How To Know When It's Time For a Rebrand (or Refresh)
Oh, hello 2023! You're officially 1/2 way over... And, like it or not - if you haven’t started laying the foundation for your 2023 business plans, now is officially the time. And no matter what point in the year you're reading this, at any point through the year I think it’s just as valid & important to make sure you get realigned and design a brand that's aligned with you, your mission, your vision, and your audience.
Since you clicked this post, chances are you've been questioning your businesses branding and whether or not it's still aligned with your business.
Building a sustainable and intentional brand requires the ability to be able to read and understand your businesses needs, pivot when needed and get help from a professional from time to time. One of the greatest opportunities for growth in your business is through branding.
STRATEGIC BRANDING, that is.
So many small businesses dive right into the visual development of their brand with a focus on picking their brand colors and creating pretty logos - but if they’ve never done the work to understand WHY their brand exists, WHO they exist to serve, and HOW to best show up and serve them - they’ve missed the point entirely. And this is exactly why so many brands struggle to grow, never fully connect with their branding and get stuck on the hamster wheel of discontentment.
Strategic branding starts with understanding your why - your brand’s substance.
Then getting to know your audience and what drives, motivates and pains them, and reflecting how you fit into their life in a sustainable and holistic way. Identifying your competitors and any unmet gaps in your industry. Developing your brand’s voice and personality. And then we move onto the final phase of developing your brand’s visual identity.
A new year (or a new quarter) gives us a fresh start. An excuse to take a break for the day to day work to focus on big picture items. For KAM Design Studio, that usually means taking a step back to get clear about the direction I'm taking it over the next twelve (or three) months.
My first step is making sure I'm aligned with my brand & that my current branding reflects my goals, mission, personalities and attracts my ideal clients. Does your brand reflect the same for your business or is it time for a rebrand?
Today, I'm going to break down 5 signs that it may be time to rebrand, and share some tips on how to get started. {And if you read to the end, I’ve got a few resources to help you get started.) Here are five signs that can help you determine if it’s time for a rebrand:
YOUR BRANDING NO LONGER REFLECTS THE VISION OR MISSION OF YOUR BUSINESS.
Let me start by saying it's completely normal, albeit VITAL, that your vision and mission for your business will change over time. As you and your business grow, you will change, you will learn, you will have experiences that shape you and your business. So, it's a vital part of your growth that your vision and mission statement grows and pivots to stay aligned with the future vision for your brand, the wants, needs and pain points of your audience and your growing market or industry. If your current branding is no longer aligned with your business, you may be missing out on a valuable and sustainable piece of your business.
YOUR CURRENT BRANDING IS NO LONG LONGER ATTRACTING YOUR IDEAL CLIENTS.
Often times, I work with clients who feel as though they are attracting all the wrong customers, doing work that may make them feel uncomfortable or isn't reflective of their brand, and certainly doesn't set their soul on fire. If most of your inquiries or clients don't feel like the dreamy clients you envision working with, it's likely that your brand strategy is bringing you all the wrong people and detracting those dream clients. Developing a solid brand strategy includes taking a deep look at your current and ideal clients, aligning their needs, wants and pain points with your overall brand vision, and developing a brand personality that speaks your dream client's language. It’s about meeting them right where they are at - making them the hero of your story and being the guide to help them achieve their personal goals. When designed authentically, intentionally and strategically, your branding will attract those ideal clients that can't help but fall in love with you and everything you're offering.
YOU NO LONGER CONNECT WITH OR FEEL "AT HOME" WITH YOUR CURRENT BRANDING.
I’ve worked with so many clients that have said that they just aren’t connecting with their brand visuals. Although a business's visual identity is about visually representing your mission and vision, your core values, and how you fit in with or align with your ideal clients - it's also a representation of you, the person who envisioned the brand in the first place. Yes, it needs to be primarily focused on attracting those dream clients and setting yourself apart from your industry. BUT… if you don't resonate or feel aligned with your brand - then you'll never be able to connect with your brand with your customers. Business owners who don’t feel connected to their brand anymore need to take a step back, like ALL THE WAY BACK to square one, and get back to the basics of their brand. They need to dig into their why, develop a vision for their brand, consider their core values, and then start the process of understanding how their brand’s core substance aligns with their ideal clients - and move forward from there.
YOU'VE HIT A PLATEAU IN YOUR BUSINESS AND NEED A REFRESH TO GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
As in life, new seasons = change. And change requires us to pivot and do things a little differently to level up and inspire growth. If you feel like you've hit a plateau in your business, like you aren't growing, you are staying "status-quo" but you feel that stirring in your soul for more, it may be time to refresh and renew your branding to reflect this next season in your business and inspire growth. As I say over and over, as your business grows, you want to reconsider your vision and mission for your brand - how has it changed and expanded? How can you rethink your vision for your future brand that gets you excited about the next chapter of your business?
YOUR CURRENT BRANDING WAS A DIY-SPECIAL DESIGNED AS A QUICK FIX WHEN YOU FIRST GOT STARTED IN BUSINESS.
Let me know if this sounds familiar - when you were first starting out, you were cash-strapped and didn't have the resources to invest in professional branding? If this is you, welcome to the club! We all had to start somewhere, and unfortunately, we aren't all branding pros, and even more unfortunate is the amount of "professionals" out there that are giving out bad information and leading people down a not-so-great path.
When most businesses start out, they piece together branding over time: a color palette here, a logo there, a website template over there... et voila, they have a "brand."
And for a time, it may get you from point a to point b, but to really make an impact, you need a proper brand built on data, research and you guessed it - strategy. You need to understand all the inside, gut level, core stuff first - and then you can go to the visuals. And until you have done that core work, you'll never get the visuals right. If this is you, it may be time to take a sustainable and holistic approach to your brand strategy - and possibly even consider working with a professional who can help you take your business to the next level.
If any of these resonate with you, it might be time to consider rebranding - but just how do you get started?
Here are some ways you can get started developing a solid brand strategy today:
1. Develop the core of your brand before all else.
Here are a few key questions to ask yourself to identify your brand's vision for the future, you mission and your core values:
If I had to describe my business in one sentence, what would I say?
What need or want is my business fulfilling?
Who is my business for?
How can I best serve them?
How do I envision my business in the next 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?
What steps do I need to take daily to reach my goal for the future?
If I could choose 5-10 words to describe the values my business stands by, what would they be?
What do these mean to me?
2. Identifying your vision for the future of your brand, your daily mission steps to achieve your future goals and your core values will help to set the stage for the rest of your branding.
They help you to understand your WHY - and give you a jumping off point to work through understanding your audience, your competitors, your market and industry, how you are different (and better) the rest of the pack - and finally, how you’ll show up each and every day.
To help you get started, check out 2 of our favorite tools that we use when working with our one-on-one clients:
To help you develop your brand’s core, the Bingeable Brand Duo will help you amplify your brand's message while captivating & converting the right audience from followers into buyers! Grab it here >>
Once you’re ready to dive into your brand’s personality, take my free Brand Archetype Quiz which linked here, which will give you your top 3 archetypes along with some resources and information on each one - so that you can develop a brand personality that resonates with your ideal audience.
Finally, if you’re having trouble with developing your brand strategy and are ready for some professional help, I'd love to connect with you to see how we can work together. Click here to head over to the SERVICES PAGE to learn more about our branding and web design services and how I can assist you with your creative small business.
So grateful and glad you're here!
Kelly
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for man." - Colossians 3:23
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