The following answers are provided by members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
1. Add a Fresh Batch of Photos
“If you’re worried about changing too significantly and alienating your current customers, a cosmetic change is often the right answer. Similarly to how some homes look fresher with a new coat of paint, updating all of the images on your website immediately changes the look and feel without changing the substance.”
Brennan White, Cortex
2. Evolve According to Your Customers’ Needs
“Refreshing your digital brand should always be respondent to your customers. The digital brand, online presence and overall brand should evolve according to their needs, not according to your needs. If you follow that one simple mindset and methodology, you should never scare away your customers.”
Cassandra Bailey, Slice Communications
3. Build Anticipation and Excitement
“Rather than hitting your customers too abruptly or too subtly with a new brand, build anticipation and excitement around the coming change. Hint at the fact that big things are in store for your company and describe the benefits to the customer. Give them “previews” and invite them into some of the rebranding process by documenting it along the way.”
Ross Beyeler, Growth Spark
4. Invest in SEO and Paid Ads
“Social networks can be useful tools for businesses, but a Facebook account cannot make up for insufficient advertising or SEO campaigns. Create blog content and invest in ads to help increase your brand awareness by bringing potential customers to your website.”
Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS
5. Make Incremental Changes
“A common mistake online is doing a broad-stroke website redesign every few years. Instead of setting our calendars for when this should happen, we should be looking to adapt and adjust our brands and websites incrementally. That way, we stay agile and keep up to date with the latest technology.”
Ismael Wrixen, FE International
6. Explain When, How and Why
“The major difference between a failing or successful rebranding campaign is simple: Keep your clients informed of when it’s going to happen, how it’s going to happen, and why. Good brands usually release a blog post with most details and send it to their clientele via newsletters and social media.”
Yoav Vilner, Ranky
7. Focus on User and Customer Case Studies
“Refresh your product line, marketing and brand by focusing on user and customer case studies. Show how your products and services are currently changing lives for people around the world. Not only will this inspire a new look and feel for your brand, it will also allow your audience to relate to real people in different living and business situations.”
