The modern business world and the modern consumer market are constantly changing and evolving. Your brand is either going to change with the times or perish in the wake of up-and-coming companies that truly understand how to navigate these saturated waters and use the tides of the industry to their advantage. Yet sometimes, there is a need for a drastic change. Sometimes, entrepreneurs and business leaders must make the decision to rebrand their business in order to improve marketability and appeal to the needs and wishes of their customers.
Rebranding is your second chance at success, and it could save your business from having to shut its doors to the public for good. To organize and effectuate a successful rebranding strategy, you need to know what you’re doing.
Here are the key steps that will help you achieve this, and build the success that your small business deserves.
Identify the reasons for rebranding
Before you can begin rebuilding your brand and marketing it to your demographic, you need to identify the true reasons why rebranding is a viable business strategy for you at this point. Doing this will allow you to learn what actually went wrong and when, and it will give you the necessary insights to adapt your approach quickly instead of shooting in the dark. After all, good branding is about utilizing the knowledge and relevant industry data and not just about what appeals to your tastes as its creator.
You need to focus on the needs and wishes of your audience, your community, and your future clients and customers. So be sure to go in-depth on a reason as much as possible as well, because determining that “customer acquisition was lacking” is not something you can transform into an actionable step for rebranding. Instead, identify the underlying reasons, and then move on to brand creation.
Discover your new identity
On to the fun part. Now that you have the data to support your decision to rebrand your business and a good idea of where you need to make the biggest changes to your brand, you can move on to brand creation itself. Usually, there will be no need to start from scratch all over again, as there are certainly some positive aspects of your previous brand that you can use and weave into your new identity.
Start by analyzing the feedback about your brand’s personality, and how it resonated with the hearts and minds of your audience. Tweak and adjust the tone of voice and the values of your brand so that they are more in line with the tastes and preferences of your target demographic, but unique enough to separate you from the competition.
Next, hand over your brief to a skilled graphic designer, and have them design a new visual identity that embodies your values, your culture, as well as your entire brand personality. Once you have this brand package ready, you can tend to meticulous online rebranding as well.
Focus on rebranding your online presence
Rebranding your online presence is one of the most important steps you need to take on the road to long-term success, as the digital audience expects you to deliver and overdeliver on digital engagement, communication, marketing, and presentation. Even more importantly, you need to optimize and rebrand your entire website if you are to effectively implement and disseminate your new brand identity across the online realm.
Start by optimizing your domain name and making it something shorter and memorable, and then switch up your Web Hosting Package to a more stable and secure network and server. This will ensure better performance and website responsiveness, which will directly influence customer experience and satisfaction. A faster website needs a sleek and contemporary design as well, so be sure to implement your brand’s visual identity into the theme in order to create a striking visual presence that will capture the attention of every visitor.
Test the change and gather initial feedback
Now that your new brand is up and running, there is still one big step you need to take before presenting it to the world, so keep the curtains on for just a while longer. Now is the perfect moment to gather initial customer and community feedback, and use it make any last-minute changes to your new brand and your new website.
Don’t just rely on your team members or your marketing staff to deliver the final verdict, but instead be sure to create focus groups and conduct interviews with members of your demographic in order to get unbiased opinions. Don’t take criticism personally, rather use it to further improve your brand’s identity.
Communicate the change to the world
And finally, the time has come to launch your new brand and disseminate it across the online world. You do want to make a big deal out of this, and you want people to notice. So, make sure to send out emails to your entire mailing list, notifying customers and partners how you’re coming back stronger than ever before. Be sure to update all of your social media pages, and invite people to check out your new website, with special deals, discounts, and free trials for all new customers or clients.
Final thoughts on how to rebrand your small business
Making the decision to rebrand your business doesn’t mean you’re accepting defeat; it means that you’re being realistic about your current situation and that you’re ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make your entrepreneurial dreams come true. Follow these steps, and your new brand will echo throughout the industry.