In this post, I’m showing you 3 ways to determine if your brand needs a refresh, whether it’s a new logo, new visuals, or updated messaging. Plus, I’ll give you 5 practical strategies to update your brand without doing a complete overhaul.

Do you find yourself with brand anxiety?

This is a term I’ve coined to mean that uneasy feeling that a business owner or brand stakeholder gets when they have an itch to make a change to their branding, but they don’t quite know what it should be. Maybe you’re asking yourself, “Do I need a new logo? Do I need a new mission statement?” Or, if you’re an aspiring small business owner, maybe you’re thinking, “I have a company that I’ve been dreaming about starting. Is now a good time to launch it? Is branding for me?” To this person, I say, “Branding is for everyone!”

But for today, we’re talking about a possible brand refresh if you’ve been in business for at least three years.

Here are 3 signs that you need a brand refresh

1.) Reduced leads, lead quality, or reduced engagement

Maybe when you first launched, you were rolling in leads and knocking out RFPs left and right. But over the past few months, maybe you’ve noticed a significant drop in leads. Or, not only that, but maybe you are still getting consistent leads, but after the initial consultation, you find that your lead quality has reduced. In other words, the people you are talking to don’t qualify for your services, don’t align with your offering, or are unable to meet the minimum budget threshold for engagement with you. These are signs that something is misaligned.

2.) Your service offerings are changing

This is a big one. If the core services you are providing for your clients are changing, then we definitely need to communicate this in a strategic and targeted way. If you want to get their attention, we can’t just sneak it in your website language. There should be a strategy in place for how to roll out this messaging to your clients and signal that to future customers.

And you could be changing your service offerings to adapt to a changing audience and customer base.

Or, maybe there’s been a shakeup in your industry. (This chaotic administration is forcing many organizations to rethink and revamp their language.)

3.) Visuals no longer align with your values/tone/audience

Whether you’re a business owner, brand stakeholder, or board member, always have your ideal audience in mind. Check in with them and get updated on their needs and tastes. As someone who is of service to them, you need to be in tune with them. If you find that your visuals don’t align with your core customer’s tastes, this might be causing them to discount you altogether. Perhaps it’s time to revisit your visual vocabulary.

5 Strategies to Update Your Brand

Fear not! Here are some practical steps you can take to start updating your brand right now:

1.) Update your service offerings based on client feedback.

Reach out to your best clients and ask them for feedback. If you have a great relationship, they’ll be happy to help. Ask them specifically:

1. What they love best about working with you
2. Opportunities for improvement

You might be surprised with what they say. You might be overlooking a strength that you didn’t realize your clients valued. Or, conversely, you might think this one standard practice you enact in your engagements is helpful, but it turns out to be a hindrance. If their feedback aligns with your capabilities and feels authentic to you, you can decide to include their suggestions in your service offerings moving forward.

2.) Define your customer profile.

If you didn’t already do this when developing your brand, now’s the time. When developing your brand, always start with your most important asset: Your ideal customer. When I host Brand Discovery Sessions with my clients, one of our first tasks in the agenda is to create a customer profile. Think of who you want to help and who your services and/or products are for. Sit down at your computer or with a pen and paper, and write it down. Who is this person? What are their problems and their needs? What is their role title? Now, let’s drill down. What is their age range? Do they identify as male/female/non-binary? What are their hobbies and habits? What are their values?

I will say this is the part where my clients get a little uncomfortable, because no one likes the idea of “limiting” their services/products for one person. But doing this exercise doesn’t limit your customer base: It clearly defines who your services and/or products will benefit the most, and this then allows you to tailor your messaging and visuals appropriately. The customer profile is something you don’t ever have to publicly share. This is your own personal map that will serve as a foundation for your brand design.

3.) Competitor analysis: Look at what your competitors are doing.

I offer this advice with a grain of salt, because, as a reference to brand maestro Marty Neumeier, I do believe that it’s important to zig when everyone else is zagging. But it’s also important to take a look at your competitive landscape. As I like to say in my Discovery Sessions with clients, “It’s important to look to the left and right of us so that we can create the best path in front of us.” Check out your competitors’ websites and socials and see how they’re speaking to their audience and how their visuals look.

