Signs that it's time for a rebranding strategy may not always be obvious, and many companies fail to recognize them until it's too late.
To ensure your brand remains fresh and relevant, it's always helpful to stay in touch with your clients or customers — whether via email, social media or even phone calls. But while B2C interaction is great, it isn't always reliable. It can be difficult to tell if an issue is a widespread problem or the grievance of an outspoken individual.
Numbers, on the other hand, don't lie. In the first installment of our rebranding series, we'll walk through some of the business metrics that may indicate it's time for a brand audit.
High Bounce Rates
Bounce rates are inherently negative signals, but every site will always have a percentage of customers who visit and leave without taking action. While you shouldn't necessarily sound the alarms over, say, a 25 percent bounce rate, if that rate used to be closer to 10 percent, it might indicate some problems with the messaging and design of your site.
To remedy this, consider using a focus group to determine what's unclear or off-putting about your homepage design or copy. Many agencies can help coordinate these groups, and there are online services through which you can conduct your research. Agencies can also help you develop your rebranding strategy, providing the outside perspective you may need.
Declining New Visitors and Lack of Engagement
If your current client base is still healthy but your new visitors are declining, it could be a sign of problems on the horizon — you're not gaining new leads. Conversely, if you're getting a steady stream of new visitors but current customers aren't engaging with your site or product, then you're potentially looking at a high churn rate down the road.
Ensure that you know both metrics by tagging new and existing clients in analytics. Another good idea is keeping track of customers' actions in CRM software or using advanced conversion tracking and segments in Google Analytics. This will help you differentiate between the two groups and identify where either is losing engagement.
Customer Lifetime Value
Your estimated customer lifetime value (CLV) is an important metric; it dictates how much you can spend on marketing and advertising while still making a profit, but you can't just calculate it once and use that figure indefinitely. For all you know, it could fluctuate dramatically — and that can be very telling.
Calculate your average CLV every quarter, breaking your customers into tiers if appropriate. A steadily declining (or sharp drop in) CLV is a sure sign that it's time to engage in a rebranding strategy.
Overhauling your brand is only as hard as you make it. Being proactive in recognizing when it's time for a refresh and enlisting the help of experts can ensure you never fall off your customers' radar — and that new leads are always waiting at the door.
