Social media is a great way to quietly rebuild your entire brand without making a big fanfare about it. In some cases, this is exactly what you want. Have you launched a new website? Do you have a new line of products that you hope will remake your entire business outlook? Of course you want people to notice, and sometimes social media is the best and least expensive way to do this.
Float a new logo, try out a new brand name or simply grab people’s attention with giveaways or “new product naming contests”—whatever you decide, social media can work for you. However, there are some rules to follow when you rebrand using social media.
For one thing, you must start early. You want to have seamless artwork, great content and other items ready for your rebranding campaign. Whatever you do, never try something like this on the fly! Good planning is the key to marketing success, whether you work through social media or other venues.
Here are a few tips for specific social media platforms as well:
- Twitter. Be prepared to grab your Twitter handle as the earliest possible time. If you cannot get the handle you want, think about negotiating with the person who has it. Twitter will not aid you in this endeavor but does allow “switching” if both parties agree. If you use a Twitter ad account, alert them to the rebranding plan and important dates.
- Facebook. It is hard to change your name on Facebook if you have more than 200 followers. It is probably easier at that point to apply to Facebook for a rebrand, which can take up to a month to process. Do not change your URL until Facebook approves the rebrand.
- Google+. It may be that Google+ is the hardest of all social media accounts to rebrand. You can make the name change yourself on your profile section, but changing the URL is another matter. Be sure your web developer and any content authors know the new URL and G+ profile to establish authorship.
- YouTube. Be sure to connect your YouTube account to your G+ page in order to have all of your videos on your G+ profile page. Do this during the time before your actual brand change and it will make the transition smoother.
- Pinterest. Finally, an easy switch! Pinterest makes it super easy to change your brand name. You do have to re-verify your site, however, if you decide to use a new domain URL.
- LinkedIn. There is simply no way to change a company page name in LinkedIn. Instead, you may want to post a message on your old page that redirects visitors to your new page. Fortunately, rebranding as a group is super easy as long as you do not pass 20,000 linked associates.
- Instagram. As long as your brand’s name is not already taken, it is simple to edit your profile and vanity URL at Instagram.
- Tumblr. Tumblr requires you to change information in two places: Your blog’s name and your URL. You can change your name to anything that is not already taken.
Rebranding means more than just changing your name, but it is not as difficult as it might appear!