When is the right time to rebrand your business?
The term rebranding gets thrown around a lot these days.
For most people, the first thing that rebranding brings to mind is spending money on a shiny new logo for your business. But what if I told you that's like the equivalent of wallpapering your house that doesn't even have walls up yet?
Designing a new logo on its own feels like the right thing to do when something feels "off" in your business. Maybe having a fresh new look will help you bring in more sales by attracting more of your dream clients ... but if you're not super clear on who your dream clients are when this new logo is being created, how can you be SURE you'll be reaching them now with your new look?
What is a brand?
Let's first take a look at what the word BRAND means. We need to first define everything that goes into building a brand before we can re-brand.
A brand is the core message that you're communicating to your clients or customers, both visually and verbally. Think of this as the promise you are making to your dream clients and what you want to be known for above all else.
Did you notice how there's no mention of a logo anywhere in that definition? That's because a brand is so much more than what it looks like or how it's seen by your customers.
Comprehensive Branding Checklist
A cohesive, strategic brand should consist of the following (at a minimum) —
Purpose, vision, and mission statements
Dream client avatar(s)
Desired client transformation statements
The story of your experience and what spurred you to start your business
What differentiates you from others in your market
Core values
How you build trust
What matters most to you AND to your dream clients
Where you're growing in 1, 3, and 10 years
Brand aesthetics and buzzword descriptors
Cohesive visual inspiration/mood board
Visual identity (logo) family with responsive layouts that work in both color and black/white
Color palette and typography standards
Photography guidelines
Print and digital materials that expand the brand's visual identity
Whether you've checked most of these items off your list or you're chugging along with a DIY logo, let's talk about 8 different scenarios you may experience where rebranding your business makes sense.
Rebranding Scenarios
You're lacking a true connection with your dream clients, causing a serious dip in (or lack of) conversion rates from lead to loyal fan.
The best place to start here is to dig super deep into who your dream client is, what she's struggling with most that lead her to seek your services, and understanding how she wants to feel when her problem has been solved.
Or quite the opposite - you've experienced lots of growth recently or perhaps you're expanding your offerings to serve a wider / more niche audience.
Your clients and customers will often shift as they grow and learn from you. Their desires may change or they begin asking you to help them solve XYZ problem that goes beyond your current messaging. Growing pains of any kind is worth revisiting your brand strategy and visual identity to make sure you're serving your audience well.
You've bootstrapped your branding to get your business off the ground. With more experience under your belt, you're looking for a more professional, cohesive, and strategic approach to how you present your business to your customers.
You're in GOOD company here! Let's take everything you've learned in your first year(s) in business and translate that into a strategy with bomb visuals to match. The only way to really understand who your clients are and how you can best serve them is to do the work first, listen to their needs, and show up with open arms.
you only have visual elements in place for your brand. it feels difficult to quickly share what you believe in, your offerings are super generic, or you believe that everyone you meet is your dream client.
You cannot serve everyone, and that is OKAY! Even Amazon and Apple are not for everyone. Spend your efforts building the foundation of your brand (think purpose, vision, mission, dream client avatar, your brand story, etc.) to help communicate your message clearly and to the right people. Then if your logo and visuals feel out of alignment with your strategy, maybe it's time to update your aesthetics as well.
You are super talented in your specific skill set, but you're more focused on what you're good at vs. helping your clients achieve their desired transformation.
I find this to be true with a lot of creative entrepreneurs. You have a talent (i.e. photography) that you're really good at and you LOVE but you find it difficult to talk about how your talent can help your clients. A solid communication strategy will help you to shift your focus from your craft to serving your clients, allowing them to see exactly how you can help them through your offerings.
Your brand looks and feels like every other business out there currently (and i mean everyone!)
When you first started your business, did you become heavily inspired by what was trending on Pinterest and implement that into your logo design? Now you're seeing yourself coming and going because your logo feels like a dime a dozen, right? Take some time to recenter your brand by focusing first on who you're serving and what they need from you. Then take the visual elements that you feel are still serving that audience well and leave the rest. The ultimate goal is to create a brand that feels unique to you AND one that fuels an instant connection with your audience. You want them to remember your brand and not get yours confused in a sea of logos that look just like yours.
You have a logo, but find yourself using all sorts of different typography, colors, and templates for your marketing efforts that cause your brand to feel all over the place visually.
It's time for you to build a system for your brand! Working with a designer, you can create rules or brand standards that will help control the overall look and feel of your content. I realize that having rules in place sounds restricting to some, but they actually give you lots of time and freedom back to be creative. Imagine if you knew exactly what typefaces to use, your 3-5 core brand colors, and had a set of templates that are designed to present your content in the best way possible. Your brand will feel so much more professional and you'll save yourself the headache of having to make micro-decisions that ultimately lead to a messy-looking brand presence.
And lastly, you're ready to invest in new packaging or a fresh website design for your business but you want to make sure you have a thoughtful, strategic brand before you begin these bigger projects.
This is a fantastic place to be! Building out your brand into a physical or digital presence beyond social media takes time, planning, and is an investment you shouldn't approach haphazardly. Take time before diving into these projects to make sure your brand speaks to your audience, has the flexibility to work well in these new spaces you're expanding into, and has a strong system in place so that your brand will translate seamlessly. If you've ever wanted to change or elevate your brand visuals, now is the time!