Blog, Branding, Content Marketing, Content Marketing Strategy, content strategy, Marketing Strategy

It’s just not working anymore.

You’re doing all the right things: creating content to get the word out about your business and putting it out there on a regular schedule; staying in touch with clients, prospects, and power partners to stay top of mind.

It should be working, especially if it used to work.

So what happened?

While there are a lot of things that can cause your funnel to dry up, the first thing I always look at when I hear these complaints is the brand.

  • When was it last updated?
  • Does it still feel relevant to the work you’re doing now?
  • Does it still feel relevant to the clients you’re trying to attract now?

If it’s been 5+ years since you last updated your brand, it’s almost certainly time for a rebrand. Just think of where we were 5 years ago. The world was in a completely different place, and I know my business was a very different business from the one I’m currently running.

A rebrand can be an expensive and time-consuming undertaking, so before you dive in, let’s make sure it’s time to rebrand.

Table of Contents

You’re Trying to Attract a New Demographic

If you’ve been in business for a while, you already know how to reach the people you’ve been working with and more people like them. But now you’re getting ready to serve a different clientele, and you’re not sure how to get in front of them.

Maybe you’re trying to serve clients similar to your current clientele, but with more money, in a different geographical location, or a different industry.

Those shifts can be easier, and often happen naturally, depending on how good you are and working your network.

Where it can get trickier is if you’re launching a new service. Figuring out the ideal client for that new service and how to talk about it so they come running is easier said than done.

A rebrand can help by zeroing in on that new audience, the types of content they tend to consume, the topics that interest them, and where they hang out so you can get in front of them.

You’ve Hit a Major Milestone

A major milestone could be anything from getting ready for an IPO to an ownership transition to a merger or acquisition. Each milestone calls for a rebrand.

When getting ready for an IPO, you not only need to attract new clients, you also need to convince investors you’re ready to play with the big kids. That means you need to look the part, and that’s where a rebrand can help. If you’re still using content regurgitated by an AI chatbot, that’s not going to cut it.

If you’re undergoing a merger, acquisition, or some other type of ownership transfer, you need to figure out how to communicate that to your audience so they know who they’re dealing with and what they can expect.

You’re Growing

Growth can be a major milestone, especially if you’ve hit a new revenue goal or added a new person to your team. But more often than not, growth happens slowly after years of keeping your head down and putting in the work. Then, one day, you look up and realize your company is very different from the one you started all those years ago.

That’s great, but it’s important to make sure your brand doesn’t get left behind while you’re growing.

If you started your company as a solopreneur, you were the brand, especially if you’re providing services and working closely with your clients.

As your company grows to include more people, your brand needs to grow to include and represent those people as well. It’s no longer enough for your brand to represent you and the work you do. It has to represent your team and all the work they collectively do.

Successfully navigating that transition is going to require both a rebrand, and intentional internal communications to make sure everyone is on board with the company’s communication style.

Your Message Is Inconsistent

Your website looks and sounds like one company, your social media channels sound like a different company, and your emails sound like they’re coming from another company altogether.

That much inconsistency leaves prospects feeling like they don’t know who they’re dealing with, and that makes them uncomfortable.

Buyers don’t buy from companies or people that make them confused or uncomfortable.

They buy when they feel like they’re in good hands, and the first step to assuring them they’re in good hands is consistency in your communication.

Your Competition Has Leveled Up

I’m not saying you should look like the competition. In fact, you should strive to set yourself apart.

But if they look like they’re ready for the big leagues and you look like you’re still playing T-ball, that’s a problem.

Branding is always a delicate balance between fulfilling the expectations of the industry while setting you apart as the superstar you are. If your brand manages to do the second part, but not the first, people will think you’re not right for the job and they’ll choose someone who looks the part.

Sales Are Down

There are a lot of reasons for sales to suffer, and business owners who’ve been in business for more than a few years have been through them all. Sometimes it’s just because the market has shifted and you need to shift with it. Other times it’s a branding problem.

I tend to blame the brand when I see one or more of the following:

  • You’re getting fewer leads: You’re still marketing and networking and doing all the things you’ve been doing to grow your business to this point, but nothing is working. This happens when you’re messaging is scattered. No one feels confident they know what you do, so they don’t know how to work with or recommend you.
  • You’re getting low-quality leads: You’re still getting leads, but none of them are a good fit. This means you’re either marketing in the wrong places or your messaging is attracting the wrong people.
  • Sales has gotten harder: When marketing is done right, it should do the heavy lifting for your sales team. When marketing and sales aren’t aligned, your sales team has to work that much harder to explain to each, and every prospect they talk to the value you provide and why they should work with you.

You’re Embarrassed to Share Your Own Stuff

You know the meetings where someone asks for your business card. You either deflect, or you hand it over with qualifications, usually something along the lines of, “This is our old logo. We’re in the process of updating it.”

Or someone asks for the URL to your website, and you go, “Oh, don’t look at that. Just go to our LinkedIn.”

But what about the people who are finding their way to your website on their own and don’t have you guiding them to the social media channel of your choice? What are they seeing? What does it say about you?

If it says, “This website hasn’t been updated since the ’90s,” they’re going to click away and look for a website that looks fresh and up to date.

If your website has a high bounce rate and you know it’s not a problem of a long load time, it’s probably because your brand is so outdated, people take one look at it and go, “Nope. This one definitely doesn’t have what we need.”

How much business is your outdated brand costing you?

Is it time to rebrand?

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Alison is the owner of AV Writing Services. With a degree in English and Psychology, and almost a decade of experience working as a professional content marketer, Alison is committed to helping her clients use high-quality content to grow their online visibility.