How to Rebrand Your Business

Over time you may notice that your company brand is getting a little dated, your profits and interest from potential customers is going down and you can’t seem to understand why. If this sounds like your business then it may be time for a rebrand.

A rebrand doesn’t mean starting from scratch and throwing away all of your current resources which you have put time and effort in, it’s simply giving your business a new lease of life and in turn improving customer opinions of your brand.

Before you choose to undergo a company rebrand you must first understand what a rebrand is. A rebrand is not simply choosing a new colour scheme for your company logo but a rebrand is enhancing and updating the entire business. If you’re business is starting to look, feel and communicate in a dated way then a rebrand may be exactly what you need.

For a successful rebrand your main goal should be to improve the way your business is perceived to clients as well as your employees and potential customers. Rebranding is a relatively long process but the more time and effort which you put in will ensure that you receive the maximum benefits.

There are many benefits from rebranding your company including increasing your visibility and giving your new and existing customers the confidence that you are at the top of your game and that you know the market, improving your sales and educating your employees and customers of who you are, your objectives and goals for the future.

The key thing to remember throughout the whole process is that your rebranding needs to be consistently reviewed to ensure that your new company identity is enforced throughout all of your marketing campaigns.

Any business can rebrand but to be successful in your venture you must first be organised and be patient as this can be a time consuming process. Here’s our 6 step guide to successfully rebranding your business.

Creating a new identity is much more than creating a new logo or choosing a new colour palette – yes that is part of the rebranding process – but first, you must focus on the big picture. The big picture being your company as a whole. Sit yourself down with a pen and paper and answer the following questions about your company:

• Who are you?
• Who aren’t you?
• Who are your main competitors?
• Who are your customers? Age, Gender, Interests, Careers
• How do your customers interact with you on social media (if you are present on social media)? What social media platforms do/don’t they use? Find out how social media can benefit your business.
• How do you perceive your business at the moment? What works and what doesn’t work? – this may also be a good question to ask your employees

Once you’ve answered these questions it will give you an overview of where your current business is and where you can improve. By identifying your customers’ needs and how they interact through online marketing will give you an insight into how to successfully target them and inform them of your rebrand later on in the process.

From this data you can begin your rebrand. Your brand is your company’s identity so don’t expect this task to take 10 minutes to complete. To begin your company rebranding you need to ask yourself another set of questions, this time to understand how you can rebrand your business successfully and what needs to be done. Here’s a few questions to begin, however feel free to extend and add more to the list:

• Where do you want your company to position itself in the market?
• Why is it lacking now?
• How can you become more responsive and interactive with customers?
• What do you want your customers to think, feel and expect when they see your company/brand?

Your customer should be your number one focus when it comes to any type of rebranding. How your customer perceives you is key to success. Obviously you can’t email them all asking for colour suggestions or help because that would for one be unprofessional and two, lead them to believe that you have no idea what you’re doing.

A simple way to include your customers is to create a teaser campaign for your rebranding and share it on multiple social media platforms. A teaser campaign will allow you to give your rebranding a trial run. Creating polls or ask customers to vote if you have a few options which you like.

Customers love to feel involved and to interact with brands. Giving them the opportunity to add their input about your company will create interest and make them feel involved and valued. Polls are easy to create via Facebook and Twitter or if you have a template of your rebrand then share a screenshot and ask for their opinions.

Take some time and see what’s working, by this time you should have accumulated some strong customer feedback. See what their thoughts where when it came to your teaser campaign, how they commented, reacted and interacted with your posts and tailor your rebranding around them. Customer feedback is invaluable when it comes to rebranding because they will tell you whether they like something or not and if you ignore their advice then this can lead to lack of trust in future business. Take the time to read through comments and really understand their thoughts and concerns towards your rebrand.

Fixing problems is more than fixing the visual aspect but also having the product work is important. For example, if you are rebranding and one part of that is creating or updating your website then you must ensure that all links are working correctly, image links are not broken and that each page loads correctly. Have a look at your site alone and also get all of your team involved – put your brand under the microscope because you’ll want to fix any problems before it goes live to the public.

Make sure all aspects of your business is updated along with your rebrand as you don’t want to have any outdated or forgotten about areas. If your new colour scheme is blue and green, make sure those pink logos are long gone before you go live.

Rebranding can take a long time and a lot of changes to get right. You will be well aware of all the changes that you’re making but if the rest of your team are working across multiple projects as well as the rebranding project then they need to be kept up to date with anything and everything regardless of whether it’s minor or major.

Schedule weekly meetings to show the team where you are with the project. These meeting also give you the chance to ask for their opinions. A fresh perspective is always needed when it comes to big projects such as rebranding.

Inform the team of your new brand identity and what it represents. This is may seem obvious but it’s very important, especially if many members of your team a creating blog posts for your company. Your company should have one voice because you are essentially one brand- this doesn’t mean to exclude your personality when writing but ensuring that all posts have one tone will link it back to your company brand nicely and keep the branding strong.

There is no point in taking all of this time to rebrand and then forgetting to promote it. The whole point of rebranding is to give your brand a new lease of life and if you’re not keeping your customers updated then you are not getting any interest.

Create a social media calendar for your rebrand – this allows you to regularly share announcements, images, posts and teasers keeping your customers engaged and in the loop of what’s going on behind the scenes. Creating a social media calendar is also a great way to keep you organised and ensuring that posts are regular.

Sharing teasers on social media platforms and in your company newsletters is an easy to create enthusiasm and to remind your customers and clients that something big is happening soon. Use a hashtag to create a bit of excitement e.g. #CreativeJuicesIncluded. Top tip – when choosing a hashtag, make sure no one else is using the hashtag- especially another company!!

Once you’ve rebranded, avoid moving backwards into old habits. To successfully rebrand you must keep your brand alive. There is no point wasting time rebranding and then a couple of weeks later go back to your old brand – this will leave your customers confused and likely agitated, why would they choose to buy from or use a company who doesn’t even like/know who they are!

Rebranding is a big step and one that should be carefully considered, critiqued and analysed all the way through. With the right amount of organisation, enthusiasm and determination – your company will be on a road to rebrand success!

For more information on how to improve your business and other digital marketing tips and tricks, have a read through our Digital Marketing Blog. Alternatively, if you have a query on how we can help your business then don’t hesitate to contact our friendly team at Zelst.