A SWOT analysis is a great way to understand your business better as a whole and compare it to the world around you. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses look into your business internally, while opportunities and threats consider external factors.
Understanding these four components and where your brand falls into each category will help you plan more strategically in the future.
Strengths
As mentioned above, look inward at your company and list all your strengths. These are areas in which your company has advantages over other businesses. Areas to consider are product key advantages, customer support processes, employee retention, sales techniques, key personnel within your staff, processes, marketing messages, initiatives, etc. List everything that comes to mind.
Knowing your strengths makes it easier to centre your strategy around what you do best and helps you stand out against the competition. Your strengths are what truly set you apart.
Weaknesses
Keeping with an “internal” view of the business, let’s turn towards your company’s weaknesses. We all have them; weaknesses are a part of every brand, regardless of size. These are areas where your company may need more resources, have outdated processes, or need brand direction.
Knowing your weaknesses is essential, as they highlight critical areas for your company to grow and improve. Your business is ever-changing. Remember, what may start as a weakness can become a strength with enough time, planning and effort.
Once you have your list of weaknesses, dive into each one and rate them on impact and importance. Assign resources and timelines and turn them into SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely) goals.
Opportunities
These are the outside factors that can contribute to your brand’s success. Opportunities can include market trends, changes in consumer behaviour, technological advancements and more. Consider what is happening in our world or community today, and if you can find a way to take advantage of it for your business, you could get ahead of your competitors.
For example, consumers have become more concerned about sustainability, with the climate crisis becoming a popular topic. As a result, many brands are pivoting to include more sustainable practices or product offerings. This approach has attracted a new consumer segment and generated more business for the brands that saw the market opportunity and made those changes.
Threats
Like an opportunity, a threat is an external factor that can affect your business but is outside your control. Threats can include supply chain issues, economic landscape, oversaturation in the market, new competitors or changes within your competition, global pandemics, updated legislation and more.
It’s essential to regularly monitor potential threats in the external environment and your competitors’ actions. Preparing reasonable action plans for impending and highly possible scenarios you’ve identified is essential. Being proactive will help your business navigate these external market changes if and when they happen.
Understand your brand by doing a SWOT analysis with our team at Sims Advertising. Together, we can better analyze your brand and create marketing strategies that work best for you! Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter) for the latest digital marketing tips, project spotlights and more. We’re here to help with your strategy and creative direction.
