Although it may seem daunting, rebranding can be made much simpler with the right preparation and understanding. Follow our 8 things to consider when rebranding your SAAS business (or any other business), and you’ll be well on your way to getting it right.
From analysing your current brand identity to creating a timeline and budget, these rebranding considerations will help ensure you’re ready for success with this exciting process.
Whether you’re launching a new business, just starting out in branding or are an experienced marketer looking to make changes, take some time to understand the basics so you can enjoy the ride while creating something unique and memorable. Use our 8 Things To Consider When Rebranding to guide you through.
Why is rebranding important? Things to consider.
First, let’s take a step back to understand why we’re doing this. Staying abreast of current trends is critical for businesses to remain competitive and relevant in their industries. Rebranding is a powerful tool for this.
A strong and considered rebrand can help a company create an emotional connection with its customers, building trust, loyalty and credibility. By giving customers something unique and memorable, a successful rebrand can help businesses to gain an edge over their rivals and increase brand awareness. It’s a simple notion but a powerful one.
In this article, we talk about each of these steps to rebranding:
Analyse your current brand
Identify your target audience
Research your competitors
Create a timeline and budget
Establish goals & objectives
Moodboard your ideas
Design and implement
Evaluate and adjust
Ok, let’s get down to it. Here are our 8 Things To Consider When Rebranding Your SaaS Business
Step 1 – Analyse your current brand
Rebranding begins by understanding what you have already created as a brand. Take time to analyse your current branding, including logo design, colours, fonts and messaging used on your marketing materials (like your website or ad campaigns). Evaluate how well these elements work together to represent your business’s mission or core values; consider if they need updating or changing for a more modern look to better connect with potential customers.
When analysing your current brand, it’s important to understand how customers perceive you. Take a deep dive into your existing brand identity and mission statement – what does it say about you? Are these messages in line with the goals of your business? If not, consider how they can be adjusted or updated to reflect where you want to go.
It’s also beneficial to look at the visual elements associated with your brand. How do they compare against those of competitors in the same industry? Does your brand’s visual identity stand out, or is it too similar to others in the same industry? Is there anything that could be tweaked or improved upon for greater impact? Think about colour palettes, typography choices, logos and other visuals associated with your company.
Another key factor is customer feedback – what are people saying about your brand online and offline? What kind of reviews have been left on platforms such as Google My Business and Yelp; do these provide any insights into how customers feel about working with you or using your products/services? Don’t forget word-of-mouth marketing either – what are current customers saying when asked for their opinion on certain aspects of your business? All this data can help inform decisions around rebranding efforts.
Finally, take some time to research competitor brands within the same space as yours. See which ones stand out from the pack; observe their branding strategies (both digital and physical) for ideas on how yours could evolve over time. Keep track of changes made by rivals so that you can stay one step ahead in terms of trends and design aesthetics – this will ensure that potential customers remain engaged while also helping keep things fresh internally.
Key Takeaway: Rebranding is an essential move for a business to stay ahead of the competition and foster loyalty with consumers. It begins by analysing the current brand, identifying target audiences, understanding competitors’ messages, and crafting content to appeal directly to your ideal customer.
Step 2 – Identify your target audience
Identifying information about your audience is key to any rebranding project. By ascertaining your target audience, you can develop a marketing and brand strategy that speaks to their desires and requirements.
The best way to start is by gathering demographic information about your existing customers. Collecting data such as age, location, job role, income level, interests and hobbies of your current customers can provide insight into who engages with your brand and help you determine whether there are other potential users. From here, you can decide if other segments of people could benefit from using your product or service.
It’s also important to consider psychological factors such as values and beliefs when identifying potential new audiences for rebranding efforts. Understanding how different groups think about certain topics can help shape messaging to better connect with them on an emotional level.
Once you have identified the demographics of those likely to engage with your brand after rebranding, it’s time to delve into competitor research. Analyse what other players in the same field are doing differently or better than yourself so that you can pinpoint areas for improvement. Scrutinise how they position themselves within their market and learn which strategies work well for them – this way, yours can outshine theirs.
Finally, once all of this has been done, it’s time for the fun part – developing a comprehensive brand strategy tailored towards those audiences you’ve identified. This involves creating a unique identity through design elements such as logos, fonts and colours, along with crafting relevant content that speaks directly to their needs and wants while staying true to your company’s values and goals.
