Rebranding on social media is a pivotal move for any business looking to refresh its image, reach new audiences or realign its brand with evolving goals and values. This process involves more than just updating logos or color schemes — it's about redefining how your brand communicates and engages with its audience across various platforms. A successful rebranding strategy on social media requires careful planning, clear messaging and an understanding of your target audience. Rebranding is an opportunity to reintroduce your brand, showcase its evolution and strengthen connections with both existing and potential followers.
In this blog, we explain:
- What rebranding means.
- How to tell when it’s time to rebrand.
- How to announce a rebrand on social media.
- Which team members should be part of a rebrand.
- Social media rebrand examples.
What Does Rebranding Mean?
Rebranding on social media is when a brand does a small or big overhaul of its online identity. This could be to align with new goals, values or market positioning. This transformation can include different visual elements like logo updates, color story and graphics, strategic content shifts, tone of voice and overall brand identity. These changes can happen due to growth, a shift in brand perception, to target a new demographic or to differentiate your brand from competitors. Rebranding is not necessarily just a cosmetic change, but a strategic move that aligns with broader marketing goals.
How To Tell if It’s Time To Rebrand
Determining the right time to rebrand on social media involves assessing a few key factors around performance, audience perception and marketing goals. One performance indicator that can highlight the need for a rebrand is consistently declining engagement rates — this can mean that your content isn’t resonating with audiences like it once might have. Another key sign is a mismatch between the brand's identity and its audience's expectations or values, which can emerge from shifts in market trends or audience demographics. If a brand's social media presence feels outdated compared to competitors, or if it fails to stand out in a crowded digital space, a rebrand might be necessary to rejuvenate its image and appeal. This could involve updating visual elements, refining the tone of voice or shifting the focus of the content strategy entirely. One way to benchmark your profile and content against competitors is by conducting a competitive analysis, which can help identify gaps in your content and strategy.
Brands should also consider rebranding on social media if there's a change in their overall business strategy, such as targeting a new market segment, introducing new products or services or undergoing a company-wide rebranding. In these cases, social media rebranding should align with the broader rebranding efforts to ensure consistency across all channels.
How To Announce a Rebrand on Social Media
Introducing a rebrand on social media is a critical moment for any business. This announcement can help you unveil a new look and strategy while offering an opportunity to reconnect with your audience and share your evolved vision and values. Introducing a rebrand sets the stage for a seamless transition and helps your audience be aware of the changes and get excited for this new phase in your brand's story.
Define Your Goals
Before announcing your rebrand, it’s vital to clearly define what you aim to achieve. Are you targeting a new audience, shifting your brand positioning or simply giving your brand collateral a refresh? Understanding the goals behind your rebrand (and your business goals overall) will guide your rebranding process and help you communicate effectively with your audience.
Conduct a Brand and Social Media Audit
Evaluate your current brand presence and social media performance. Assess what elements resonate with your audience and what aspects need a revamp. This social media audit provides a clear picture of where you stand and what needs to change.
Outline Rebranding Strategy
Develop a comprehensive strategy for your rebrand. This should include a timeline for the rollout, key messages to communicate and how you plan to engage with your audience throughout the process. Ensure this strategy aligns with your overall business objectives.
Update Creative Assets and Branding Guides
Update your visual elements and branding guides to reflect your new brand identity. This includes logos, color schemes, font styles and any other visual components used across your social media channels.
Refresh Content Strategy
Adapt your content strategy to align with your new brand identity. This might involve new types of posts, a different tone of voice or updated content themes. Ensure your content marketing strategy complements your rebrand and continues to engage your target audience effectively.
Who Should Be Part of a Social Media Rebrand?
Assembling the right team is a must for a successful rebrand transition. This process involves creative brainstorming and strategic planning, with input from diverse perspectives within the organization. This team should include individuals who understand the brand's current identity and are aligned with its future direction. Involving a range of stakeholders ensures a well-rounded approach to the rebrand, considering different angles and impacts.
