Skip to content
Butler Branding
Branding With A Purpose
Butler Branding
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Brand Strategy
    • Brand Identity
    • Website Design
      • Website Design Process
      • UX Design
      • Monthly Maintenance
    • Digital Marketing
    • Commercial Photography
    • Videography
    • Podcasting
  • Our Work
  • The Feed
  • Shop
  • Start a Project
Facebook page opens in new windowInstagram page opens in new windowYouTube page opens in new window
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Brand Strategy
    • Brand Identity
    • Website Design
      • Website Design Process
      • UX Design
      • Monthly Maintenance
    • Digital Marketing
    • Commercial Photography
    • Videography
    • Podcasting
  • Our Work
  • The Feed
  • Shop
  • Start a Project

S.W.O.T. Analysis

Knowing where you fit in the marketplace.

 

(FREE WORKSHEET BELOW)

 

What is S.W.O.T.?

A S.W.O.T. analysis is an exercise to help brands get a birds-eye-view of where they fit in the marketplace. S.W.O.T. is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

 

Strengths – Pat yourself on the back a little (not too hard… you might get bruises). What are you doing well? What sets you apart from the competition? What is your unique value proposition?

For a small, family owned local hardware store their strengths might include expertise, above-and-beyond customer service and a tight-knit community.

 

Weaknesses – Be honest with yourself. Where are you lacking? What are others doing better than you? What are some limitations holding you back?

Using the hardware store example, a weakness might be limited inventory that a Home Depot or Lowes might have. It also might include a minimal marketing budget.

 

Opportunities – What are some emerging needs, or underserved markets you could focus on? What unique connections do you have? What do you see as an open door that no one else is walking through?

A local hardware store owner might have the ability to make close relationships with other local businesses, contractors and developers where the big chain stores won’t have that local buy-in.

 

Threats – What scares you a little bit? Who are the up-and-coming competitors? What negative press is your company or industry facing? What regulations or changes in the industry are negatively affecting you (or have the potential to)?

Maybe there is another small, local hardware store on the other side of town that has the potential of taking some of your business.

 

 

S.W.O.T. For Brand Strategy

Conducting a S.W.O.T. analysis is a super helpful tool I use for Brand Strategy. At Butler we conduct a S.W.O.T. analysis during Discovery Sessions with our clients because we need to know what, exactly, we’re going to be branding. We need to know who we’re competing against, where we fit in the marketplace, what our unique value proposition is, what opportunities we can capitalize on, what weaknesses we need to leverage, and what threats we must be mindful of.

 

All of this should be taken into consideration when planning our marketing and branding efforts.

 

 

How to Conduct a S.W.O.T. Analysis

To conduct a S.W.O.T. Analysis, draw a grid with 4 quadrants, each representing one of the words of the acronym. Fill up each quadrant with things that come to mind for each category.

 

Conducting a S.W.O.T. analysis is super helpful in gaining a birds-eye-view of your company and where it’s positioned in the marketplace. S.W.O.T. is helpful for gaining clarity, but what you do with clarity is what really counts. In short, you want to lead with your strengths, leverage your weaknesses, seize opportunities and mitigate threats.

 

Again, using the local hardware store example:

We may lead with our strengths by positioning ourselves as the local, trustworthy, personable solution. We might do this by showing authentic photography of our in-store team working with real customers from the community. We might have a marketing tagline like “skip the long lines and poor service… speak with local experts today”. Our weakness of having a minimal budget would need to be leveraged by thinking of creative, non-traditional forms of marketing. If there’s an opportunity to build close relationships with other local businesses, maybe we could incorporate a marketing strategy where we host events featuring them. If we see the threat of up-and-coming competition, we have to be mindful of continually differentiating ourselves… when we see them zig, we zag.

 

Download the S.W.O.T. Analysis Worksheet for Free

SWOT Analysis Worksheet

Download the free worksheet.

This worksheet shows you how to discover the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your business.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Facebook Comments
Category: BrandingMarch 25, 20181 Comment

Author: Sean Tambagahan

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:HOW TO: Market Your Business on a BudgetNextNext post:How Email Automation Can Fill Communication Gaps With Your Potential Customers

Related Posts

Check out our ‘Process’ with a real-life client!
October 21, 2021
Helping Medical Imaging Providers Stand Out
August 30, 2021
How To Present Logo Concepts
May 2, 2020
Brand Identity Process Butler Branding
How We Created a New Brand Identity for Fresno Mission
January 21, 2020

1 Comment

  1. txxx says:
    November 22, 2019 at 3:47 am

    The SWOT analysis in social work practice framework is beneficial because it helps organizations decide whether or not an objective is obtainable and therefore enables organizations to set achievable goals, objectives, and steps to further the social change or community development effort.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post comment

Services
  • Marketing and Advertising
  • Website Design
  • Brand Strategy
  • Brand Identity
Subscribe
We periodically send unique and helpful resources about branding, design and digital marketing so you can stay informed and inspired. Subscribe to our mailing list – we promise to not spam you or share your information with any third party.

Feed
  • We Are Hiring – Marketing Account Manager
    May 1, 2022
  • Butler Branding Podcasting Service
    February 8, 2022
  • Conversion Funnel
    The Conversion Funnel
    January 10, 2022
  • The Basics of Email Marketing
    December 15, 2021
  • What does a Social Media Marketing Agency Do?
    November 22, 2021
Contact Info
700 van ness ave. ste. 113
fresno, ca 93721
559.797.3414

FacebookInstagramYouTube

Careers
© 2022 Copyright Butler Branding - All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.

A Proud Member Of Fresno Chamber Of Commerce

Fresh Content Delivered Weekly

Like what you see? There’s more where that came from. Subscribe to our mailing list – we promise to not spam you or share your information.