anchor your brand firmly in its niche and define your ideal client. They are essential for ensuring that your brand continues to attract clients you love working with and who are able to see and invest in the value you provide. During your year-end reflection, here are some things to consider when it comes to your ideal client:

• Has anything changed about the people you want to work with (i.e., their level of experience, values, etc.)?
• Have you attracted clients in the past who aren’t a good fit, and if so, how can you refine your ideal client to no longer attract these people?
• Working with multiple ideal clients? Do you need to add or remove an ideal client segment from the people you work with? 

TRUNK: What does your brand experience communicate?

The trunk encompasses your messaging and visuals and supports the entire structure of your brand. It's vital for communicating your brand's inner identity clearly on the outside so your ideal clients understand you and see the value in working with you. Each year, there are a few things to review in this external-facing part of your brand, including:

• Name, title and tagline - Have changes occurred deep down that need to be reflected in any of these 3 pieces of front-facing written copy?  
• Marketing Message - Is it clearly communicating the most desirable transformation that your ideal clients want? Have people been signing up to work with you when you share it? If not, it may need some fine tuning. 
• Visual Branding - Are there elements like logos, colors, typography, images, etc. that are no longer reflective of who you are, and that need to be changed?
• This is a great place to consider Color Psychology and Brand Archetypes. I recommend taking these quizzes yearly to ensure everything you’re doing and creating is still aligned with your truest self, especially as you grow and evolve. 

BRANCHES: What are your brand offerings? 

Branches represent the growth of your brand through its programs, products and services. This is where your brand extends its reach and gets to make its impact through client relationships. Your brand’s offers are directly reflective of everything else that we’ve talked about so far – so as you grow and change, it’s important that your offers reflect that. Some things to consider are:

• Your current offers - Take a look at your service, course, program, workshop, event, product or any other offer you have - is it still serving your business? If not, does it need a simple refresh or is it time to close the doors to make space for something new? 
• Upcoming offers - Without falling into the trap of creating something new just for the sake of creating something new, is there something you need to create intentionally for your audience that is more aligned with how you’ve grown and changed? 
• Your personal joy and fulfillment as you deliver your offers - this is often overlooked, but how much do you currently enjoy delivering your program, service or workshop? Did it once bring you joy but is now sucking your soul? If so, what needs to be changed to bring it into alignment with what would bring you joy today?

📌⬇︎PIN IT⬇︎📌

LEAVES: What are your brand touchpoints and marketing tactics? 

Leaves, symbolizing your marketing tactics and public touchpoints, are crucial for attracting and engaging with your audience. This is oftentimes a new client’s first experience with your brand, so it’s essential that everything in this section reflects the rest of what we’ve talked about so far. Some things to consider include:

• Is there a new touchpoint you need to establish in your brand? For example, is it time to get your website professionally designed?
• Is there a new marketing tactic you need to add to the mix? For example, maybe there’s something you know you need to do, maybe something you’re great at or have gotten great feedback on? For example, if you have amazing state presence, maybe it’s time to start public speaking or launch your YouTube channel. 
• Is there something that isn’t working that you need to stop doing? Take a look at your current marketing tactics and touchpoints. Are the 20 hours a month you spend creating Instagram stories paying off? Is your website converting visitors into new clients?

Oftentimes, as solo entrepreneurs it can be really hard to see our own blind spots, to see why things aren’t coming across the way we want them to or where we’re falling short. Especially in your branding, something that is so close to who you are and what you do every day, it’s hard to know exactly what needs to change! 

This is where a Brand Strategist comes in. Having a professional who can take a look at what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and how you’ve changed is a great way to get an outsider perspective of your brand, so you can see it how the rest of the world does. 

I'm on a mission to empower service-based entrepreneurs to clearly communicate their value through authentic messaging, beautiful visuals, and aligned offers that position them to attract next-level clients, opportunities and income. I’m officially opening up my Brand Review offer for the holidays, and you’re invited to join! 

When you sign up for your Brand Review, you’ll receive:

• A 60-min, 1:1 Brand Review on Zoom where we'll use my signature "Brand Tree" formula to look for any cracks in your structure that are causing you to lose clients and income; 
• Session recording to easily revisit any time; 
• A detailed, written action plan outlining exactly where to focus, and in what order, to achieve your goals. 

Take a moment to envision the income and impact you want to make in 2024. Will this be your year to … hit 6 or 7 figures, create that retreat in Costa Rica, write your book, launch your signature program or become a sought after public speaker? 

Whatever you envision, I know one thing for sure: your brand must be equipped to get you there. 

Are you ready to feel fully aligned with your brand and feel confident that everything you’re doing is a reflection of the truest, most authentic version of YOU!? If so, check out the Brand Review here and book your spot with these incredible bonuses (use coupon code 2023REVIEW at checkout). This offer is available through November 30th.