When done right, rebranding can help your business gain a competitive edge. It not only can keep your brand fresh but it may also help customers better understand your products or services. However, the downsides to rebranding -- time and money -- can be intimidating to many small-business owners and entrepreneurs.
Taking time to effectively plan for and implement a rebrand is certainly not a corner any small-business owner wants to cut. But is there a way it can be done without eating up your entire marketing budget? Absolutely. Rebranding doesn’t have to break the bank.
Check out these three creative tips and tools for rebranding your business inexpensively.
Related: A 'Kingpin' of Reinvention
1. Tap influencers in your industry to help raise awareness for your new brand. Can't afford a PR team to help launch the rebrand? No problem. Reach out to any influencers whose audience is similar to the audience you’re trying to reach, and make sure you can offer something in return for an influencer’s help.
If you are having trouble figuring out the right influencer for your message, there are a number of platforms out there that can help you find the appropriate person for your targeted demographic. Twtrland helps you identify influencers on social media and Inkybee is a tool for finding influential blogs and bloggers. Once you’ve identified your influencers, consider using Traacker to track and mange your influencer relationships and activities.
Ideally, working with influencers to promote your new brand is just the beginning of your relationship, as both companies and influencers can benefit from stronger ties.
Related: The 3 Fundamentals for a Successful Rebrand
2. Utilize your social media followers. For brands with a strong community, it could be as simple as a announcing the new brand and watching your brand ambassadors get the word out. Companies that lack a strong community should consider sweepstakes that awards @mentions or a coupon for every person that likes a branded post. (Just be careful to make your offer relevant to your core constituents so you don’t just attract gamers.)
Postplanner is a tool that helps you run a Facebook contest without having to create a 3rd-party app. Woobox offers an app for just about any type of sweepstakes, contest or coupon you can imagine. And don’t forget this checklist to guide you through setting up and running your promotion.
3. Get employees on board. Besides reaching out to your social-media followers, ask employees to also be brand ambassadors. Get T-shirts, backpacks or other merchandise, slap your logo it and ask employees to wear your company swag.
Make sure your swag is something your employees will actually like and use, as it will increase the chance that your swag is worn or displayed voluntarily. Finally, once you’ve created the gear that no employee can resist flaunting, it’s not a bad idea to host networking events and incentivize your employees to show off their new branded gear to friends and collegues.