Should you rebrand your business?
We recently took ourselves through a self-guided rebrand (given that I’m a personal brand strategist!)
We enlisted the amazing skills of FlySocial’s David Lee Schneider to help bounce our website design, program design, and social media process off! It is nigh on impossible to do this for yourself even if that’s what other people pay you to do!
I have to say I am AMPED with the results!
We have had loads of insanely good feedback, and the copy really speaks to the ideal client now!
The reason we decided to rebrand my personal brand was quite simple …we had grown.
It was like our audience wasn’t resonating anymore but our offering hadn’t changed.
At the time I was thinking it was because there were other amazing agencies on the market, and coaches, but I realised it was a lot more detailed than that, and wasn’t actually that at all!
We really embraced the change of direction from being a digital marketing agency, to really honing in on our ideal client, (who despite me thinking we had it right – it wasn’t! – Again weird that I can show my clients how far off the mark they are but not myself!)
The new personal brand has launched us into a whole new stratosphere that we are thrilled to be playing in! Working with emerging leaders who are wondering what their ‘life’s work’ is!
So how did we do it?
1. I built a new audience.
I transitioned my socials (actually I had done that courageously already in a leap of faith earlier in the year) to start only really talking about what I wanted to be doing not what I had been spruiking. So the socials became more about Intuition and Edgy personal brands, and less about digital marketing hacks and Facebook ads.
2. We went through a case study process.
This is where we took on a few entirely different clients for a minimal fee to test our new personal brand and offering. That helped in two ways – 1/ it helped me get over my ‘imposter syndrome’ of targeting emerging corporate leaders when I didn’t have loads of experience with the industry. And 2/ it made me realise that it’s not only my marketing skills people are buying from me! (more on that in a minute!)
3. We reengaged the existing list around the new idea.
It was so interesting because as soon as we started marketing the fact that I was no longer necessarily just a Marketer, but that I help find people’s Unique Contribution, many of my previous clients started to make contact! When I told them I build aligned personal brands and edgy profiles now… Their response was basically,
“AHHH you’re finally selling what you actually DO, rather than dressing it up as ‘marketing’!”
In fact so much so that someone I had worked with in 2016 had the courage to email me and say “I just got invited to be a part of your FB group, and I have to say, when we first met you rocked my world with some copy you whipped up on our first phone call, for my coaching program. I was so in awe of it I signed up for your annual program. Then I met your marketing manager, and I felt disgruntled. It’s now clear why. I bought your magic, not your marketing! I bought YOU and I got her!”
That was SO revealing (let alone AMAZING that she had the courage to tell me and I had the courage not to freak out that I had upset her!).
It gave me buoyancy to know this new rebrand and direction is EXACTLY where I need to be!
4. We gathered testimonials for our new website & socials.
From the case study program we immediately got the most profound of testimonials from MUCH higher-level clients (I’m talking COO of £80 million Investment company in the UK, as well a University Lecturer & Fellow in New Zealand.) Before then I was working with struggling start-ups who just didn’t need this level of magic yet! They just needed me to do their marketing and make their side hustle work – which was cool but not where my magic was!
5. We rebuilt the website & offer.
Working with the insanely talented David Lee Schneider, we created and designed a website that makes me happy every time I open it!
The rebrand encompassed not just the design side, but really placed emphasis on the importance of deep market research, case studies, and my client’s own language mechanisms. We built something that now really resonates with my ideal clients. (The ones who were patiently waiting for me to “put it in the right words for them!” so they could connect with me!)
I proved something to myself.
So it turns out that through my own personal brand reinvention (using my new offering of the Impact Alchemy) we really solidified and proved the hypothesis that I am indeed a Magician, not a Marketer!
The business & career landscape has shifted and there’s fertile ground for change, so it’s time to action those bold moves you’ve been thinking about! You know what you’re made from… let’s get it out there!
In the Impact Alchemy, Kath – an intuitive Personal Brand Strategist – will unearth your unique contribution and alchemise it into the gold you’ll be remembered for. Let’s align your personal brand to the legacy you want to leave, and build a work-life around your life's work!
I read your blog and there’s some awesome ideas here. I loved the steps you outlined. The pandemic has given me a good opportunity to do a rebrand too. I appreciate the detailed instructions on how to do it. Thanks for sharing.
Kath, this is exactly what I need. My prior brand was so disorganized as I was striving to reach multiple audiences. I thought rebranding sounded like a nightmare, but I think you’re right and I should just be courageous and rebrand my business under my name. Thanks for this inspiring me!
These are great ideas for rebranding and growing our business…How did you know when it was time to rebrand and where to start!? Your suggestions appreciated! Thanks!
Rebranding is risky, but it’s cathartic too I think! Getting a brand aligned with your purpose is really important too… if you want a sustainable business or career. It is also important to get the help of a brand strategist for the success of rebranding our business. Great article!