How To Survive A Rebrand!
Going through a rebrand can be a stressful time. Believe us, we know. When we decided to re brand Bespoke Bride just over a year ago it felt like we were moving 2 steps back with our business instead of forward and The Online Wedding Show has gone through 3 rebrands before it has even launched!
But we can honestly say that rebranding both of these sites has been one of the best things we’ve ever done! Not only did it allow our personalities to shine through more but it also oozed out the message we wanted to get across the moment viewers arrived at our site.
If you’re thinking of rebranding or evolving your website then here’s an easy guide to help you through! It may not be easy, but we promise it will be worth it!!
Firstly, Ask yourself exactly what it is you want people to see and feel when they arrive at your website.
In fact, make a list of it. Originally bespoke bride looked very pastel and vintage which is pretty much the opposite of what we wanted. We wrote down on our rebrand list ‘Fun, colourful & modern’ so we had a starting point of what we wanted to achieve in that very first moment of someone arriving at our blog.
Take Inspiration from places other than your niche.
Instead of looking at tons and tons of other wedding blogs when we rebranded we decided instead to look at fashion magazines, artwork, typography & print design. These are the things that helped Bespoke Bride to mold a unique look instead of designing a look that we thought we should look like.
Gather Your Ideas On Pinterest.
When we first decided to rebrand we literally had NO IDEA what we wanted this wedding blog to look like, we just knew how we wanted it to make our readers feel, so we started pinning images that made us happy on Pinterest. Any styles of font we liked, images we were drawn to, or colours that caught our eyes and we soon started to notice a real pattern. Our ‘Operation Rebrand’ board was filled with bright and colouful images, simple yet fun fonts and was bursting with tons of powerhouse women looking happy!
Hire in a Graphic Designer.
Unless of course you are a graphic designer yourself, in which case, kudos! Get creating! We really can’t stress this enough, trying to knock up your own logo in Photoshop is all well and good for the first few months but if you want to get really serious and have your blog or website look professional and on brand then you need to hire in someone who knows that they are doing! Lucky for us one of our friends is a graphic designer, Sarah Beverstock, we literally sent her the Pinterest board and she created a brand from the inspiration. We were blown away by her ability to get inside our heads and know what we wanted without us even knowing ourselves!
Don’t Get Stuck on One Idea.
When we first started out thinking about how we wanted The Online Wedding Show to look we had the idea of the home screen literally looking like the room of a wedding show with clickable ‘sections’ to take you through to whatever you were looking to buy for your wedding. We were so set on this idea but after speaking with our web designer we found out that actually, it wasn’t very user friendly and would make the site a lot harder to navigate which could ultimately decrease sales and leave shoppers confused. Which is exactly what we didn’t want to happen.
Listen to professionals.
If you can get the opinion of an expert do so. Because sometimes what you’re thinking in your head is a fabulous design might not be so user friendly or even possible in web design as I mentioned before. After various conversations with our web designer a new concept was thought up that was not only very user friendly but completely beautiful!! Not to mention a hundred times better than our original idea. After all, we’re not graphic designers and we would have never thought of this design ourselves!
But Remain True To Yourself.
If something really doesn’t feel right, say so. If it’s not what you want, then speak up! Remember, nobody knows you better than you do and nobody knows your readership or client base or the type of people you want to attract better than you either, so always remain true to yourself and remember your end goal and target audience. Of course there is going to be designs that you don’t like, that’s how designers can test the water and get a better feel for what you do like.
Take A Break.
Sometimes you can get sick of looking at the same thing if you’re struggling. Take a break. Go outside. Get away from your computer. You might be surprised about how inspiring it can be!
Keep Powering Through.
We know rebranding can sometimes be a lengthy, frustrating and tough process but you have to keep going. Keep looking for inspiration if you’re stuck, find things that make you excited and go from there. There is a light at the end of the rebrand tunnel!
Tell me, have you gone through a rebrand? What helped and inspired you?
Much Bespoke Love
Jess x
I’m going through a slow (slow) rebranding. My original brand was very casual, and I’ve slowly been evolving what my style is. So I’m slowly making small updates here and there in my logo, colors, etc… I just don’t have the time to do it all at once!
Hi Ashleigh
It can be quite a daunting task but I don’t think there is anything wrong with doing it in stages, less stress for you and more of a gradual change of your clients. Good luck with it all, we know you will do great! 🙂 x
I think the idea of an online wedding show is a fabulous idea! It was really useful to read your thoughts on rebranding too. This must be such a challenge for any new venture, as well as any small business who is looking to step up their online presence. I am a really new wedding blogger, but I really try and suggest small or independent brands on my blog. This kind of advice would be really handy for them! Some of them don’t even have a proper web page! At the end of the day, you are so right – listen to the expert advice, but stay true to yourself. I am sure you will have loads of success and I really look forward to seeing the online wedding show! 🙂
Hi Katie
Thank you so much for your support, we are so exciting to be launching soon as it has felt like forever in the making. I am so glad you found the post helpful and please feel free to point anyone in this direction if they need any help. Good luck with your blog and I hope to hear lots more from you in the future 🙂
Emily x