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Last Updated on January 20, 2024 by Work In My Pajamas
Whether your target market has changed or if you’ve pivoted to offering new products or services, you know one thing for sure — your current branding strategy is no longer relevant to your company.
Still, you’re worried about how to get your rebranding strategy right.
After all, you’ve worked hard for years to build up your business and create a loyal client base. You don’t want to run the risk of losing all of that because you didn’t rebrand the right way.
Don’t worry — this post is here to help.
Read on to learn the most important things to keep in mind for a successful rebranding strategy.
In This Post:
Start with Your Customer Base
The first step when it comes to reinventing your brand?
Begin by re-evaluating your current customer base.
We’re willing to bet that one of the biggest reasons that you’re ready to rebrand is because you no longer serve the same customer base you did when you first opened your doors. Perhaps you’ve greatly expanded your target market, but your current branding is really only relevant to a smaller (and now, limiting) consumer niche.
Maybe, after doing some serious data analysis, you’ve discovered a serious gap between the people you thought were buying your products or services and those who actually are.
You need to get to know your new market.
Follow them on social media, read your online reviews, engage with them in the comments section of your blog posts, and even send out customer surveys. Take a look at your most popular posts, your bestselling products, and your most-booked services.
This way, you’ll learn about the kinds of content, marketing tactics, and products/services that your target market is the most likely to respond to.
This will serve as the foundation of your rebranding plan.
Decide What Needs an Update
In order to successfully walk the fine line between reinventing your brand and completely confusing and alienating your current customer base, you need to decide what should stay and what should go.
Many brands see a logo redesign as an essential part of the rebranding strategy.
You’ll also need to update your logo in a way that, while reflective of your new branding style, is still close enough to the original for your market to recognize.
For example, can you keep the colors or the font you used in your original logo? What about sticking with the same central image, but updating it so that it looks a touch more modern?
Ensure that, once you do settle on a new logo design, you update all of your online presences accordingly.
Of course, your logo shouldn’t be the only thing you restructure throughout the rebranding process.
Take a look at your motto or tagline. Is it still relevant, or can you keep the original motto but add a few more words to it? What about your product listings, your blogs, and your business cards? Do those also need to be updated?
Finally, don’t forget about your social media accounts.
While you should keep the same platforms and handles if possible (along with the same website URL) you should update your social media profiles to reflect new changes to your logo and branding strategy.
Now, you need to think about how to announce your rebranding.
Spread the Word
You can’t simply update your logo and entire branding strategy overnight without letting your market know.
If you do this, you won’t just seriously confuse people. You’ll also completely miss out on the incredible marketing opportunity that a rebranding can offer your company.
Especially if it’s been a while since you’ve felt like there was any kind of a “hype” around your brand, you can use this opportunity to generate buzz about your company.
In the weeks leading up to your brand relaunch, drop a few hints that “something big” is coming on your social media accounts. You can create short videos that feature tiny segments of your new logo or any new products/services you plan to offer.
You should also send out marketing emails letting customers know you have some big changes coming.
Keep it vague right up until your rebranding launch date, to keep customers coming back to your website and social media profiles for updates.
Then, embrace the rebranding announcement for the revenue-generating opportunity that it is. Extend your hours if you have a brick-and-mortar location, or offer online shoppers a percentage off of their purchase.
Make Sure Now Is Truly the Time
One of the biggest branding mistakes that far too many companies make?
Rebranding too frequently, or rebranding without a clear incentive and reason to do so. Additionally, throughout your rebranding process, ensure that you don’t become too over-reliant on trends.
You want your new look to be evergreen. If you go with a look that’s too trendy, you’ll constantly have to update your brand.
Not only will this alienate your customers — but it’s also expensive!
You’re Ready with a Successful Rebranding Strategy
We hope this post has helped you to better understand the most important things about a successful rebranding strategy.
Remember to use it as a marketing opportunity, evaluate the needs of your current market, and think about whether or not now is truly the opportune time to rebrand.
Looking for additional advice about how to take your current or future branding strategy to the next level?
We’ve got you covered when it comes to all of your marketing needs.
Keep checking back with us to make sure you don’t miss out.
