8 Ways To Smoothly and Successfully Rebrand Your Business
By Shelby Ballou
You might kick off your business with an awesome strategy, but what happens when your target audience changes, or your business suffers damage to its reputation, and your brand needs a makeover? Rebranding means more than just a new logo, name and website design. It’s a complex project that must be handled with care.
Here are eight ways to smoothly and successfully rebrand your business.
1. Think about the big picture
Don’t spend too much time obsessing over small details. It’s understandable that you want elements of your logo to have a deeper meaning, but most people won’t pay such close attention to the design.
2. Focus on what makes your brand unique
Your brand should clearly state what your business is all about. Many businesses don’t zero in on what makes them special or unique. They try to envelope all customers and markets and end up with a vague brand that blends in with the masses. Remember, a brand that means everything is a brand that means nothing.
3. Hire an expert
It often happens that you and your team members are too invested in the brand to be objective. In this case, hire a consultant with an unbiased opinion. This help will be invaluable while you rework your brand.
4. Consider your audience
Understand who your target audience is. What new customers are you trying to reach, and who is already loyal to your brand? When rebranding, you want to make your new look and feel is gaining attention, but you don’t want to lose already existing customers in the process.
5. Be strategic with your announcement
When developing your announcement strategy, remember that people don’t care about names or logos — they care about how the rebrand is going to affect them. At the same time, most people shy away from change. Make sure to retain positive aspects of the company your customers love. In addition, explain why the changes you’re making will benefit both the company and your customers. This way, customers can hold onto aspects they love, and gain fresh, exciting benefits, too.
6. Consider social media
If you’re choosing a new business name, make sure the domain is available, and make sure your desired social media addresses and links are available, too. The last thing you want to do is totally rebrand your business and then discover the name is already taken by a different person or company on Twitter and Instagram.
7. Don’t leave traces of your old brand behind
Make sure you rebrand everything. It gives an unprofessional appearance if you leave anything outdated behind. If customers see your new logo in one place and your old logo in another, they’ll think of your company as disorganized and confusing.
8. Don’t shock your customers
Let your audience and customers know a big surprise is coming. Post about it on social media. Give them hints that you have an exciting rebrand coming in two weeks. Don’t hit them out of left field with an unexpected change.
[Original post here.]
