Branding is a continual process of establishing an image or idea of how you want your target audience to perceive your business and products. This is also aimed toward your existing customers and even your staff. It’s more than a logo or a slogan; it’s all the communication that generates a perception of your business, including how you handle customer service.
Ideally, all such communication will reinforce a positive perception. But what if the perception of your brand is negative? Is there a way back? You can take some steps to restore your enterprise’s image in the eyes of all the stakeholders who matter.
Rebrand
It may be necessary for you to reboot the branding process to change the running narrative about your business. If your brand lacks a distinguishing feature to tell you apart from the competition, rebranding can help you acquire a new charisma.
There are two ways you can approach rebranding. You can either establish an entirely new brand identity or refresh your existing one. The reason for the rebrand will influence your choice and the success of your rebranding tactics.
Are you trying to reconnect with a market that lost interest in your brand, or are you trying to make your brand stand out in a crowded market? Or, is your business moving in a new direction (venturing into a new niche or product line)? Whatever the motive, it needs to be tied to real business goals.
After you’ve established the why you need to set the groundwork by taking the following steps:
- Take a closer look at the mission and vision of your organization and see how the current branding falls short.
- Do a thorough competitor analysis
- Establish a solid new brand identity
Update Content
With most, if not all, your potential customers spending hours online, you need to ensure your new brand identity is updated on your website as well as your social pages. In addition, you should keep the content on your site updated frequently, so visitors don’t get the impression that yours is a ‘dead’ site. A dead site may give visitors the impression that your business makes no effort to stay relevant.
The more frequently you update content on your website, the higher the chance of being placed among the first results pages when internet users perform relevant searches on Google. Though daily or weekly updates on your site are no guarantee your web pages will appear high in search engine results page (SERP) rankings, it is one of the criteria the algorithms responsible for ranking search results use. When you upload fresh content, your site stands to be re-indexed by web crawlers, increasing its chances of a higher ranking.
Call in a Professional
If your initial branding effort did not quite go according to plan, then maybe it’s time to call in the experts. Given how sensitive your brand is, you cannot afford to get it wrong. An experienced marketing agency will know how to rebrand your business to help you strike the right chord with potential customers.
An agency that helps businesses in many different industries establish strong brand identities will know what strategy will work best for you. They won’t need to waste precious resources on trial and error. A marketing agency will manage your rebranding process end to end so that all stakeholders get a cohesive perception of your brand.
Their team will be responsible for everything from coming up with a new logo and catchphrase to updating your social media profiles with the new branding. Given their ability to focus on the project, they are likely to do a much better job than a startup entrepreneur already juggling a hundred other tasks.
Hiring a marketing agency will also ensure you’re using the latest tools and techniques in the marketing industry. They will, for instance, be up to date with changes in search engine algorithms and will be able to keep your site’s content compliant so that it stays visible to internet users. They also know how to utilize social media and video content to optimize content.
Branch Out
Don’t be afraid to try out more unconventional branding concepts. Applied well, they can help you create a unique impression and appeal to market segments you hadn’t tapped into before. This enables you to stand out from the competition.
Have you considered recreating your logo? A new logo can help you break your identity change to the masses and become a visual representation of your brand that sticks in many minds. You could also consider launching a blog or a YouTube video channel to make your online audience feel like they’re part of your company journey.
Don’t Get Discouraged.
The branding failures of your past are a blessing in disguise. They can provide you with an opportunity to reimagine your brand identity and come up with a perception that will be a hit with an even wider audience. Just be careful to identify your branding weaknesses from the past to avoid repeating them next time.
