Think back to when you started your business. Did you create a brand strategy?
Yes? That’s freakin’ awesome – *high fives*
No? Don’t fret, you’re in good company. The majority of business owners start their business on a shoestring budget. Which means having a hefty amount of cash to hire a marketing or branding agency just isn’t on the cards.
Regardless of which camp you’re in, there could be signs pointing you towards a rebrand for your business. A rebrand has the potential to refresh your business by helping you reconnect to your target audience and increase your sales.
So how do you know it’s time to rebrand?
Here are 7 signs your business is ready for a rebrand:
1. Your existing brand doesn’t ‘cut it’
Your brand is your business’ first impression. When you launched your business, your branding efforts seemed okay, but are they working for you now?
If the quality of your business brand is poor, outdated and inconsistent, you’re not leaving a great first impression. You’re probably losing business.
Growing businesses need their brands to grow with them.
Over the years, your business has reached new heights. You’ve levelled up your customer service, fine-tuned your business processes and improved your product and service offerings. If your business is buzzing, now is the time to make sure that your brand buzzes too.
Rebranding your business will ensure that everything to do with your business reflects your values and your improved level of excellence.
2. Your brand isn’t unique
If your branding looks like every other fish in the ocean, it’s time to consider a rebrand.
A key point to remember is that branding isn’t about you. When done right, branding will connect your business with customers. It will light up your business and hammer home your unique value proposition.
If your existing brand isn’t well defined and unique or doesn’t speak to your target audience, you’re missing the mark. You’re not building connections, it’s hard for people to choose to do business with you and you’re likely losing business to well-branded competitors.
If your business doesn’t stand out, a rebrand is definitely in the cards.
3. Your current brand is inconsistent
Inconsistent branding hurts your business. Think of your brand as a personality. If everything you deliver and the way you interact with your customers is of a consistently high standard but your branding is borderline cheap, you’re sending mixed messages to your customers.
Consistency in your branding is key to establishing credibility and building visual recognition. If every page on your website looks, feels and sounds different, your visitors will be left feeling confused and uncomfortable. They’ll hit the back button and head to your competitor. Inconsistent branding is costing you money.
A rebrand will enable you to present your brand consistently. And when you’re always presenting your brand consistently, you’ve got the potential to increase your revenue by 23%.
4. Your business model has evolved
It’s common for businesses to evolve and change as they mature. What you delivered in the early days of your business may not be what you’re delivering today. Your product or service offerings may have changed, or maybe you’ve expanded geographically.
When your business model evolves, so must your brand.
Rebranding to match what you’re doing in your business today will ensure alignment between the way people perceive your brand and what you’re actually delivering. This is critical for building and maintaining connections with your audience.
5. Your target audience has changed
As your business grows, your target audience may change. This could be because you’ve undergone a change like that mentioned in point 4, or it’s more likely that you’ve come to know your audience better. You’ve learnt more about:
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who they are
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what motivates them
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what their pain points are
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how you can best serve them
Take all that wisdom and consider rebranding your business. You’ll breathe new life into your business and attract the people you most want to serve.
6. You’re struggling to raise your prices
If you’ve raised your prices but you’re not seeing the results you expected, the problem may not be the price increase. Take a look at your brand.
Does the value that customers perceive they are getting from your business match your brand? For example, if you increase your prices without adjusting your brand accordingly, customers may think they’re getting less value or that the product or service is now ‘more expensive’ for no good reason.
Rebranding your business will help you redefine your value proposition and reposition yourself in the market.
Finnish cosmetic brand Lumene is a great example of a successful rebrand to attract higher paying clients. All of their brand elements—vision, voice and visuals—were updated to more closely align with the new audience they were trying to attract.
7. You’ve outgrown your brand
If you’ve scaled up your business and achieved substantial or rapid growth, you’re an absolute rock star. Congratulations! Now’s a great time to evaluate whether you’ve outgrown your brand.
This kind of growth means that you’re playing with the big kids (aka bigger brands). A rebrand will ensure that you’re positioning your business correctly (and competitively) within your industry and attracting the right target audience.
To rebrand or not to rebrand
I’ll be honest, if you don’t already have a brand, you don’t need a ‘rebrand’, you just need branding. When you started your business, you chose a name and hired some overseas dude (or ‘dudette’) on Fiverr to create your logo. And your website? Well, let’s just say it’s a ‘do-it-yourselfer’. So, what’s the problem with that? Having a business name, a logo and a website is not the same as having a brand. To build your business, you need a brand strategy, not just a logo. Then there’s that old saying: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. Don’t rebrand your business if you’re simply bored with your logo or your website. If you can’t identify a problem with your current branding, it’s probably best not to invest dollars in a rebrand. Instead, try refreshing your brand with new graphics or illustrations that showcase your brand more effectively.
If the signs above have you saying ‘yes, yes, yes’, I’ve got your back.
Get your hands on a copy of my Brand Clarity Workbook and start thinking about the messages you want to share with your audience. Then grab a copy of my Price Guide and together we’ll reignite your business.