Here's a list of key players who should be included in appointments and discussions around rebranding:
- Marketing Team: They play a pivotal role in shaping the brand's narrative and strategy on social media.
- Social Media Managers: Social media managers are often responsible for executing the rebranding strategy. They bring in-depth knowledge of social media trends, audience engagement and more.
- Creative Team (Designers and Content Creators): Essential for developing the visual and content aspects of the rebrand.
- Senior Management/Executives: Their involvement ensures that the rebrand aligns with the overall business objectives and vision.
- Brand Strategists: Experts in brand positioning and messaging, they help in aligning the rebrand with market trends and customer expectations.
- PR and Communications Team: Crucial for managing external communication and maintaining brand reputation during the transition.
- Customer Service Representatives: They provide insights into customer feedback and perceptions, which can be valuable in shaping the rebrand.
- IT and Web Development Team: If the rebrand involves changes to digital assets, their technical expertise is necessary for a smooth implementation.
Social Media Rebranding Examples
Social media rebranding can be a game-changer for businesses looking to revitalize their brand, connect with new audiences or realign with their evolving vision. Here are how three brands reinvigorated their brand on social media.
Pepsi
In 2023, Pepsi rebranded its visual content to showcase a fresh, contemporary identity while staying true to its iconic heritage. This move came on the heels of evolving consumer preferences — they revamped their iconic global emblem, paying homage to the original shape and color scheme while updating it with a more modern look and feel. Pepsi also introduced new packaging designs and marketing campaigns, which aim to connect with a diverse, global audience. This rebrand is an effort to stay ahead of evolving tastes, trends and visual styles.
LEGO
Despite happening years ago, LEGO is a great example of a rebrand that heavily relied on the internet and social media. In 2003, faced with dwindling sales, the brand saw a need to reinvigorate its brand and learn more about its target demographic — children. They determined they needed to tap into digital marketing and provide entertainment for their audience. This pivot resulted in a successful movie franchise, video games and of course, a robust social media presence.
From Twitter to X
In 2023, Twitter underwent a rebrand to X from Twitter when Elon Musk purchased it. This rebrand marked a shift away from all things ‘bird-related’, with things like Twitter Premium shifting to X Premium, and more. This rebrand showed a shift in the brand’s vision and identity, aiming to include a wider range of services like communication technologies and AI.
Build Your Brand Identity With Dash Hudson
Dash Hudson empowers social teams to build their brand identity with both data-backed decisions, precision and creativity. Social Listening enables teams to tap into real-time conversations and trends across social platforms. By monitoring what’s said about their brand and competitors. This information informs content strategy and helps your team create messages that resonate with the audience and help your brand stay relevant.
Dash Hudson's Community gives teams the ability to view questions from multiple platforms and respond from one central location to help foster a sense of community. Competitive Insights and Benchmarking help reveal how competitors perform on the platform and gives your team more information to set benchmarks and pivot in your social strategy when needed. Dashboards give a visual representation of metrics from multiple social channels, with no limit on the dashboards your team can create. Teams can use pre-made templates or make custom dashboards that include the most important data for your team.
FAQs
How do you announce a new brand on social media?
To announce a new brand on social media, one way to kick off a rebrand is to create a buzz with teaser content that sparks curiosity. Then, launch with a high-impact post or video that introduces the brand's vision and unique offerings. Engage your audience with interactive elements like livestreams and consider leveraging influencers or paid ads for wider reach. Make sure all content aligns with the brand's identity for a cohesive and memorable introduction.
How do you rebrand without losing your audience?
Successfully rebranding on social media without losing your audience requires clear communication and gradual change. Keep your audience informed and involved in the rebranding process while highlighting how the new brand aligns with the values they cherish. Introduce changes slowly to avoid alienation and consistently emphasize that, despite the new look or direction, the brand's fundamental commitment to quality and service remains unchanged.
