Is Rebranding For You? Here's How To Do It Successfully

ConversionFanatics.com

Times change—this is inevitable. And sometimes they change faster and more radically than you might expect or your company is prepared for. And then what? Do you carry on business as usual, or do you adapt and progress?

As I'm sure you could guess, the latter is the optimal path to take. Otherwise, your company will become stagnant and you'll lose business as a result. Changing your company to evolve with the times doesn't always involve a complete overhaul, however. Sometimes making a few adjustments here and there is all it takes.

The primary reason that companies engage in rebranding is because their target audience has changed. According to a GETVOIP infographic, "77% of consumers don't want a relationship with your brand," so once you find the 23% that do, you need to make sure to maintain their trust and interest.

A company's rebranding efforts can prove highly successful or they can be a complete disaster. In order to steer towards the former, check out the following guidelines for how to successfully navigate your business's rebranding.

Cultivate Your Brand's StoryQuestions to ask: What makes your product or service resonate with your target audience? What value do your customers experience when they interact with your company and its offerings?

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Below, Neil Patel &   Ritiki Puri  cover the basics of what brand storytelling is and what it is not.

"Brand storytelling is:

The reason why your company came to be What motivates your team to wake up and come to work every day How your product came to be What types of customers find value in working with your brand and

why A transparent view into the people behind the company A relationship-building tool More subtle than you realize A concept that underscores your entire web presence Something that your entire team, at organizational levels, embraces A look into who you are as a company Direct

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Brand storytelling is not:

A long-winded, 5-paragraph essay about your company A blog post Something isolated A fragmented view into your company Something reserved for the marketing team only A PR stunt A viral video A tool to manipulate customers and prospects Boring Artsy."

Avoid Clutter And Minimize Brand NamesQuestions to ask: Am I overthinking this? Is there any part of the rebranding process that's going to confuse customers?

You want your brand's identity to be as streamlined as possible. And basically, you want to stand by the adage, "If it ain't broke...don't fix it."

JeepersMedia: "In 2010, Gap changed their logo from their original and much loved design. The new logo was a contemporary take on the classic version, however, it didn’t reflect their audience's values. Just six days later they were back using their original logo."

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Any rebranding you do should be done so purposefully. You want your company to evolve with the times, but you also need to always hold your customers' best interest and expectations at the forefront of your company's operations.

Pay Close Attention To Your Audience's DemographicsQuestions to ask: How well do you know the avatar of your ideal customer? What if you were to drill down deeper? Doing so might surprise you.

For example, who do you think would be more interested in Old Spice body washes: men or women? Men, right?

Well, a few years ago Old Spice discovered that women were purchasing the majority (60%) of their body washes. And so the company underwent rebranding to appeal more to a female audience, producing "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign, which resulted in a 200% increase in sales and subscribers.

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Proceed With CautionRebranding isn't everyone. And your reason for rebranding shouldn't primarily be concerned with increasing your bottom line, as this can sometimes alienate your customers, as was the case for Netflix after it announced that it was going to break into two separate companies (the other being Quikster), which left customers "paying more for a less convenient splitting up of services." Always, always consider your customers when you're contemplating rebranding.

What do you think of these rebranding tips? Do you have any other advice that you can share?