Is it Time to Rebrand Your Small Business?
With all of the changes over this past year, you may be thinking about rebranding your small business. Maybe when you first started, friends advised you just to get going, so you quickly created a logo and established an online presence with a website.
Now, years later, you probably have a much better feel for your market.
You know who your clients are and which ones are the best match for your small business. You may have tweaked your product or service offerings along the way as you learned more about what your clients wanted. Maybe now when you look at your logo and website you find yourself thinking that it doesn’t reflect your vision anymore. This is a critical juncture to arrive at because you have a big decision to make.
I recently made that big decision. Guess what? I’m rebranding my business! When I started to work on my business full time, I offered my design services to anyone who needed help. I worked with different types of clients and offered different services. After years of trial and error, I’ve developed a clear and solid brand foundation based on the valuable experiences I’ve gained along the way. This is the right time for me to rebrand.
When Should You Rebrand?
I know that rebranding takes time and you need to invest a lot of money. It’s definitely worth it, but it’s overwhelming as well. So, make sure it’s the right time for your small business to rebrand before you make that decision.
You should consider rebranding if:
Your ideal client has changed
Your visual brand identity is outdated (logo, website, typography, icons, etc.)
Your company has pivoted and you are selling a different product or service
Your brand message isn’t connecting with your target market
Your current brand no longer aligns with your vision, mission, or values
You didn’t have a brand strategy when you started out
Your brand doesn’t stand out from the crowd
You’re constantly looking for new clients (due to a lack of returning clients)
You should rebrand when either there’s been a fundamental shift in your business or part of your brand strategy no longer aligns with your current brand.
This is a common situation for small businesses.
Small businesses are master adapters as they can easily pivot and change to meet the shifting demands of a market. Small business owners may find that over the years they drifted away from their original brand strategy. This is a prime time for a brand overhaul.
Establish the 3 Pillars of Your Brand Foundation
If you decide to rebrand, 3 pillars must be established to create a strong foundation for your small business: brand strategy, brand identity, and brand marketing.
For your convenience, I’ve included a rebranding checklist for each of the 3 brand pillars.
BRAND STRATEGY
How your brand will bring your clients to their ideal goals.
You need to have a thorough understanding of who your ideal clients are and how they view your brand. If you are unsure of how your customers perceive you, the best way to find out is through surveys or testimonials. Testimonials can give you a big clue as to what impressed them the most.
What your ideal clients say about you, should reflect your core values.
Also consider how your product or service is different from your competitors.
1. Target audience / ideal client persona
2. Purpose / Vision / mission / values
3. Product / service offerings
4. Unique selling proposition
5. Brand message
6. Positioning
BRAND IDENTITY
How you want your brand to be perceived by your ideal clients
Now that you have an understanding of how your customers perceive you, you need to think about what you do to establish that perception. This includes everything from your brand visuals to your brand voice. Take a moment to look at your brand visuals and consider whether they are consistent with how your customers perceive you. Ideally, your brand visuals and voice should mirror how your customers feel about you.
1. Logo
2. Typography
3. Brand icons and favicon
4. Visual content (photography, illustration, graphics)
5. Brand Voice
BRAND MARKETING
How your clients experience your brand
This is the time where you get to put all of the pieces together to create an experience for your ideal clients. You will now draw on all of the elements in your brand strategy and your brand identity to create your marketing collateral, website, email marketing, etc.
To create your brand marketing collateral, you should try to step into your target market’s shoes for a moment. Take the time to go through the entire process from start to finish yourself, thinking through what your potential client needs to feel comfortable working with you. Following are some questions to consider:
When a prospect client wants to contact you, is it an easy process?
Can they easily navigate to your contact form to book a session?
Is your site secure?
Do you have an established refund policy that is easy-to-understand and emphasizes customer satisfaction?
Is your site optimized to satisfy search engine algorithms?
These are some of the small, but crucial steps you can take to help establish trust and credibility with your audience. If you can answer yes to each of these questions, then you have made it easy for your prospects to find you and you’ve increased the likelihood of converting leads into sales. Following is a basic brand marketing checklist.
1. Website design
2. Content marketing
3. Social media
4. Email marketing
5. Lead generation (sales funnels)
Taking your small business through the process of rebranding can sometimes seem like a daunting process, but when it’s done thoughtfully and with intention, you will reap the rewards of increased loyalty and sales with your ideal clients. It is a journey that is well worth the time invested.
Are you still not sure if it’s the right time to rebrand your business? Please share your concerns below.