Again, it’s important to stay true to yourself and resist the temptation to throw everything out and arbitrarily hop on a design trend without strategy or intention. BUT it’s still a good idea to look up from our proverbial desks and see what everyone else is doing. That way, we can make sure we’re staying competitive and do the work it takes to stand out.

4.) List your brand refresh goals.

Hey, sometimes, you just get a feeling that you want to update things. As a fellow business owner, I completely understand. “If I make this X change, I’ll feel better. If I build it, they will come.” Or, “This X brand looks so good. I want to do what they’re doing. I want to look like that.” It’s so easy to get into a spiral. But the last thing you want to do is chase your tail, spend money, and ceremoniously cut the ribbon only to step back and see the needle barely move. To combat this, clearly list what your goals are in doing a brand refresh. Quantify your objectives.

Here are some examples of brand refresh goals:

• I want to increase the number of leads by 20% within 6 months.
• I want to increase my qualifying leads by 90% within 1 year.
• I want to increase my RFPs by 50% within 3 months.

Listing clear goals for doing a brand refresh helps you to stay focused and invest in the right updates.

5.) Chat with a branding pro.

Lastly, set up a consultation with a brand expert. But this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re instantly earmarking several thousands of dollars for a revamp. Sometimes it helps to simply talk to someone.

I was listening to Mel Robbins’ podcast over the weekend, and she cited psychologist and New York Times Bestselling author Dr. Lisa Damour. Dr. Damour has noted that just as adolescents, adults can also find relief from their worries by simply articulating them and sharing their concerns. Don’t you feel better when confiding in a friend or therapist about what’s bothering you? The same thing can help by talking to a trusted advisor.

Maybe you think you need to do a complete overhaul of your website. But a consultation with a brand designer and strategist might result in a recommendation for a less drastic approach. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spoken with brand stakeholders and helped offer clarity and reassurance amidst immense uncertainty. You might even say that it’s counterintuitive to my own brand design business, but the last thing that I want to happen is for someone to spend thousands of dollars on a complete overhaul when perhaps a clearer mission statement would better connect to the ideal audience or expanding or updating the color palette would bring the overall look and feel up to date. Sometimes, just a little refresh can go a long way.

Before You Go

Either way, you know your business the best, so if something feels off, or if you feel like some kind of improvement can be made, you’re probably right. After following the strategies above, you might find it’s time to revamp your messaging. Enhancing your brand story will allow you to connect more deeply with your clients. And updating your brand visuals can signal to your ideal audience that you are there for yoru clients’ transforming needs and keeping up with the changing landscape. A right balance of both – messaging and visuals – can prove to be the successful brand refresh that you need and in the long run, secure your brand equity.

Remember, and I can’t say this enough, your brand isn’t just how it looks. It’s not just about your visuals like your logo, colors, images or how your website looks. (You can read more in my post, Logos! More Than Just a Pretty Face) The foundation of a successful brand design is clearly defining your core audience, your values, and your mission. The visuals are representation of those values and your mission that speak to and connect with your core audience.

That’s it! You just learned 3 ways to tell if you need a brand refresh and 5 strategies to update your brand right now.

How Brim Branding Can Help You

I offer a 30-minute complimentary consultation. If you need something more in-depth than a 30-minute call, but you’re not quite ready for sign on for one our brand packages, I now offer quick branding and design consultative services by the hour called Brew Your Brand. Brew Your Brand is an a la carte creative thought partnership service that is completely customizable. YOU book me for the time you need and YOU set the agenda. Whether it’s one hour here to ask me all your brand questions, another hour here to audit your logo, or two hours there to review a brand strategy you’re working on, Brim Branding is here to help! No question is too small, and no problem is too silly. We’re your judgement-free brand bartender, ready to help shake up your brand with style, empathy, and authenticity. Book your call here or send us a message, and we’ll reach out to set up a call.