You know what your business is capable of. You know the transformation you offer your clients or customers. And you see the potential for your big vision.

There’s just one thing. Outside of delivering your offers, your brand doesn’t really feel like it’s living up to its potential. (And even with your offers… things get a little dicey).

Graphics are a chore. Your website? A bore. And your marketing? It just blends right in with the riff-raff.

*Dramatic sigh* What’s a business owner to do? 

When you feel like your brand isn’t doing you any favors, it’s probably time to consider a rebrand. But hold the phone! 

Before you dive headfirst into a rebrand, you need to work out what doesn’t feel good and where your business falls short. From there, you can start to prepare for a rebrand that goes beyond a surface-level touch-up. 

FIRST UP: WHY DO YOU WANT A BUSINESS REBRAND?

We don’t take rebrands lightly around here, but that’s because they’re no small potatoes. Business rebranding is a massive undertaking — one that should be met with strategy and a clear plan of action. 

And it all starts with figuring out why you want a fresh new brand for your business. Ask yourself these questions: 

Do I want a rebrand because….

• I saw a competitor with a new look and feel and felt major FOMO?
• The business’s social media feed feels stagnant/too commonplace? 
• I need new photos and maybe some new colors?
• I want to ensure our vision and mission are carried through to our offers?
• We’re scaling and our ideal audience, offers, and delivery are changing? 
• I’ve been in business for awhile and finally have clarity around our unique value?

In case you can’t tell, those last three are much stronger reasons to book a rebrand. If you’re only seeking a rebrand to keep up with the competition or have a glamorous social feed, you probably only need to do a surface-level graphics sweep. There’s not much reason to invest in a full rebrand.

Of course, a surface-level sweep will not address the deeper challenges you’re facing — challenges like keeping up with the competition, winning new business, and standing out in a sea of competitors.

Doing a visuals-only rebrand is like slapping lipstick on a pig — it won’t fix the real issues. That’s why we focus on holistic branding always.

For all those reasons (and so many more, but we’ll need a few cocktails to get into them…), we only recommend investing in a business rebrand when: 

• You have a new offer or are shifting your offers and their positioning
• You’ve repositioned your business or are heading in a new direction
• Your visuals, copy, or offers are shifting and you want to take your audience with you
• Your target audience is shifting
• Your business model has changed 

If you find yourself smack dab in the middle of those changes we listed above, it’s time to whip out your highlighter, cookie! We’re getting you prepped for your business rebrand next! 

YOUR BUSINESS REBRANDING CHECKLIST

Below, you’ll find everything you need to prepare for a business rebrand. Remember — this isn’t just the visuals (fonts, colors, icons, etc.). It’s the meat and potatoes that will drive your business forward and prevent another rebrand in just a few months. 

BUSINESS REBRAND STEP #1: OFFER AUDIT

Any (good) offer audit includes these three things: 

• Offer clarity: Take stock of what you currently have. What does it include? Who is it for? How does each one funnel into the other? Are they profitable? Sustainable?
• Market research: Are your offers something your audience *still* want to see? Are they going gangbusters for it? Or has the hype fizzled out?
• Future-proofing: Can your offers be adapted to the shifts that will inevitably happen in your business? Are there opportunities to add or subtract content/features to keep up with the times? 

If your offer is shaking out to be something that doesn’t fit into the current state of your business or no longer supports where you want to go, it’s time to pivot!

BUSINESS REBRAND STEP #2: BRAND VOICE AUDIT

Next, audit your business’s brand voice. Look for:

• Consistency: Is your brand voice the same on your website, social media, emails, and other communications? 
• Alignment with values: Does what you say reflect your brand values and offers well? Does it attract the attention of your target audience? Or is it starting to repel them? 
• Recognition: Do you feel that your brand voice is distinct and recognizable by your brand’s biggest fans? Or does it blend in with others in your space? 

Stuck trying to figure out your brand voice and how to make it stand out even more during your rebrand? Uncanny Content (owned by our own copywriter, Latasha) has a great resource here to scope out before you dig in!

