5 Steps to Successfully Rebranding Your Business

In business, you are always looking to improve what you have. Even if you are at the top of your game and leading the market, you need to keep an eye on the future and formulate a plan that will keep you one step ahead of the pack. It could be to do with how you work with suppliers, where you are located, or it might be a case of rebranding your business.

And that is exactly what I have just done. Afrotouch Design is the new name for Special Touch Designs. It makes sense to let people know exactly what to expect when they browse this site - products with that unique Afrotouch!

I started the company specifically because I couldn’t find any greetings cards that reflected African culture and lifestyle, and I decided I needed to rebrand my business to make it completely obvious that these products do now exist. I love the new name and I hope you do too.

It hasn’t been plain sailing, but I’ve learnt a huge amount and I thought you might be able to benefit from my experiences. So here you are - five steps to successfully rebranding your business. I hope they help!

1) Conduct Brand Research with Everybody

Before rebranding your business, you need to work out whether it is completely necessary. It is a huge step to take, so make sure you get the opinions of as many different people as possible. Talk to customers and ask them whether your proposed rebrand would have helped them find you earlier or more easily. Bring in experts, if you can afford it, to dig into your current branding and proposition and let you know what needs to change and why.

If you have friends who run businesses, consult them too. They might be able to pass on tips that have worked for them or help you avoid branding pitfalls that you might not have considered. Finally, if you have employees, ask them about the idea of rebranding your business. Do they think it is needed? Have they experienced any annoyances working under the original branding? What would a new brand mean to them? All of this can help you decide whether to go ahead and what you should consider when coming up with the new look, feel and name for your business.

2) Double Down on Your Positioning

A rebrand is a great opportunity to revisit your original vision and purpose for your business. Take stock of where you are at the moment. Are you still working towards the goals you had when you started out? If so, will this rebrand help you achieve them more effectively? If the purpose of your business has shifted, then this is the chance to tailor your branding and message to help you get where you need to be more quickly.

Now that you have had some experience running the business and have a better idea of how best to seek out and serve your customers, you can really plan out the look, feel and voice of the brand to help you move forward.

It makes sense to use this rebranding as an opportunity to really hone what makes your business unique. Make an action plan detailing exactly what your new brand will look like. Whether it is a new name, logo, colour palette, web design and product range, or simply one or two of those elements, now is the time to tweak every aspect of how you operate as a business to make it as streamlined as possible.

3) Spread the Word About Rebranding

If you are going to make changes, don’t spring it on people out of the blue. You don’t want to shock them and make them question whether they are on the correct website. Make a feature of your change and let them know it’s on its way and why you are changing. People are wary of change for change’s sake so bring them along on the rebranding journey. You can also canvas them for input on details such as brand colours, typography, styling and more. Not only does this give them an added affinity with your brand, but it also generates engagement on social media, which helps to spread the word of your business even further.  

Write about it on your blog, update your About Us page, tweet, Facebook and Instagram as much as you can. You might also want to take out ads with your new branding and name to help customers feel comfortable with it. Encourage clients to spread the word and ask employees to update their social media with the information.

4) Work Towards Launching Your Rebrand!

Set a realistic date for rebranding your business. Think of your end goal and note down all of the tasks that need completing to get you there. Work backwards from that target date and plan when you will fit in these tasks, bearing in mind how much time you have spare to work on your business. Plot those activities that need to be undertaken on a quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily basis if you are to meet that date.

When deciding on a rebranding date, think about the different stock seasons and time the relaunch so that you fully honour the current season.

As you get closer to the rebrand, check that the new website address works and that all of the content reflects the new brand. Don’t forget to update your social media handles and ensure you have redirected the urls using the old brand name to the new site, and you are good to go! Use rebranding your business as a marketing opportunity. Send out a press release and spread the word so people are intrigued to check out your offering.

5) Listen to Feedback

This is the bit that is most difficult to take after you have put in so much work. Not everyone will be on board with your new branding; that’s simply human nature. However, you do need to invite feedback to make sure that everything is running as it should.

Once you have asked for comments, sift through them and be honest with yourself. Look at any negatives and try to analyse them without emotion. Are they relevant points or are they just people complaining for the sake of it? Rebranding your business is a tricky task and doesn’t always go to plan straight away, so anything that can help you tighten up the results quickly has to be a help, right? 

Ready to Start Rebranding Your Business?

I hope that these tips have been helpful to you. It feels great to be able to rebrand my business in a way that truly reflects my absolute passion. Hopefully, you can also feel that sense of satisfaction soon.

Let me know how you find the process and if you have any other hints and tips to help others in the same position in the future.