Recently I decided to rebrand, it was time.

I didn’t take this lightly as I know it is time consuming to change all aspects of your brand but when you know it is the right decision it is worth the investment long-term.

Personally, my old colour palette, editing, logo and overall brand message didn’t speak to me and my audience anymore and considering I created all my previous branding aged 16 – it was okay to change it up to a more ”grown up” brand I would say. (thankfully)

My brand now truly represents what my vision is moving forward into the future but I know some of you might still be on the edge of rebranding and considering if it is something you need to invest in right now at this stage.

Which is why I have listed my main 7 signs to look out for and when you say yes (even an almost yes) to most of the ones below, it is time my friend.

1. Your branding is too similar to your competition 

With many markets being more saturated than ever, standing out and having a unique voice is crucial. If you can easily get confused between your branding and that of your direct competition, it is time to switch it up.

This message is especially important for bloggers – I analyse the branding of bloggers a lot and have seen VERY close borderline ‘copying’ instead of using sources of inspiration. This has less to do with logos and colour schemes but more with the overall branding message that is too similar to what everyone else is doing. just because it works for them, doesn’t mean it will work for you. People want to see change, something different from the crowded space – let this be you.

(FYI if you don’t have a blog yet but want to create one – Read: ‘Everything you need to know about starting a blog‘)

2. Your business vision has changed 

This one is definitely a strong indicator that it is time to rebrand. If your vision has changed, there is a high chance your branding is not up to date with what you eventually want to provide for your audience and this needs to be updated ASAP. How would anyone go along with your vision if you don’t show your vision to the world?

When I rebranded I made it clear to my audience that I was doing this to fit my long term vision of an online business and they understood. Connection and trust are all that matters when it comes to this so share your vision with others, take them on your journey and let them be a part of it.

3. YOU HAVE OUTGROWN YOUR BRAND

Outgrowing your brand could have various reasons, it might be because you created it years ago with a different idea in mind or it could be you had no clue what you were doing back then, and now you do. It could even mean that you just feel too embarrassed about certain parts of your branding and you don’t have that proud feeling anymore. In that case, welcome to the club – now is the time to do something about that gut feeling you have probably been walking around with for ages!

4. YOU ARE NOT ATTRACTING THE RIGHT AUDIENCE

You might have the right offers for your audience and want to provide them with all they need, but if your branding doesn’t match up with what your audience is looking for, it becomes hard to attract the right people.

This could even be the case further down the line, you might have had the right branding for your audience in the past but the market keeps changing and if you don’t change with it, your audience might look elsewhere when they don’t see that connection anymore.

5. THE COLOURS ARE NOT A PSYCHOLOGICAL FIT

Although a bright yellow logo might look a perfect ‘stand out from the crowd’ idea, the psychology behind the colour might not be the right fit with your brand. There are a lot of studies on colours and emotions which is why many fitness coaches will have green within their branding, associated with health. Banks often have the colour blue, for loyalty and trust.

I decided to go from pink (youthful, romantic) to brown, black and cream (sophistication, connection, warmth) because it suited my message and vision more. This doesn’t mean you always have to make decisions based on this but it is good to take into consideration when deciding on a rebrand.

6. Your current branding is not cohesive

Now with this particular point you might not have to rebrand completely, it might just be the case of updating one part of your business to fit the rest. For example, if you have a very luxury look on your social channels but it doesn’t come across on your website, you might just need a complete website update rather than a rebrand but it is still worth mentioning since consistency is key and your audience needs to recognise your brand on all outlets.

7. your branding is simply, dated

This one might be a harsh truth and it was a very valid point for my own branding for a while, just because something is trendy at the time doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I think this truly goes hand in hand with the point about differentiating from competition; there are A LOT of businesses/people trying to do the same thing just because it is on trend right now but this will result in outdated looks in a few years time which means you will have to rebrand constantly if you keep following that strategy – find something that works for you, something timeless!

Ticked all the above (invisible) boxes? It is time to rebrand. Take your time and use a TON of Pinterest Moodboards to decide what direction you want to go for!