Thinking of bringing your business through a rebrand? Rebranding may be an effective move for your business, but only if done right! Follow these steps for conducting a flawless rebrand.
Quick breakdown…
Read on for more on our 6 steps to crafting a perfect rebrand strategy.
Whether your company is new or established, rebranding is no small feat. However, rebranding can be a strategic investment for your business! Before you embark on your rewarding rebranding journey, make sure you have a compelling “why” to keep you motivated and on task along the way. We also recommend knowing why you’re not rebranding in case goals get muddled in the process.
A few compelling “whys” for a rebrand might include:
No matter your reason for rebranding, make sure it’s strong enough to carry you and your team through and is clear enough to keep everyone moving towards the same goal. Weaker reasons for rebrand include: “feeling like” your brand could use a refresh or that it’s outdated, new leadership wanting to make their mark or a PR stunt. These “whys” are watery at best and don’t move your company towards the true goal of a rebrand: to make your company more desirable and relatable to your target audience. Connecting with your ideal customers increases brand loyalty and is ultimately the road to continued growth.
If you find that your business’s brand no longer serves its goals, rebranding with a strong “why” is a worthy investment.
Once you’ve decided that your business needs a rebrand, decide which elements will be rebranded and which won’t be.
It’s worth considering what level of rebrand you desire for your company. If you want a complete overhaul, you’ll want to audit all “brand expression” elements and lay out plans for each of them. If you think your business only needs a partial rebrand where some elements change and others stay the same, make sure that the new fits in with the old so there’s consistency across everything that shows your brand.
Elements and assets to include in the audit could be products, logo, design, color palette, messaging, slogan, service offerings, use of social media platforms and more. Your rebranding team should be crystal clear on what to change and what to leave alone or change just slightly. Whichever elements go through the rebranding process, make sure there’s a comprehensive and specific strategy for each!
If you’re wanting your company to stand out among its competition, you’ll need to run a competitive analysis. You’ve most likely done this before to assist in choosing certain products or even in your first branding campaign. As new technologies and design preferences surface and change the market’s landscape, continued competitive analyses are a must.
It may be tempting to want to conduct your business’s rebrand in a bubble. After all, no one knows your brand like you and your team! However, ignoring what competitors are up to can be detrimental in crafting your new branding.
Hiring a branding agency could be a useful asset in this process. They brand and rebrand for a living and are up to date on the latest trends and what businesses in the area are doing.
Once you have a good idea of your competition’s branding, you can niche down and create branding that’s uniquely you and also stands out from others.
Consumer expectations and preferences are constantly changing. If it’s been awhile since you’ve built out your business’s ideal customer persona, a rebrand is the perfect time to do it.
Your target market should heavily inform your new branding choices. Answering questions similar to the following can give you a good idea as to the direction of your new brand expression:
Refreshing your customer persona will help you position your new branding for peak performance. Remember, the whole point of a rebrand is to re-establish your business as competitive, relevant, and compelling to your ideal customers.
Once you have all of your assets up to snuff with the new branding, it’s time to let the world know. You should treat advertising your new brand like you would treat advertising a new product, service or other major change in your business. Utilize every communication channel available and start up on new ones that were grafted into your rebrand decisions to clearly showcase who you are now.
If your target market, and potential new customers, miss that your business went through a rebrand, they might experience some confusion and wonder if you still offer what they love and are familiar with. As you communicate your new brand, it’s important to do so carefully, but also clearly and boldly. Consider showing off well-loved products and services in their new getup at the same time as any new offerings to keep continuity.
As with any new business venture, it’s important to constantly analyze its performance and understand how it can be improved. Don’t assume that your rebrand will be successful no matter how hard you worked on it. You can assume that tweaks will need to be made and that the whole process will be incredibly valuable to your business both in what you learn and in the new opportunities it presents.
Final thoughts…
Rebranding can be one of the most valuable pursuits you can initiate for your business. You’ll learn so much about the new market landscape and changes in your target consumer. You’ll also become more connected to your brand and business and generate new and fresh ideas for how to advertise and relate to your customers.
If you enjoyed this blog, check out our other resources here! If you want to learn more about what it’s like to have RevLocal handle your business’s digital marketing, contact us today to speak with one of our experts.
Taylor Rice, Blog Contributor
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