BUSINESS REBRAND STEP #3: BRAND DESIGN AUDIT

Now it’s time to audit the visuals. (Yes, the moment we’ve all been waiting for!) Though you may have loved your original brand visuals, we all grow and change. Your business has evolved — and that’s OK! To make sure your business’s visual brand has grown with you, review:

• Your current logo: Is your logo hard to read? Is there a tagline that needs to be updated to better reflect what you do now? If there’s an icon or watermark, does that need to be updated as well? Do you have a hard time incorporating your logo into your designs or other collateral? 
• Your fonts: Are your fonts hard to read? Do you find yourself having to improvise often because they’re missing characters? Are the licenses up-to-date? Do they make it difficult to design efficiently?
• Your colors: Are your colors difficult to work with? Are they hard to read as text? Are they accessible to those with vision impairments and available across devices?
• Imagery: Are your photo styles all over the place? Do you struggle to find images online? Do the images you have represent your audience and what you do? Do things feel too generic/stale (i.e. you’re using generic stock photo sites)?
• Audience preferences: Would your brand’s visuals capture the attention of your target audience? Or do you feel like they might scroll past?
• Your consistency: A brand that’s too trendy will be hard to maintain in the long run. Instead, focus on the timelessness of your brand visuals and how well they reflect your business.

Most people START with a visual rebrand audit, but we beg of you, Dear Reader. Do this after you’ve reviewed your offers, your market positioning, and your brand voice. This makes it so much easier to see which visual elements are out of alignment. 

BUSINESS REBRAND STEP #4: AUDIENCE SURVEYS

Your brand is about you and your business, but it’s also about your audience. If you aren’t putting in the work to understand their wants or needs, how can you serve them successfully? Trick question, doll: You can’t. 

But how’s a gal to know what people want? Try conducting audience surveys. Tools like Google Forms are FREE and easy to use. You can send them out via email or by sharing the link in your story on social media. Just make sure you’re sharing these forms with your ideal audience. We love your mom and everything, but she’s probably not your ideal client!

Ask your audience specific questions, including:

• Questions about your offers: Would you need something like X offer as a solution to ___ problem? Do the deliverables in X offer cover everything you might need? Are you looking for a different solution to ___ problem? 
• Questions about your social content: How often do you see our social content? Do you recognize our content in your feed? Does our content drive you to take action, or do you find yourself scrolling? What do you want to see more of? 
• Questions about your visuals: What words would you use to describe our visual brand? Is there something about our visuals that doesn’t feel accessible to you, whether it’s our website, colors, fonts, images, etc.? 
• Questions about your voice: How would you describe our brand voice? Do you feel drawn to the way we share information or does it rub the wrong way? 
• Questions about values: Based on our messaging, what would you say our values are? Do they align with your values? 

We know negative feedback is a wet blanket, but don’t let that deter you from getting the insights you really need. These answers are mission-critical, as they can give you insights on which direction to take your rebrand. They can also raise bigger questions, like “Are these the right offers? Is this the right audience?” That’s all valuable to know before you dive into a business rebrand.

PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING IN BUSINESS REBRAND SUCCESS!

Phew — you did a lot of digging, doll! It’s time to put down the shovel and look at what you’ve uncovered.

Maybe it’s time to update your messaging. Maybe your copy needs a lot of workshopping. Maybe you’re realizing your offers need to be refreshed before you bring them back to market. And yes, maybe your visuals could use a new coat of paint.

Honestly, though, when most business owners dig in… they find that they need to update all of it. From tops to tails, a rebrand isn’t just the visuals (as you now well know).  

While a cohesive approach to your business rebrand might feel more daunting than choosing a new color palette, it’s so much more effective, sweets. Just imagine a business, an audience, offers, and marketing that aligns with the vision you’ve had in your head for years. That’s what’s possible with a strategic, intentional, prepared business rebrand.

Of course, if you need help with all that, call us, doll. We’ll make the rebranding process go down smooth, just like that top-shelf gin. Our Rendezvous Roadmap takes you through every step of your brand audit — and your rebrand — with clarity, hands-on expertise, and collaboration that helps you feel seen and excited about your business. Finally! 

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Not ready to enlist the help of Rendezvous? Take our brand quiz to find out where to start!! It only takes a few minutes and will get you pointed in the right direction. 

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