In last week’s article we discussed when to rebrand your business, And once you have established your reasons and goals it’s time to plan How you are going to do it.
While some companies go through slow evolutionary changes for their brands, others might make drastic changes that not only convey a different message but might also target a different audience. Similarly, sometimes rebranding can turn out to be a big success for the business and others can be disastrous if not thought through and done well. What can you do to ensure that your rebranding is hitting the right spots with your target audience and conveying the message your business wants to?
How to rebrand your Business
Why do you want to rebrand?
This first and obvious question you need to ask your self is why do you really want to rebrand? And please don’t let the answer be boredom! Your business will evolve, diversify and expand and at that point point a rebrand can really enhance your business and help you build your niche. You could also rebrand if you have added alternative services or products to your business so that your branding can visually communicate that.
What was wrong to begin with?
Establish what WASN’T working with your previous branding and learn from your mistakes. whether it was the colour of your branding or inconsistency or perhaps you didn’t make a good enough visual impact for them to have recall value of the brand? It’ll be worth analysing this so that you don’t go around in circle making the same mistakes that you made the first time!
How do you want to portray yourself?
When you are ready to rebrand, you have to go through the whole process all over again. You will need to think about what your business offers, why is it more unique than others in the market, who are your competitors and what does your target audience like to see. What’s the latest trend and can you support that trend on an ongoing basis? Prepare a business plan and pen down everything you can offer and learn about your brand before you take the leap into rebranding.
What do the others think?
If you are a new business, take a survey with your friends and family and see what they think of your business plan. What comes to their mind when they hear your ideas and what they expect from it. It’s a great way to create an informal forum that can in fact make you think outside the box and help you enhance what you have on offer. It can also define and target your audience in a more effective manner.
If you are a running business that is looking to change things around you might want to consider taking these forums with your targeted audience. Creating a niche for your business and focusing on that and hence engaging with with the prospects will immensely help you achieve your goals.
Will you Go all the way?
Leading up to the previous point, most people think of rebranding as a change of logo and a collateral here and there. You’ll still spot old stationary in use, the website is old and signage don’t change. This is a case of a disaster waiting to happen. When you take the leap and decide to rebrand, it’s important to have all the collaterals consistent with the new branding which includes, logo, colours, design elements, website, print collateral and social media in order for people to see everything in the same light and also remember you for that constant flow of the brand. Not to forget emails that come from your business name and NOT yahoo!! THAT is what a REBRANDING is!
Have a brand-tastic launch!
Now that you have your new swanky brand identity that you worked so hard on, don’t just sit there and let it rot on the counter.. Have a nice launch to your new brand, create a hype, build the excitement and then announce your self with a little get together, a giveaway or a contest, a special offer or whatever suits your business. Create a little ripple in the social media or press – whatever you can afford.
Promote yourself even when you’re doing good.
All that consistency then needs to be reminded to your customers over and over again. Don’t just tell them you have a new brand, share what your new values are, what new services you have on offer and what are you going to change in this newly formed business. You don’t want your business to fall before you try to lift it up again, you want to keep it lifted and social media for example has become a great way to do this if you are a new business or a solopreneur.
If you have more things to add or would like to leave a feedback please do so by commenting below.
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