Key takeaway: Once you’ve determined your target market and researched your rivals, it’s time to get imaginative with a comprehensive brand plan that speaks precisely to those audiences’ needs.
Step 3 – Research your competitors
Researching your competitors is a crucial part of the rebranding process. It helps you understand what strategies they use and how successful those strategies are. Understanding your rivals’ brand positioning and tactics is essential to crafting a unique branding approach. Consider the following three activities:
Analyse their brand identity – The first step to researching your competitors is to analyse their brand identity. Take note of any logos, colours, fonts or other elements that make up their branding and determine if it’s working for them. Also, look at how often they update these elements and where they display them – both online and offline. This will give you an idea of how established their brand identity is in the marketplace and how much to differentiate yourselves.
Understand their messaging – Try to understand what messaging your competitors are using to promote themselves and engage with customers. Are they focusing on price, quality, expertise, USPs, product features, or something else? Analysing competitor messaging will help inform decisions about which messages would work best for your own business.
Identify their strengths & weaknesses – Take some time to identify each competitor’s strengths and weaknesses by looking at things like customer reviews, website traffic stats (if available), social media activity and engagement, etc. Doing so will allow you to see which areas need improvement within your own business, giving you the best chance of success.
Key Takeaway: Do your due diligence when rebranding; analyse your competitors’ brand identity and understand their messaging along with any strengths and weaknesses. This will give you your SAAS or Technology business the ultimate edge.
Step 4 – Create a timeline and budget
Constructing a timeline and allocating resources for your rebranding effort helps everything run to plan. It will provide structure and help you stay on track throughout the process.
For example, if you want your new brand identity to launch by October 1st, then plan out what needs to be done leading up to that date – such as internal briefings, research, strategy development, design implementation etc. – and assign deadlines accordingly. If you need help determining how long things take, your agency can help (we always create a detailed end-to-end project plan before starting). At the very least, have a good idea of when you’d like your new branding launched.
Keep in mind that timelines can change over time depending on various factors, such as scope creep or unforeseen delays. Make sure you build some flexibility into your original schedule just in case something happens along the way which requires additional time or resources.
Next, create a budget to cover the associated costs of your rebranding project. This can vary greatly, and if you’re unsure how much things cost, get a rebranding project estimate. Depending on how comprehensive the project is going to be, this could include things like hiring a brand agency for strategy and design work; taking photographs of the team, offices or products; creating a (re)launch campaign and printing promotional materials, etc.
It’s best to plan not just for the rebrand project itself but also for updating all of your general marketing materials – it’s the perfect time to overhaul all those outdated sales decks, too! Create a list of all the marketing collateral that needs updating so that there are no surprises later down the line. Also, consider setting aside some funds for unexpected expenses that may arise during the project – better safe than sorry.
Key Takeaway: Establish an ideal launch date, set aside funds, and factor in flexibility to account for any changes that may occur along the way.
Step 5 – Establish goals & objectives
Rebranding a SAAS business or any other business is exciting and rewarding. But it also costs money and takes time, so you want to make sure you’re getting good ROI.
It is imperative to determine the desired outcome of the project before you start the rebranding process. This will help ensure your efforts are directed towards achieving these desired outcomes.
For example, if customer loyalty is an issue, then set a goal of increasing customer retention rates by 5% within 6 months after launching the new brand identity. Or if sales growth has been slow, aim for 10% year-on-year growth over 24 months following the launch of the new branding.
(Spoiler alert) In truth, it takes a lot of work to get robust metrics on a rebranding project. Many of a brand’s effects are intangible, and a mix of contributing factors can skew the figures. For example, your revenue could leap after your rebrand, but this coincided with hiring a new superhero Sales Director while simultaneously releasing a shiny new product to market. Which had the most impact?
To get a good picture, it’s best to consider several metrics together. This can be your marketing ROI, the number of new leads, the number of customers gained, the percentage of leads closed or the number of applicants for your latest job roles.
While you may not be able to gauge the exact financial headway achieved, you should be able to measure how a rebrand has helped your business grow in a number of ways.
Key Takeaway: Having clear goals will give you something tangible to strive towards throughout the rebranding process, helping keep everyone on track and focused on reaching those targets at each stage.
