Why and When to Rebrand Your Small Business

Rebranding your business can give it a much-needed refresh so that your company’s assets stay in line with its mission, purpose, and direction. Consider rebranding if your company has undergone significant changes and needs a noticeable way to reflect its new direction and fresh offerings. Here’s what you need to know about rebranding successfully to give your business a bold new look that will carry you confidently into the future.

Why Should a Business Rebrand?

Rebranding is a monumental task that you should only undertake in the right circumstances. A new brand will give your company a fresh look and feel. It’s important to make sure that you’re ready for the change and pursuing it for the right reasons. Your business can benefit from rebranding if you’re:

• Under new ownership and reflecting a new mission and approach.
• Merging with another company and redefining your market position.
• Pursuing a radically different market, such as a new field of services or products.
• Implementing a new business philosophy.
• Making your first major investment in marketing and looking for a fresh approach.
• Using antiquated colors and logos that no longer carry the right connotations.

What’s Involved in a Total Rebrand?

Rebranding impacts nearly every part of your business. It’s important to implement your new brand in all aspects of the company to keep things consistent. Take the time to thoroughly prepare for your re-launch so you can incorporate the fresh brand across all elements in one striking rollout. Your rebranding should include:

• New logos on your website, social media, and marketing materials.
• New signage and color schemes in brick-and-mortar locations.
• Updated employee uniforms.
• Fresh verbiage in your advertising, signage, and marketing materials.
• A new or redressed mascot where applicable.
• Updated fleet wraps on all company vehicles.
• A redesigned web page and refreshed branding on all social media channels.

As you’re developing your new brand, you need to think about how your company looks, sounds, functions, and feels. Rebranding may include changing the script for your customer service personnel to use new keywords and phrases, repainting your offices to reflect an updated color scheme, and adding new graphics, fonts, and logos to your creatives. Keep the brand cohesive across all touchpoints to maintain a consistent look and feel for your business.

How Much Time and Money Does It Take to Rebrand?

Rebranding a small to medium-sized business typically costs between 10% to 20% of your overall marketing budget. So for example, if your company is doing around 2 million dollars a year in revenue and you have a marketing budget of around $60,000 per year, then a full rebrand will probably cost approximately $6,000 to $12,000 from start to finish.

On the low end, expect it to take six to eight months to fully rebrand; on average, according to Forbes, a brand transformation can take between 12 to 18 months to complete. However, you should take as much time as you need to thoroughly explore what you want from your new branding and identify the appropriate colors, fonts, voice, and imagery that will engage your target audience the best.

A Word of Caution: Business Name Changes & Your SEO

At some point in the rebranding process, you might begin considering a name change for your business. This might be particularly appealing if:

• Your existing company name is confusing or hard to spell.
• The business is undergoing an acquisition and/or consolidation of business units.
• Has trademark issues or is too similar to another business in your local area.

However, it’s important to be mindful that changing your business name and associated domain can have significant SEO costs, especially if your existing name has a substantial online presence. Essentially, altering your business name and domain equates to starting from scratch with your SEO efforts. For businesses that aren’t well-established online, this change might not be too impactful. However, for a business with a strong online presence and considerable SEO work invested, the implications are much more serious.

A name and domain change in such cases means losing the accumulated SEO equity. The website might lose its current rankings, backlinks, and online recognition, which can take years and a significant amount of additional investment to rebuild. This disruption can lead to a decrease in organic traffic and online visibility, making it a critical decision that requires thorough consideration of the potential SEO setbacks.

Creative Marketing Services for Your Rebranding Project

If you’re getting ready to rebrand your business, Mediagistic can help. As a full-service agency, our well-rounded team of highly skilled creative professionals and designers can bring your ideas to life or help you find a new vision that you love. We take the creative design process seriously, so you can rest assured that your company’s dream is in the right hands.

Jen Jones Helton an experienced Account Development Manager at Mediagistic, where she brings her fresh ideas to the Marketing and Advertising industry to drive exceptional results. Her expertise, dedication, and loyalty make her an invaluable asset to the team, consistently delivering outstanding outcomes for clients and driving the company’s growth. Connect with her on Linkedin.

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