5 advantages of rebranding to give your brand authenticity

No matter how much you’ve perfected your business’s brand, there will come a time when you need to re-evaluate and revamp.

Things will inevitably change in your industry, your business, or the wider world, and it’s essential that you keep up. If you don’t, you risk losing touch with your audience. 

The digital world is full of noise and clutter. You can’t shout louder than everyone else, but you can stand out by speaking in a tone that resonates with your audience.

Rebranding is a great way to put new life into your brand. It’s a chance to shake off old messaging and grab people's attention. While rebranding can feel like daunting, it also offers an opportunity to give your brand more authenticity over time. Rebranding is not about changing your image or toning down on your originality. At its heart, it’s about authenticity: the need for a brand to have a voice that people can trust, relate to, and remember.

How Do You Know It’s Time for a Brand Revamp?

A rebrand can be a great way to give your brand more authenticity and credibility, but why? Here are five reasons why I think it's worth the effort: 

1. Your audience is changing or you want to reach new clients
2. Your look is dated and/or no longer reflects your values
3. You don't stand out from the competition  
4. Your company mission has changed or you need to regain trust
5. You have launched a new product or service 

How can you tell if you need to adjust?

The easiest way to identify a shift in your audience composition or behaviour is to examine your metrics. Look for things like a drop in sales, changes in email opens and clicks, or changes in website traffic patterns, and behaviour.

5 Advantages of Rebranding Your Brand

1. It can help you stand out from the crowd.
2. It can improve your brand's credibility.
3. It can help you reach a new audience.
4. It can give your business a more professional image.
5. It can help you tell a better story about who you are and what you do!

How to Revamp Your Brand

First, assess your current branding and target market. Adjusting your brand is a major project, so you don’t want to take it on unless you must.

Second, review your ideal customer profile (ICP). Is it up to date? Have there been any changes recently? If so, update your ICP, as this will give you the information you need to choose the right tone to communicate with your audience.

Third, research your target market. See what your target audience is talking about online and what questions they’re asking. Keep track of conversations on social media and engage in those discussions where appropriate to get clarification.

Fourth, keep your ear to the ground: look at other content creators your ideal customers follow and make note of the tone these businesses use. At the same time, listen in on the conversations they’re having on social media with your same audience.

Finally, and most importantly, re-engage! If people aren't engaging with your content, look at new ways to connect with your audience and let them know you care about them.

It’s time to rebrand!

There are many reasons why you might be thinking about rebranding your business, but here are some of the things you might consider in the rebranding process.

Know your core values. Core values are important because they are often the reason why we buy from one company over another. We identify with the things they stand for, and we feel good buying from them. Also keep in mind that your core values won’t change. What will change is the way you express these core values through your unique voice.

Rebranding isn't just about changing your logo or your colour scheme. It's about creating a new vision for your business, and then making that vision come to life through your branding strategy.

If you're not sure where to start, ask yourself these questions:

Do you have a vision for your business? Where do you want it to go in the next year, in five years, in ten? What impact do you want to make? How will this help others? Revisit your vision and make changes so it feels more relevant for your market and for yourself. You want to run a business you LOVE.

Dare to be different! We are all have unique talents, skills, and experiences. Are you expressing your full potential in your business today? If not, now is the time to re-evaluate. How are you different from others in your business niche? Why are you the go-to person in your niche? How can you stand out from the crowd?

Build trust with your customers by being open about who you are and what you stand for (this applies regardless of whether you're rebranding or not). Make sure that everyone who works with or for your brand understands why they're there, what they're working toward, and how what they do contributes to achieving those goals. If they don't understand this, then work on developing an understanding between employees so that everyone is on board with what's happening at every level.

Be Authentic

Authenticity is crucial when bringing your brand voice to life. People yearn for authenticity and realness. Not perfection. Does your current tone and language reflect who you really are?

A good way to check for authenticity is to revisit your unique value proposition and your natural strengths. Does your brand voice complement your values or contradict them? Note examples of where your current brand voice is out of alignment with your values, so you know what needs to change.

Redefine Your Brand Mission

As part of a rebrand, you have the opportunity to redefine your brand mission. You can take a step back and think about what you really want to communicate and why it matters to your customers.

Be Consistent

Consistency is key in any business, but especially in a rebranding effort because it helps people develop trust in who you are and what you stand for. It also allows customers to build up their relationship with your brand over time instead of having to start over from scratch every time they interact with you. Consistency can be achieved through consistency in tone and language across all platforms (social media posts, emails, website copy etc.), as well as by using consistent visual elements like logos and color schemes throughout all channels as well.

Audit Your Content

The best thing about rebranding is that it gives you a chance to update all the assets of your brand. Once you have established your updated brand voice and tone, audit your existing content, and make sure everything is consistent with these changes.

This is especially important if there was a long period between the last time you updated your brand, or if there were inconsistencies between how different assets were branded.

For example, if you have been using an older logo but have started using a new one in marketing materials, it is important to ensure that all your corporate material has been updated with the new branding as well.

Don’t Make These Branding Mistakes!

If you're going to take the time and effort to rebrand your brand, it's important to make sure that your new look and feel are authentic.

Here are some of the most common pitfalls to avoid when rebranding:

Failing to set yourself apart. Some companies spend all their time thinking about their brand and core values but fail to look around at the market and set themselves apart. As part of your rebranding, look at competitor brands and find a way to differentiate yourself.

Getting too trendy. It can be tempting to align your brand revamp with current trends. After all, a rebrand is an update. But try to come up with something evergreen so that it will still be relevant into the future. If your brand is too trend-driven, it'll need another rebrand soon. And then you risk confusing your customers.

Don't make decisions based solely on your own preferences. Instead, make sure you're making decisions that will resonate with your audience while still staying true to your core values and beliefs. If you do this, you'll create a brand that has authenticity, which is one of the most important things to consider when rebranding.

Not delivering on your promise. Your brand message is a promise you make to your audience. “Our products and services will make THIS change in your life.” Make sure your offerings live up to this promise.

Not being memorable. A great brand is memorable, which means it sticks in people’s minds and stands out from the crowd. If people can't remember what you stand for, it's not going to work!

Being confusing. If people don't know who you are or what you do, they're unlikely to buy from you again (or refer you to friends).

Being boring or bland. If there's nothing that makes you stand out from the crowd, why would anyone choose YOU over someone else?

Being generic (also known as "me too"). If everyone is saying the same thing about their stuff/services/brand/etc., how do customers know who's right for them?

If you're thinking about rebranding, there are a lot of things to consider. And if you're in a hurry, don't do it!

It's tempting to think that a quickie rebranding will fix all your problems and get the ball rolling for your brand, but it's not as simple as that. Rebranding is not a small project! Don't rush the process and end up with something that won’t work to achieve your aims. 

Instead, take all the time necessary to give your business the right brand.

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