Step 6 – Moodboard your ideas
Whether you use Pinterest or run a joint exercise using a collaboration tool, like Apple’s new Freeform App, it’s handy to get your ideas down. A good branding agency will have its own recommendations, but its team will benefit from knowing where your mind is at.
Brainstorming and mood boarding are integral to rebranding, requiring a thoughtful assessment of the brand’s identity, communication approach and target audience. It’s healthy to take a step back and really think about what your brand stands for, how it will be presented, and who you are trying to reach. Here are some tips to help get your creative juices flowing:
Research industry trends – Take time to explore current design trends in the market that align with your brand values. Consider exploring popular colour palettes, typography styles, or even logo shapes that appeal to your target audience. This can provide valuable insight into what visual style could work well for your new identity.
Analyse competitors – Again, knowing what your competition is doing will help guide what you can do differently – this includes researching their logos, website designs, slogans and more. Make sure you stay true to yourself, though; don’t just copy someone else’s idea without considering it first.
Look at customer feedback – Don’t forget about customer feedback when brainstorming ideas – they’re often the best source of inspiration. Look through past surveys or customer reviews and use their comments as a jumping-off point for new concepts or visuals that may resonate with them better than before.
Think outside the box – Get creative. Explore different ways to present your brand visually or verbally to stand out from other companies in the field. For example, if everyone else uses minimalistic design elements, why not try something bolder? Or if all brands have a serious tone, maybe inject some humour into yours instead? The possibilities are endless.
Key Takeaway: To ensure success, it’s essential to consider all of the possibilities. Research industry trends, competitor tactics, and customer opinions when considering a rebrand. Think outside the box to hit a home run with your new look.
Step 7 – Design and implement
Now that all the groundwork has been completed, it’s time to design. Formulating and executing a new corporate persona can be an intricate undertaking. To rebrand successfully, it is essential to craft a design that embodies your company’s values and objectives.
At Threerooms, we take care to create a new or refreshed identity that builds on a solid strategy while standing out in the marketplace. Your brand should feel like ‘you’ and not look or sound like anyone else. Everything from the brand colours, typefaces, icons, slogans and imagery have a part to play in this. Get this right, and these will serve as the bedrock for all of your future branding materials.
As you design a new identity, consider where your branding is used. Create mockups and prototypes for all your main touchpoints, such as your website, social media channels, events, onboarding packs, digital products and sales decks. This allows you to test out different ideas without investing too much time or money into them until they’re finalised. The more you can scope out at the initial design stage, the more confident you can be that the solution will be right for your business. And remember, don’t be afraid to be bold and different.
Once a design approach is agreed upon, develop brand guidelines to help you deploy and manage your new brand. Brand guidelines don’t need to be complicated, but they are powerful in creating consistency and recognition over time.
Key Takeaway: Be sure to choose a new brand that embodies your culture and values and supports your vision. Be bold, ensuring you occupy a clear and defined place in the market. Lock this in with brand guidelines to help your team stay consistent.
Step 8 – Evaluate and adjust
Evaluating and adjusting your rebranding efforts is essential to ensure that you are achieving the desired outcomes. It’s vital to assess how successful your rebrand has been in terms of reaching the goals and objectives set out at the start of the project. This involves reviewing all aspects of the brand, from design elements to messaging, customer feedback, sales figures, web traffic and more.
Analyse data such as customer surveys or focus groups to gain insights into how customers perceive your new brand identity. Have they responded positively? Do customers understand what the brand symbolises? Are people engaging with it in a meaningful way? Comprehending these figures can aid in pinpointing places to refine and direct upcoming choices.
It’s also sensible to review competitor activity during this period; have they launched any campaigns that could be affecting your own results? Are they now copying you? Keeping track of their strategies can give you valuable insight into what works well within your industry – enabling you to stay ahead of the competition by making timely adjustments where necessary.
So, that’s it, our 8 Things To Consider When Rebranding. We hope you find our guide useful and wish you every success on your rebrand journey. Remember, it can be daunting, but with some planning and forethought, it can be lots of fun, too.
Finally, choose an experienced agency for your rebrand
Rebranding your business is a critical step in achieving success. Threerooms are award-winning experts in rebranding businesses like yours (and especially SAAS and tech businesses). If you need support, let us guide you through an effective rebrand. Get in touch to learn how.
