Congratulations! You’ve completed the rebranding journey, and you’re ready to share your brilliant new brand with the world! White Rabbit Wraps knows what an exciting time this is. We also know that it can be tempting to shout the news from the Indianapolis downtown rooftops with no organized plan in place.
But wait! Take a beat. There is a right way to announce your new brand…and there’s a wrong way. It is so, so important to share this news in the most impactful way possible without confusing your existing customers.
So, what do you do now? We’re here to guide you through this transitional time and ensure your brand launch will be as successful as the new brand itself.
You only get one chance to make a first impression
When your company has a new name or look, there are two important audiences you need to reach with the news: current customers and potential customers. It might seem like these two groups can receive the same messaging, but remember that they have different needs! If you take the time to personalize your brand launch to both groups, it will pay off on the streets in Indiana.
If you changed your name, you would let your friends know, right? Your current customers need—and deserve—a brand launch letter with the announcement. This piece will let them know that you have a new brand, while reassuring them that you’re the same company they already know and trust. There should be an explanation of why you made the change, and it should be clear that your team and the quality of your work is going to remain the same. Consider the brand launch letter, a love letter to your customers. Because after all, you wouldn’t be growing and improving without their support! If your current customers are excited and along for the ride with you, they will be your best promoters.
Let’s be honest—if you have a new name, and you don’t explain the change to your current customers, you’ll have to assume they will no longer call you, looking for someone else in Carmel, Indiana. It’s possible that they will believe you were bought out, that you’re a new and more expensive company, or possibly that you went out of business entirely. Avoid confusion by being clear in your messaging and not shying away from the change! We know you’re proud of your new look; show your customers why rebranding was the right choice.
Since you surely want your company to continue growing under your new brand, reach out to potential customers in your service area with the good news! A direct mailer is a great way to reach them. This can be another fun piece introducing your brand, your team, and your services. Tell them what your current customers already know—why you’re the right company to hire. It puts you front of mind right away, and it drums up interest in everything you have to offer!
Updating your digital platforms
As important as your tangible materials are, one of the most important updates to make following a rebrand is your online presence. The Internet is often the first place someone will go to find your company, and you want to make sure that your brand is up-to-date across your website and social media platforms.
It’s essential to make a plan with your digital marketing company to smoothly introduce your new brand online. The plan should be built around the customer; you want to do everything you can to avoid confusing them. Every digital marketing company will have their own recommendations for how to handle the change, but if you don’t know where to begin when planning the online launch, a conservative step to consider would be leaving your old website up for a few months until your newly branded site begins to see more organic traffic. However, two sets of social media pages can lead to confusion, so update your current pages and use language from your brand launch letter to explain the change in a post that will reach all of your followers!
Make sure your branding is updated across your website and social media pages when your first rebranded, fully wrapped vehicle hits the road. If a potential customer notices your great wrap and looks up your company online, you want everything to match so they know they’re in the right place! Build trust with customers from the beginning by making your brand voice clear on all platforms.
There’s so much to change…where do i start?
It is nearly impossible to have everything updated at exactly the same time for a completely seamless rollout of your new brand. At the beginning, focus on the customer-facing parts of your business:
- Website and social media
- Vehicle wraps
- Uniforms
- Business cards
You likely won’t be able to rewrap all of your vehicles right away, and that’s okay! It may not be as important to have every technician arriving in a newly wrapped vehicle, but start with your sales team. Whenever possible, the person arriving at a potential customer’s home to make a sale should arrive in a newly wrapped vehicle, greet the customer in a branded uniform, and hand out an updated business card.
Don’t feel like you have to hide from the fact that you have old, unwrapped vehicles still on the road. You’re evolving. Lean into it! You can even make a game out of the upgrade; let customers know on social media when new wraps join your fleet, and see if they can spot them around town!
There’s one more place you need to launch
And that’s internally. Oftentimes, business owners can get pushback from team members who aren’t immediately on board with the decision to rebrand. But when you know you’ve made the right decision to grow and evolve, it’s important to have your team on the same page.
Don’t be dismissive of your team’s feelings about the change. Explain what went into your decision and why you feel your new brand represents the work, service, and values that make your company the place they know and care about. Let them know that a welcoming brand will make their jobs easier; people will be thrilled to see them arrive at their doors! It’s natural for them to be apprehensive at the beginning, but try to paint the picture of how the new brand will be as beneficial for your employees as it will be for your customers.
If your employees exude your new brand, customers will buy into it more easily. Make sure they know you’re all on the same team working towards the same goal!
Now you can celebrate
Launching your new brand may feel daunting, but it will absolutely be worth it! Investing in a strong, disruptive brand is a major step in seeing long-term gains for your company, and launching it is the beginning of that thrilling new chapter! Put a plan in place, bring everybody on board, and you’ll be ready to soar!
Origial post source: https://www.kickcharge.com/logo-branding/how-to-kickcharge-your-successful-brand-launch/
