Fully rebranding is a significant decision for any company.
It isn’t something that can be taken lightly, and it’s certainly not something you should do on a whim. There are multiple factors to consider before initiating a rebrand and even more to consider once you decide to go through with one.
The most critical thing to consider is that rebranding is far more than changing your logo or name. It’s about change on a much deeper level.
At its core, rebranding is about reshaping the intangible feelings or perceptions people have when they think about your business. This involves changing your visual identity, strategy, awareness, and positioning.
Rebranding may be a good idea if your current branding no longer serves your company’s values or if you plan on expanding your target market by changing your product lineup. Whatever the reason for your rebrand, it’s crucial to have a strategy before making any changes.
When properly executed, rebranding can breathe new life into a company, attracting new customers while also helping your business connect better with its existing customer base.
But if the rebrand is botched at any point, it can be an absolute disaster. The key to a successful rebrand is careful planning and implementation. Here are a few ideas to help you get it right.
Table of Contents
Define Your Goals
Before considering rebranding, you must understand why you’re doing it. What are your goals? What do you hope to achieve?
For example, are you trying to reach a new audience? Are you trying to change the way your company is perceived? Or are you simply trying to refresh your image?
Being clear about your long-term goals from the outset will help you make better decisions throughout the process.
Suppose your company is looking to expand into additional markets. Rebranding can be a great way to connect with new customers who may need help understanding your (new) logo or mission statement.
Do Your Research
Once you know why you want to rebrand, it’s time to research to ensure that your new branding will be well-received by your intended target market. You need to understand their needs, wants, and perceptions to recreate your brand in a way that resonates with them.
Take a good look at your proposed target market as well as your current brand image. What do your current and potential new customers like and dislike? What other brands do they love? And just as importantly, what other brands do they hate?
Your research should include customer surveys, focus groups, and listening to social media, but it should also extend to your competition. See how they’ve branded themselves and what they’re doing right (and wrong), and use this information to inform your own decisions.
Create a Rebranding Strategy
Once you know your goals and have done your research, it’s time to put a strategy together. What elements of your brand will need to change? What can (and should) stay the same? How are you going to communicate the changes to your brand to your current audience?
Your strategy should be detailed and comprehensive, covering every aspect of the rebrand, from your logo to your social media presence.
Inform Your Customers
Your customers should be the first to know about your rebrand — after all, they’re the ones who are going to be most affected by it. So make sure you let them know what’s happening and why.
Be upfront and honest about the changes you’re making and give them a heads-up about what to expect. For example, send them a preview of the new design if you plan to change your logo. If you’re changing your name, give them a chance to weigh in on the new options.
Design a New Logo
Your logo is one of the most critical aspects of your brand. It’s often the first thing people will see, so it needs to make a good impression.
When redesigning your logo, keep things simple. Complex logos are hard to remember and may need to be simplified for your customers. Be very deliberate with your color and font selections, and ensure the design is easy to understand. The design should convey the mission and culture of the company. Have you ever seen a logo for a company and wondered, what the heck do they do because the logo has nothing to do with the identity of the business?
Along with your new logo, your company should establish new branding guidelines in order to ensure consistency across all of your future marketing endeavors.
Changing Your Business Name
Changing your business name is a huge decision that requires extensive planning. If you change your name, you must update everything on your marketing materials, website, and social media accounts. This process can be costly and time-consuming, so affirm that you’re sure before deciding to make this change. It’s crucial that you update your brand name change across the web. This can be done manually but will require time and effort. You can use a service like BrightLocal to update your name change through data aggregators on the web. You can also update all the citation sites with all the rebrand changes. It’s not free and not cost-prohibited.
Changing Your Domain Name Could Be Disastrous For SEO Ranking
Your original SEO work can be wiped out, and your organic search traffic may tank for a while, but it’s worth it in the long term if your current name no longer reflects what your business stands for.
