Not booking the clients you want? Not booking enough clients? Have your offerings changed? You want to raise your prices? Your branding, or lack of it, might be confusing your audience and slowing business growth to a painful crawl. Below I'm sharing the top 5 signs I often see that tell you it's time for a brand design refresh.
First, a quick primer on the magic pillars that lead to sales. Sales happen when your audience gets a very clear message of what you offer, who you are, and (the special sauce) connects with both of those things in a meaningful way (they get the feels). Bam! Sales! They can't do this if your branding is leaving them confused or is generic. Why? Because there's a million other people out there offering exactly what you do and a lot of them will have very clear branding and marketing strategy that they will connect with. Just like dating. You can think of your brand design, website, and social media channels as a dating profile. If you're experiencing any of the below, you know you have a branding issue that needs to be addressed with new brand design.
You're embarrassed by your website & business cards?
01.
You hesitate, or just don't hand out your business cards or send people to your website because they're a hot mess. In the beginning we're often not really sure who our target audience is and we buy a logo just to have something but later on realize it just doesn't fit what we're doing. If it was an afterthought, just thrown together because you knew you needed something it's time for proper brand design. Maybe your brand design and website are out of date, unorganized, have bad photographs, or copy, or all of the above. If you've hired a professional to brand your business previously and the bones are there it might just need a refresh but most of the time a rebrand is in order. Check out my article on 5 Signs Your Website Is Holding You Back.
YOUR NOT BOOKING OR SELLING ENOUGH
02.
If you're not booking or selling enough chances are you're not differentiating yourself from your competition. Branding that's generic or made using colors and fonts that were trending at the time will be easy to pass up by your audience because they aren't getting a clear picture of who you are and what you can do for them. Your branding needs to be created intentionally. Your audience should take a look at your business cards or website and get actual feelings. If that's not happening no sales will either.
You're not booking your dream clients
03.
That slow trickle of customers you do have aren't your dream customers. Maybe they're not in the niche industry you're wanting to target, they're price shopping instead of appreciating your value, and they just don't get you and make you feel seen. They don't leave you feeling pumped about what you do. This is a symptom of generic syndrome. To attract your real people you need to differentiate yourself from everyone else. It can be hard to see what makes you special or figure out who you really want to serve because you're too close to the situation. Hiring a professional can be one of the best things you can do for your business.
YOU WANT TO RAISE YOUR PRICES
04.
...And you should! This goes along with not booking the right clients or enough of them but it deserves it's own space because it's super important. If you've been serving one economic demographic and suddenly want to target a different one, your branding needs to change or it just won't work. Your branding is part of your marketing strategy and a strategy that works to target one audience won't work for a different one. So, if your audience needs to change in any way it's time for a rebrand.
Your offering has changed
05.
Maybe your audience isn't changing but your offering is. Even if you're still serving the same economic demographic, just offering something different warrants a revised marketing strategy.
Whether all of the above apply or only one, if you suspect you might need a rebrand you most likely do. Follow your gut on this one and don't let thoughts about how much time you've sunk into your old branding hold you back. If your branding doesn't serve it's purpose your business won't grow and create the future you're dreaming of.
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