Rebranding Your Small Business in NJ & NY
What Is a Brand?
Before you look into rebranding your NJ small business, it’s important that you fully understand what constitutes branding. Branding is more than just a company name, logo or tagline. A brand is your company’s identity. It’s about understanding how that relates to customers and prospective customers. What your customers think, feel and expect when they see your company or product are all a part of your brand.
Rebranding your business should be a carefully thought out process, because it can be a slippery slope. You have to seriously think about whether or not you should rebrand your business. If you sense that your target audience were changing, it would be smart to change with them. Also, if your competitors were eating up most of your market share, then it would be wise to rebrand your company.
Here Are 5 Key Steps That Can Help You Successfully Rebrand Your NJ Small Business
1. Determine Your Current Identity & Decide What Your New Brand Identity Will Be
This is where you have to ask yourself the hard questions and figure out what is working and what isn’t. This is the best way to approach the rebranding process, because you don’t want to fix what is not broken. Also, you have to take an in-depth look at your company culture and determine how it can align better with your brand. Sometimes you have to go back to the drawing board, this doesn’t mean that you should try and re-invent the wheel. You should remind yourself of your company’s mission statement and goals before you dive head first into the rebranding process.
One of the most effective ways to decide what business changes you should make is to have a talk with your loyal customers and current employees. This will allow you to see what their concerns and opinions are. You can then use this information to make necessary changes that can be beneficial to your company’s rebranding. Also, don’t forget to measure your market to get an idea of how your industry has changed since you first started your business and where your products and services fit in the industry.
2. Audit Changes To Be Made
Once you’ve come up with a plan to make changes to your business, you should document the changes. This will allow your employees to understand the rebranding changes that you’ve made and ensure that everyone is on the same page. All of these changes need to be audited. A plan of action should be in place that lays out what is wrong, how you will fix it, and when all the changes will be implemented. Also, researching your competitors is one of the best ways to decide what changes should be made.
3. Research Your Consumers
When it comes to rebranding your business, researching your consumers is very important. If they don’t connect with your brand, you’re only going to lose them in the long run. You have to figure out who your consumers are, what they are doing, what they like, what they don’t like, and how you can effectively reach them with your brand messaging. Responsys conducted a study and 34% of 2,000 U.S. adults surveyed broke up with a brand because they were receiving “poor, disruptive or irrelevant marketing messages.” With that in mind, it’s important that your brand resonates with your consumers.
4. Turn Your Employees into Brand Ambassadors
The best way to turn your employees into brand ambassadors is to make them feel like they’re a part of the changes that are being made. You should empower and motivate your employees, because they’re a huge part of your company culture and brand identity. This is the perfect opportunity to get your new logo and brand out there. You can accomplish this by making t-shirts and sweatshirts that your employees and clients can wear to help promote your brand. This is a very effective and cost-effective way to market your business to potential clients.
5. Initiate Change and Communicate Your New Brand Identity
Before you decide to launch your new brand identity, make sure that your employees and managers are all comfortable and up to speed on all the changes that are going to be made. This is because some employees might be resistant to changes within the company and might not be willing to adapt. Also, you should set an official launch date and announce all the changes on social media sites, in a press release and email. This will ensure that your company’s rebranding is successful and has a positive impact on your current customers and potential customers.
Your brand is more than just your logo or tagline; it’s the identity of your brand and how it resonates with your target audience. Rebranding is more of an internal process that affects how your business is viewed externally. It’s important that you have a plan in place, research your consumers, commit to the plan and then ensure that it’s implemented. You should also make sure that your employees and clients are all on board. All of these are important in making the rebranding of your company a success.
Are you thinking about rebranding your small business in NJ? Here at Kraus Marketing, we can provide you with rebranding services that can help you get the attention your business needs to grow. Contact us online at www.KrausMarketing.com or give us a call at 973-998-5742.