The views expressed by the business participants are their own.
Innovation is hard. It is expensive and time-consuming, and can distract important team members from their normal work. So why go through it? Because if you’re a small business looking to scale up, rebranding may be just what you need to fuel your growth.
Recently, at Hiline, we took a hard look at how our product was performing and realized that we could better differentiate our company in the market. So, we took a deep breath, pooled our resources, and committed to rapid reproduction. Here’s what we learned.
Related: The Ultimate 20-Step Guide to Reinventing the Internet
1. Your brand should reflect what the market needs right now.
Competitive analysis can help you understand what customers are looking for in the marketplace and highlight your brand’s unique value proposition.
When we looked at our competitor’s websites and content, we were reminded why we started this company in the first place. We saw how old most of the financial services industry was and we saw that we were different. This allowed us to highlight our unique modern brand story.
Similar to New York City’s High Line, we’ve transformed an old, neglected space into a technology-enabled, human-first ecosystem to better serve society. We broke the traditional accounting firm model to bring clients a new, premium experience, so we adjusted our content to emphasize this theme.
When looking at the data on our site, we learned that some pieces of content weren’t performing as well as others and that some of the site’s navigation needed work. Therefore, we have updated our strategy to match the real-time market interests. Our mission is to bring clarity, practical insight, and peace of mind to ambitious entrepreneurs, and our content and site structure now reflect that.
2. A brand is more than a marketing tool
Having a strong brand allows you and your customers to punch above your weight. It gives everyone in business the tools to talk about who they are, what they believe in, and what they can do.
In Hiline’s case, renewing our brand allowed us to renew our focus on our core divisions: people, process, and technology. We’ve learned that in order to provide a supportive environment where growth-minded companies can get the expertise and support they need to grow, we must frame our business in a modern, accessible language and maintain human contact.
Related: How Do You Know When You Should Regenerate? Here are some tips
3. A good brand provides a structure for growth
Knowing who you are is like building a bridge. Because you already have things to grab and hold on to, your brand provides all the features you need to create content, promote products, and get funding. It allows you to be seen in the market, showing what you can do.
Our branding work has also paved the way for new content channels. This fall, Hiline is launching a new podcast, “Fiscally Awesome,” which will feature insights from internal and external experts, focusing on key topics such as building financial excellence for small businesses, thought leadership in financial management, and the role of technology in driving business growth. This allows us to be more personal and consistent with our mission of empowering entrepreneurs to build thriving businesses.
Doing the job
While six months is ideal to complete a full rebrand, a quick rebrand can be accomplished three times with the right resources, you will need to prioritize your time and make tough decisions about what can and cannot be done. But if you take on a lot of work and surround yourself with experts, you can still deliver a quality product update on time and within budget.
Here are three key takeaways from this process:
1. Small groups move faster
While listening beforehand is important, don’t fall into the trap of requiring all stakeholders to buy in to move forward. Choose a few key people on your committee who can help you negotiate, provide quality feedback, and, most importantly, know when to put the pen down.
2. Loyal partners get you from good to good
Not everyone is born to write clear, compelling copy. Even your crackerjack marketing maven needs an editor. Regardless of how well you know your brand, a professional copywriter or product specialist can help you focus your ideas and make them sing. It’s the same for a graphic designer. Hire an external designer who understands your values and aesthetic goals, and trust them to produce a visual identity that reflects this. In the long run, hiring sign experts can save you time, money, and a lot of headaches.
Related: How to Create a Success Story with the Right Partners
3. The erase key can be your greatest strength
Clear, clear, clear. Resist the urge to put more words on the page, add more ideas, or put in the last person’s copy. A single sentence or phrase will speak volumes if you use the right words. It will grab the reader’s attention and have greater sticking power than a page of dense copy. Continue to organize your main ideas until you have less information on the page.
When we launched our product, it often felt like threading a needle during a hurricane. But despite the challenges, the process was worth it. We now have the right language, content channels, and site navigation to match the current market. We strengthened our commitment to empowering small businesses and entered into a fun, educational and reliable business that reflects who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going.
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