Your brand is the face of your business.
As a business owner, you count on it to make a positive first impression, as it shapes how ideal clients understand and think of your organization.
But too often, organizations do business with branding that hurts more than it helps.
But, how do you know if your current branding is working? And when is the right time to rebrand?
Your branding plays a crucial role in how well your business stands out, builds trust, and attracts clients. And if it isn’t helping you grow, it’s holding you back.
Find out if your branding is helping or hurting your organization by learning the five common signs that it’s time to rebrand.
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You Expand Locations
Expansion is exciting. But, it also involves heavy lifting behind the scenes to ensure you’re equipped to handle the demands of greater growth.
As you review the systems and strategies that make up your marketing, sales, and operations, think about refreshing your branding to match your new direction.
If you’re opening in new markets, it’s wise to evaluate the effectiveness of your branding before making long-term decisions and purchases for your new space. This counts signage, branding-based interior design choices, and branded clothing and collateral.
When investing in your next space, you want to make sure your branding is as future-proof as possible.
KEY QUESTION TO ANSWER: IS OUR BRANDING SET UP TO SCALE WITH US AS WE EXPAND?
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You Diversify Your Offerings
When you expand your services, you need to adjust your messaging and marketing to communicate the up-leveled version of what you do.
As you adjust the words that represent your brand, it’s an ideal time to revisit your branding and determine if a rebrand is needed.
Depending on how big of a shift your new offering brings to your business, you might find a new look to be a worthy investment to drive home the exciting changes and growth.
If your new offering brings big changes to your business, a rebrand may be worth investing in to highlight the exciting developments in your business and draw attention to your additional offerings.
For example, an accounting firm that opens a wealth management arm to their business could benefit from new branding tailored to the affluent audience they want to attract for portfolio management and advisory services.
KEY QUESTION TO ANSWER: DOES OUR BRANDING REPRESENT ALL WE DO?
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You Change Your Target Audience
Rebranding can also be a valuable next step when targeting new audiences.
Your branding’s job is to attract your specific target audience. When changing your target audience, you want your branding to attract your new ideal clients.
These changes to industry, role, identity, or life stage, to name some examples, often involve significant shifts in how you need to communicate about your target audience’s wants, pain points, and desired results that impact everything from your sales process to how you carry out your services.
Whether your audience has become broader or more niche, it’s time to consider a rebrand to align your business around your new target audience.
Don’t assume your branding will carry over to new audiences. This common mistake will hold your business back and open the door for competitors to gain traction.
KEY QUESTION TO ANSWER: IS OUR BRANDING DESIGNED WITH OUR CURRENT TARGET AUDIENCE IN MIND?
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Your Industry is Quickly Evolving
When innovation or outside forces push your industry into unknown territory, you want to stand out and position yourself to be able to take advantage of any possible opportunities.
A variety of factors can shape how your industry evolves. You might be affected by technology advancements, shifts in consumer demand, or regulatory changes. Regardless, you want to keep up and establish yourself as a leader in your field.
KEY QUESTION TO ANSWER: DOES OUR BRANDING ALIGN WITH HOW WE WANT TO BE POSITIONED IN OUR INDUSTRY?
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Your Current Branding Underperforms
Sometimes, your branding truly doesn’t cut it and introduces challenges.
Often, these issues come up when using your branding across your business.
At Illuminated, we have helped business owners who liked their branding but had trouble using it.
These challenges can impact readability, accessibility, and consistency when it comes to your branding, leaving you with issues to resolve and your prospective clients with subpar experiences with your brand.
What can this look like? Suddenly, you discover that your logo isn’t designed to scale to the size of the signage you need to order for an event. Or the branded clothing your team is waiting on is delayed due to legibility issues.
If your branding isn’t working for your business, strongly consider rebranding so you can stop struggling and move forward with a design that’s easy to use.
KEY QUESTION TO ANSWER: DO WE RUN INTO ANY ISSUES WHEN USING OUR BRANDING?
You deserve branding that’s aligned with your vision and positioned to support you in achieving your goals.
Remember, branding isn’t a one-time effort. Your branding is the visual identity of your business, and it should evolve and scale with you over time.
As you consider whether a rebrand is in your future, answer these key questions:
- Is our branding set up to scale with us as we expand?
- Does our branding represent all we do?
- Is our branding designed with our current target audience in mind?
- Does our branding align with how we want to be positioned in our industry?
- Do we run into any issues when using our branding?
Ready to feel confident in your branding and position your business to attract more ideal clients? Start by answering the above questions. Then, determine if it’s time for your business to undergo a rebrand.