You can maintain your SEO ranking if you don’t change the URL / Domain Name. Instead, you can keep the old URL for the site and create a new URL that can redirect to the current URL. Domain history plays a big part in how Google indexes your website and content. If you’ve had the same domain for many years, Google sees that as a trust signal.
We highly suggest coordinating with an SEO specialist if you are going to change your URL. You want to ensure all the old domain redirects are correctly pointing to the new domain. We can’t stress this enough if you are unfamiliar with the process.
Brand Messaging
Sometimes brand messaging gets overlooked when companies go through a rebrand. The messaging is just as important as the identity. You should have a copywriter develop a brand story to accompany your new identity.
You should consider a tagline that communicates your company’s mission or values. It should be memorable and easy to understand, and if you’re changing your company’s name, you’ll need a new tagline to go along with it.
Your tagline should be reflective of your new brand image. It should speak to your target market and set you apart from your competition. It should also be short, efficiently encapsulating what your company is all about.
We suggest coming up with a list of headlines and taglines that convey the different aspects of your organization. You can leverage your brand messaging across all your marketing and messaging endeavors.
Update Your Website
Your website is often the initial point of contact between you and your customers. It needs to be up-to-date with your new branding, mission statement, and products.
Make sure your website is responsive and easy to navigate. Use clear and concise language, and avoid using complex terminology.
We can stress the importance of a website redesign. It advocates for your business 24/7 and should make an excellent first impression. There are a lot of unique designs on the web. Don’t look like the local hometown player. You should always strive for a design that allows you to play on a national stage.
Train Your Employees
Employees are the face of your business, and they’ll need to be trained on your new branding to represent it accurately to your customers.
Give them the tools they need to ensure they understand your new mission statement and values and are ready to answer customer questions about your rebrand.
Launch Your New Brand
Once you’ve strategized and updated your company’s inner workings, it is now time to launch your new brand to the world. Start by updating your social media accounts and website. Send a press release announcing your rebrand, and ensure all your marketing materials reflect your new brand.
After you’ve launched your new brand, it’s essential to evaluate the results. Are your goals being met? Are customers responding positively to your new branding?
Monitor your social media channels and website traffic, and remember to ask your customers for their feedback.
Market and Develop New Ads
The next step in the rebranding process is developing new advertisements that reflect your unique brand. Your ads should be creative and attention-grabbing, accurately reflecting your new brand and values and explicitly directed at your target market.
If you follow this plan, you’ll be well on your way to launching a successful rebrand. Remember to take your time, research, and stay true to your brand.
Make sure your marketing plan will get the word out there and most importantly, give people a reason to care. Tell them what’s new and why it should matter to them.
Be Patient
Successful rebranding takes time. It can take months to see the full impact of your new branding.
Accepting that a transition period is necessary will help you stay focused and motivated during the rebranding process, so be patient and keep working on getting your brand out there.
Be Prepared for Feedback
No matter how significant your rebrand is, not everyone will fall head over heels for it. There will always be people who are resistant to change, but that’s okay.
The important thing is to be prepared for negative feedback and be ready to address those concerns. Have a strategy in place for how you’re going to handle adverse reactions while being prepared to listen to constructive criticism.
Let It Evolve
Your rebrand can be something other than perfect on day one. It shouldn’t be. The best brands are constantly evolving and changing, so don’t be afraid to experiment and make adjustments as you go.
Your goal is to create a flexible, adaptable brand that can grow and change with your company.
Launching a successful rebrand is no easy feat, but you can do it with proper and careful planning and execution. Remember to define your goals, research, create a strategy, market your rebrand, inform your customers, and be prepared for feedback. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to let it evolve.
A Rebrand Is a Major Decision
A rebrand can be a great way to revitalize your image and connect with a new audience. However, it’s important to remember that not everyone will be happy with the change. Make sure you have a strong marketing strategy to inform your customers of the changes and make the transition as smooth as possible.
Mighty Fine is a digital ad agency with the expertise required to execute your rebrand. Contact this talented team today to take your company to the next level.
