Branding is an essential part of a company’s identity. Without it, a company would be lost in a sea of competitors. When you first create your brand, you may be proud of how it looks and the message it conveys to your audience. But as time passes and the world changes your brand may start to lose its target market. Here are five signs that it may be time to consider rebranding your business.
Your Brand Is Stale
If you think your brand is feeling stale or outdated, it may be time to start thinking about rebranding. Being “outdated” can mean one of two things: your brand is visually not up to date with the current trends, or your customer preferences are not up to date. People are quick to judge and tend to go with their instincts so if your designs have lost any appeal and meaning to them, you’re more likely to be unnoticed.
Your brand’s visual representation also includes how your brand stands out against its competition in the market. In addition, if your customers’ preferences are different than when you first started out this could also make your brand seem out of date. One of the ways you can fix this is to get feedback from customers to understand their wants and needs so your brand can meet their preferences.
Your Brand Name Isn’t Memorable
Before creating your brand, you had to think about a name representing its values and mission. Changing your company name can be challenging especially as you have spent a lot of time building your business to what it is now, but you should question if that name still fits with the change of focus as the company grows.
When changing your company name there are many things to look at. Branding aside, you should think about how changing your name will affect your target audience and profit. These decisions are going to be unpredictable as you won’t know for certain what will happen when you change your brand’s name. Some things you should do before you rebrand are evaluating how your brand currently affects the market. Look at how your customers react to your brand, and how your profits are compared to your competition. It may be time to revisit your current branding if you’re not standing out in the market or against your competition.
Your Business Doesn’t Stand Out
One of the other ways to tell it’s time for a rebrand is if your business isn’t unique enough to stand out from the competition. Telling your customers what’s different about your brand is the key to the brand’s growth and success. By rebranding, you can define what makes you different from other brands to give you an advantage. By doing this customers will know what’s different about you and why your products are unique.
A strong brand identity will make customers trust your business and make your brand recognizable, which will always be an advantage.
You Have Attracted or Want to Attract A New Target Audience
Have you noticed your brand attracting a new demographic? Are they interested in your products and services? If this is the case, then it may be a great opportunity to reassess your brand and see if it still serves the new demographic.
Perhaps you’re trying to entice a bigger client or a different demographic so you can increase your brand’s reach. Check to see if your current branding is enough that it will still attract your target market. If “maybe” or “no” is your answer, then it may be time to consider refreshing your brand identity to fit your new demographics.
While you’re rebranding to attract a new target market, make sure you research and analyze the demographics you are after, looking closely at the many buyer personas. Creating buyer personas will help flesh out what your audience wants when it comes to products and services which helps you redevelop your brand to attract your target market.
Your Brand Image Perception Is Wrong
Lastly, if your target audience has a misconception or negative impression of your brand you might want to consider rebranding. Your brand image can sometimes change due to certain events that are beyond your control like scandals and changes in society’s views. It could also be caused by bad business decisions. Whatever the case might be if it doesn’t fit your values, it might be time to rebrand your company. You should also look at your brand’s touchpoints to better understand the cause of the problem and adjust accordingly.
Rebranding can be essential to a company at certain times. Refreshing and improving your brand can be beneficial to your business as it will keep your current target audience interested and may attract new ones to your brand. So, if your company or brand is struggling to keep up it may be time to start rebranding!