Take
a look at your online store and ask yourself: is
my brand current?
We've previously blogged about getting
your brand right in the early stages,
so we know it's important. But how often do you consider rebranding?
Why
should I rebrand?
As
the digital world continues to evolve, it's crucial that your brand
grows with it. Just take a look at one of the most successful
rebrands of all time – Apple. In 1997 they were close to
bankruptcy, today they top the Forbes list as the most
powerful brand
- and that's all thanks to their rebranding strategy.
Taking
a look at their new logo in comparison to their old logo below, you
can see they removed all the colors in order to promote a fresh clean
image. They even removed the text as this limited the company to what
they can do, which is a lot more than computers. These small changes,
have really set them apart as an innovative technology leader.
Old vs New 
Now,
you may already have an established brand that your customers relate
to, and we're not saying you should completely change what you
already have. But if you want to grow into an Ecommerce leader and
attract a wider audience, then you need to continuously develop your
brand in order to stay relevant.
The
main reasons for rebranding include:
-
It
sets you apart as a leader
-
It
shows that you're innovative, current and modern
-
It
builds up trust and loyalty with your audience
-
It
will bring more awareness to your store
-
It
will help stimulate growth and profit
How
should I effectively rebrand?
In
order to successfully rebrand your Ecommerce store you need to put a
strategy in place so you can reach your goals. From your logo and
colors, to your messaging and strapline, your brand should be
consistent across your entire store. Check our our 4-step guide to
help you create a robust rebranding strategy...
Step
1: Research design trends
2015
is just around the corner, so now is the time to be looking into the
latest design trends. Not only should your store look good, but it
needs to have good navigation and be responsive across all devices.
In fact mobile has fast become the most popular way to browse an
Ecommerce store with 4
out of 5 consumers
now using mobile to shop, so this is important to get right.
The
experts have already started to blog about the predictions in
Ecommerce
design trends
for 2015. Just some of the takeaway points include:
-
Flat
design – Opt for a more subtle design to help decrease bounce
rate. Call-to-action buttons do however have a slight gradient in
order to stand out, but not too much.
-
Micro
UX/Transitions – The customer experience needs to be enhanced with
subtle animations that surprise the customer and help them navigate
effectively. Small details such as color changes, or product images
with text that appears if the user scrolls over the image, can help
conversion.
-
Tiled
Navigation – Heavy focus on product images with a tiled design to
navigate (think Windows 8 design).
-
Device
friendly – As mentioned above, now more than ever it is vital that
your store is responsive across every device.
Step
2: Freshen up your logo and colors
When
updating your logo and brand colors, you need to make sure that
you're still resonating with your audience, while offering a fresher
look. You may not have to completely change your colors, but rather
change the tone of color slightly to grow with the latest trends. The
same can be applied to your logo, think about subtle changes that
will make it look better.
Take
a look at the eBay logo below for example. They haven’t made huge
changes to their logo and colors, but rather updated it over the
years so that it stays current. Their newer logo is cleaner, more
streamlined, with a slight change in coloring.
Step
3: Be clear on messaging
Everything
that you put out there as a business, from the copy on your website,
to the language you use on your social channels, has to be
consistent. What sort of tone of voice do you currently have? Is it
working for your Ecommerce store? When rebranding, you need to
outline how your audience currently perceives you and if that is
working for you.
The
best way to do this is to research your target audience and really
get to know who they are. Do you have a buyer
persona?
If not, create one. Most importantly you need to find out the
language your customers use so that you can use it too. Once you've
mastered their language, you can use it on your website, social
platforms, blogs and marketing messages.
Another
important aspect of rebranding is your strapline. The most
recognizable brands have memorable slogans that resonate with their
customers and there's no rule that says you can't update yours. In
fact, Coca-Cola
has
updated their slogan an impress 45 times in order to stay current. If
you're struggling with your strapline, think about the single most
important message that you want to get across to your audience.
Above
all, it's important to keep it short, simple and memorable.
Step
4: Test it out
After
you've put all your efforts into rebranding, you need to see what it
looks like and ensure that your messaging, colors, logo, strapline
and overall design all work consistently together. Make sure you put
together a clear set of brand guidelines so that you and your
employees can follow at all times.
In
addition to that, you should also get feedback from the people who
matter most; your customers. Consider inviting your top customers to
exclusively rate your new brand with a discount incentive thrown in.
That way you can find out if they like it, and make tweaks before you
reveal it to your entire audience.
Closing
thoughts
As
you can see, rebranding or making slight tweaks to your current brand
is important to the success of your store. We all need to evolve to
ensure we stay current, modern and to gain the respect from our
audience. The key takeaways are to be consistent across your entire
store, always consider your target audience, and ensure that you stay
relevant with the latest trends.
One
of the benefits of using the AmeriCommerce platform is that we offer
plenty of powerful ecommerce features for you to be able to effectively rebrand your
online store. We make it so easy with drag and drop, widget, themes
and more. So contact us today for more info on how we
can help you!