There is no denying that social media is the future of business marketing. The numbers clearly support this; Facebook boasts 1.71 billion monthly active users (MAUs), Twitter has over 310 million MAUs, Instagram has 500 million monthly active users while Whats App boasts over a billion users today. These numbers show the potential in social media platforms for your brand. The fact that social media content is highly sharable means your brand’s visibility is bound to increase as you leverage the large number of internet users.
Is it Time to Rebrand?
While your brand might already be on social media, it is important to regularly evaluate its effectiveness. If you are not achieving the target traffic or ranking, it is highly likely that your branding is broken. More importantly, the mention of your brand on these platforms should convert into sales as this is the ultimate objective.
Other reasons to rebrand on social media include changes in overall organization structure, especially after a merger, extensive product and service diversification and to address business practices that are obsolete in the modern environment.
How to Rebrand Successfully on Social media
Rebranding is one of the most complex organizational processes a manager can oversee. Many companies have rushed their rebranding processes only to lose their identity and alienate followers on social media. This in turn leads to reduced traffic, lower ranking and lost revenue. Remember the ill-fated Netflix rebranding to launch Qwikster as a DVD-only service? If such a big brand can make such a blunder, imagine the rebranding risks that smaller businesses face!
To avoid such pitfalls, here are some factors to consider when rebranding:
- Evaluate your unique selling proposition (USP)
Every brand is unique and this is in fact a competitive edge. Before rebranding, it is important to analyze what makes your business different from the competition. To fully appreciate this, ask yourself why some businesses fare better than others even when they use the same marketing models. It is important to identify your core values and competitive edge.
To achieve this, you have to involve your customers by asking them what distinguishes you from the competition. It might be excellent customer service, quality products or after sales service. Your customers should also have a say about your logo design, tagline, and color themes as this will give you a view on how your business is perceived. This study will help you understand what your USP really is and also identify the perception of your brand out there.
- Leverage Expertise
Rebranding, more so on social media, is tricky. You can make a blunder and ruin your entire brand and this is where professionals come in. New York SEO Services will bring in expertise and objectivity to the table. They will use their exposure in the industry to inject new thinking to the project. These experts will give a realistic timeline based on their experience and their creativity can be just the trick you need to ace the rebranding project. Different tools such as explainer videos and teasers will go a long way in preparing your followers on social media for the changes.
- Consider Social Media Limitations
Most brands today are on different social media networks and this is good. When rebranding, you must make sure every profile changes, especially where name change is involved. Every platform has its own requirements; for instance, for Twitter, you must grab your new handle before anyone else does. If someone has your choice, you might be forced to negotiate. Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube among others have rules on brand change which might limit your project and you must consider these.
- Communicate with Your Audience
The maxim ‘customer is king’ still applies to online business. In contemporary marketing, your followers believe they own your brand and they are right. If you don’t communicate about the forthcoming changes, they will feel cheated. It is important to incorporate a video explaining the decision, explain what is changing and what will remain, and elaborate any changes that might affect your business relationship among other issues.
- Rebrand from Within
While it is important to concentrate on your target market, it is equally vital to get your team on board. The rebranding process should be a team effort with ideas and concepts being shared. More importantly, you should not launch the rebranded social profiles before your employees have a feel of the same. This helps them develop a sense of ownership.
- Consistency
When rebranding on social media, make sure you are consistent. Rebranding is not just a change of name or logo and the new look must be reflected on all your profiles and every other touch point where you interact with customers.
The decision to rebrand is never an easy one. Letting go of your stable look might be frightening but the opportunities that lie ahead are far greater. On social media, you will create a buzz which will help you interact even more with your followers. It is important to prepare for the responses, some of which might not be pleasant. However, if you have carried out due diligence, everything will fall into place seamlessly.
