This post is an online celebration of my business rebrand. Consider this your invitation to the party! I am super excited about my results and the new direction of my business and my rebranding story. I created this post to share my rebranding story and what I have learned, as well as some tips and resources for you to use if you want to refresh your current brand or rebrand your business altogether. If you are new to business, you can use this guide as well!
What is a brand?
Before we talk about rebranding, let’s cover what branding is and isn’t. Your branding isn’t just a logo. It is all the elements that convey your business’s unique message or story and includes your visual identity and your messaging. In essence, it’s the overall experience you create for your customers and clients.
Why refresh or rebrand your business?
There are a lot of reasons you might want to refresh or rebrand your business.
- Your current branding is not delivering results. You aren’t converting potential clients into customers or website visitors into
- You’ve outgrown your current branding. Your business direction has changed. You feel like you are trying to make your old branding fit your new direction but it just doesn’t.
- You’ve changed your business processes or how you work with clients.
- You want to grow your business or appeal to a new customer demographic.
- It’s just old. Time has passed, trends have changed, and you feel like it’s just time to make some updates.
A refresh vs a rebrand
There are times when you may want to refresh your current brand, and times when a complete rebranding is in order. A refresh could entail updating one or more elements of your existing brand. Changes like tweaking your logo, updating your brand color palette or rewriting the feel of your marketing materials might all fall under the category of a refresh.
However, there are times when a refresh isn’t enough and you may need to completely rebrand your business. For instance, you may need to completely change the business, name, or the customers you serve. You may be at a ‘starting over’ point with your marketing material and website.
The story of my rebrand
What started out as just a website update, eventually lead me to rebrand my entire business. For years, I had been working with clients primarily in the Atlanta area. As I began working with more clients remotely and began focusing on working with solopreneurs and small business owners in particular, I decided it was time to make sure I was communicating who I was to clients I might never meet face to face.
I changed my company name and a lot of other changes soon followed. It was important to me that whether my clients were close by, across the country or international that they still felt like they were working with a trusted friend.
Brand refresh or rebrand? Get started with a brand audit
A brand audit is a review and inventory of all the pieces of your current brand with assessment of what’s working and what’s not.
Create a rebrand plan and timeline Decide which elements will be included in your rebrand. Then create a realistic and detailed timeline.
Craft your story with words and visuals
Your logo, your company’s visual identity, including the colors, graphics and photography you use, as well as copy and tone, all will have a huge impact on how your brand is perceived.
- Enlist the help of a design team and copywriter to help update or recreate your logo, visual identity pieces and copy.
- Create or update visual elements including logo, color palette, imagery and collateral pieces like business cards.
- Develop a style guide. Your style guide should include rules for consistent use of your logo and identity pieces.
- Rewrite copy for your website and print materials.
- Reprint promotional materials like business cards and marketing materials. Don’t forget store and office signage as well as trade show booth banners, etc.
- Update your website with the new design and copy.
- Update your social media accounts with the new design and copy.
Technical and legal considerations
If you embark on either a brand refresh or a complete rebrand, there may well be some legal considerations as well as some technical considerations that need to be addressed.
- Legal considerations:
- updates to copyrights, trademarks or business name in documents.
- Technical considerations:
- changes in domain name and email domain. Redirect visitors and emails to the old domain, to the new domain.
- Change social media account names, if needed.
- Update any print or online directory listings.
You should anticipate initial dips in online traffic that may occur when you change your name or direction.
Make your rebrand a success!
- Create a roll out plan that includes the start date for using the new company name and how you will phase out the old brand/name . Include how you will announce the changes to existing customers and how those changes will or will not impact them.
- Share your rebrand as a case study on your website.
I wish you much success with your rebrand. Questions or comments? Feel free to drop me a line.
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