How to Rebrand Successfully
From: "Help! My Business is Growing" Podcast
A good, strong, positive brand almost always guarantees that your business is thriving.
Your brand represents your business and its values and helps you acquire new customers by establishing trust and satisfaction.
But sometimes, your branding stops working and no longer benefits your business.
It might need refreshing to be more competitive in the market or to match your company's evolution.
You might need to rebrand your business.
Rebranding changes a company's mission, values, marketing strategy, logo, look, and more to attract new customers and stay relevant in the industry.
The stakes are high; if not done right, rebranding your business can alienate your core customers, decrease brand awareness and confuse the market.
But when done effectively, it will help your business rise above the competition and lead you to success.
So what are the steps for an effective rebrand?
In this episode of Help! My Business Is Growing, our guest Kelly Wittman breaks down what rebranding is and how it can benefit your business.
She shares actionable tips on how to start an effective rebranding process so that it can grow your business to success.
Kelly is a Brand Strategist, Visual Designer, and Owner of Witt and Company, a brand strategy and design studio that helps small business owners amplify their purpose through consistent and cohesive branding.
Before the unplanned start of her business in 2017, she spent six years in marketing, event management, and fundraising, specifically in the nonprofit and startup space.
Now, she happily wears the title of 'unemployable', is proud to have a business that supports her life, and is on a mission to help entrepreneurs create their version of success.
In this week's episode, we discuss:
03:38 What are some of the issues businesses face that trigger a rebrand?
07:54 How can a company find the balance between the founder's personal tastes and the clientele they're trying to serve when rebranding?
13:30 What is a realistic and reasonable timeline to evaluate the effects of a company rebrand?
21:20 What do businesses struggle with during the rebranding process?
24:38 What are some valuable techniques to help companies figure out how people are experiencing their brand to help them figure out what direction an impending rebrand should take?
Listen to the podcast here:
What are some of the issues businesses face that trigger a rebrand?
A major rebrand trigger is when your current brand is not serving your business and doesn't accurately reflect your work or the experience you want people to have with your company.
Some signs of this include:
Your business is not attracting the right clients.
You (and your team) cannot show up for the business in a way that excites you.
You are scared or embarrassed to send people to your website because it doesn't portray the experience you want people to have with your business or any of the amazing things you are doing.
How can a company find the balance between the founder's personal tastes and the clientele they're trying to serve when rebranding?
Keep the founder's personal brand and the brand personality of the business as two separate entities.
Keeping them distinct will help when the company starts scaling up when you have other team members (not just the founder/CEO) representing your business.
A clearly articulated brand personality will help streamline the process and scale and grow while maintaining that consistent and cohesive experience externally.
So if you have a team of copywriters, graphic designers, salespeople, and more working on all aspects of your business (website, ad materials, and others), they'll be able to do their job with clarity and consistency in the spirit of the brand, without having to depend on you.
"When you can really clearly articulate the personality of your brand, it helps you then streamline and scale and grow - while maintaining that consistent and cohesive experience externally." - Kelly Wittman
What is a realistic and reasonable timeline to evaluate the effects of a company rebrand?
It depends on two factors:
1. The size of your organization
If you have a large team, you'll have to wait for a ripple effect until your new brand values and more touch every corner of your organization.
In a smaller, more agile organization, changes can be made quickly and more effectively, so you'll see the results earlier.
2. The size of your audience
If you have a larger, broader audience, the rebrand will take more time to gain traction and increase brand awareness.
With a smaller audience that might be more engaged with your organization, you can see the effects of your rebrand and measure your results faster.
Kelly recommends at least giving it a year to check if your rebrand worked or not. It takes several months to go through a rebranding process - and to ensure that you do it well.
Rebranding is more than just changing the externals (logo, brand colors, and ambassadors, etc.).
More strategic internal processes are going on, which will take time to push out externally.
Also, your team will need time to understand why the rebrand took place, process all the changes, and ensure that everything will be thoroughly ingrained.
What do businesses struggle with during the rebranding process?
Not knowing who the target market is or which audience to attract is a significant issue that challenges many rebranding processes. A major red flag is to hear: "I'm (my business) is for everyone."
The primary function of your business and the products or services you provide is to support the needs and desires of your target market. Your brand should be clear and intentional and should support you and help you reach the right audience.
Knowing who your target market is will directly impact all the elements that go into your brand, including the messaging and your brand personality. Not knowing who they are will waste resources and your effort.
"Thinking through what is the number one goal that your website should be supporting? And laying out and being intentional about the content that you have on your site that supports that goal." - Kelly Wittman
What are some valuable techniques to help companies figure out how people are experiencing their brand to help them figure out what direction an impending rebrand should take?
Check if you've been attracting the right people into your business over the last three-six-or 12 month period.
Who's coming in?
Are they saying yes? Or are they saying no?
Are they a good fit or not?
If not, it's a sign that your current branding isn't serving you and supporting your business, and it is not aligned, not resonating, or attracting the right people.
Check if your site is serving its purpose.
You can also check your website and look at Google Analytics to study the behavior of those who are visiting.
Where are they coming from?
Are they bouncing away quickly?
Are they engaging with your site?
Are they going through the different pages or just landing on one and then leaving?
If your website is not working, meaning it doesn't serve its purpose, you might need to rebrand.
We go in-depth with this topic and more over at the podcast. Listen here:
To Recap:
1. The common causes for a rebrand include not attracting the right clients, your business no longer inspires passion within you and your team, and your website does not reflect who or what your business is and does.
2. Keeping the personal brand of the founder of a business separate and distinct from the business's brand personality will help the company scale up in the long run.
3. The time needed to measure the effectiveness of a rebrand will depend on the size of your organization and audience. The bigger the company and the target market, the longer it will take to see results versus a smaller company with a smaller pool of customers.
4. Not knowing the target market/right audience is one of the biggest challenges companies face when rebranding.
5. If your current brand does not attract the right audience to your business and your website is not serving its purpose or achieving its goals, it might be time for a rebrand.
About Kelly Wittman
Kelly Wittman is a Brand Strategist, Visual Designer, and Owner of Witt and Company, a brand strategy and design studio that helps small business owners amplify their purpose through consistent and cohesive branding.
Before the unplanned start of her business in 2017, she spent six years in marketing, event management, and fundraising, specifically in the nonprofit and startup space.
Now, she happily wears the title of ‘unemployable’, is proud to have a business that supports her life, and is on a mission to help entrepreneurs create their version of success.
Website - https://wittandcompany.com/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellymsnyder/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wittandcompany
by Kathy Svetina
Kathy is a Fractional CFO and the founder and director of NewCastle Finance LLC. She is a financial puzzle solver, focusing on women-owned businesses, and providing financial insights needed for a healthy and sustainable business.