How to announce a rebrand on social media

A rebrand is a big task in today’s digital world. It’s not just about changing your logo and hanging up a new sign. Brands take form across websites, e-commerce platforms, multiple social media channels, product packaging, and physical stores. By today’s standards, even a minor logo update is a major undertaking when you consider how many assets will have to change to reflect it.

Make the most of your efforts by creating buzz around your rebrand. Changing your identity is a great way to drum up press, reengage your customers, and attract attention from the public. People are probably going to react to the change anyway, so having a conscious campaign around the rebrand can help you control the narrative.

Think about the way you feel when your favorite grocery store changes its layout or an app you use every day changes its interface. People often accept change best when it doesn’t come as a surprise. That’s why it’s important to announce your rebrand on social media ahead of time. You may not be able to control the media coverage you get about a rebrand, so your own channels are the best way to manage expectations.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to announce a rebrand on social media, with examples.

1. Check availability

If your rebrand involves changing the name of your brand, don’t just consider the availability of your desired new domain name. Also make sure the Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook handles you plan to use are available — and that they can be uniform across all social platforms. If you’re not changing the name of your brand, then skip this and go straight to step number two.

2. Solidify your message

A rebrand can be as simple as refreshing your logo or as complex as changing your name and focusing on a new mission. Regardless, there’s a reason you’re making changes, and it’s important to communicate that narrative to your customers and the general public when announcing a rebrand on social media. If you’ve completely transformed your logo, explain what your reasoning for the change is and how the new logo reflects your company’s values more accurately.

You might want to share the rebrand journey as well. For Jotform’s rebrand, we showcased some of the logos we considered for our new identity and laid out the entire design process in a blog post.

3. Prepare your audience

Surprises are for birthday parties and Beyoncé albums. It’s a good idea to tease that a rebrand is coming before you actually roll it out so customers aren’t taken aback by a sudden change. A preannouncement can also go a long way in generating interest and media coverage.

Consider showing a sneak peek of a new icon or part of your new logo. You could also creatively engage your audience with surveys. 

To further involve them, consider proposing a number of possible new logos and having your social media followers vote on which one you should choose. Gamifying your rebrand can be a great way to get people on board and build a stronger relationship with core customers.

4. Publish your new assets together

You only have one chance to make a good first impression, and that’s true even when it comes to rebranding. Don’t get caught in an awkward situation with mismatched assets spread across your channels. Plan to launch the rebrand across your website and social media at the same time.

With websites, it’s easy to build new pages on the back end and schedule a time to publish them. Social media can be a bit trickier. Your employees can help you synchronize your rebrand by each logging into a different social account and uploading new profile photos and banners at once. Or you could use social media scheduling programs.

5. Leverage the strengths of each profile

If you’re using your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in the same way, it’s a sign you need to learn how to announce a rebrand on social media. Each platform has specific strengths and weaknesses based on their design. When announcing your rebrand on social media, use each platform for different parts of your narrative. 

Instagram is great for showcasing the individual design elements of your new brand but not necessarily for going into detail about their meaning. Twitter is great for images as well, but you can only convey the narrative through a long thread or by linking to a larger piece of content, such as a blog post. 

Facebook can showcase images and narrative without any compromise, and LinkedIn, primarily used for professional and business-to-business (B2B) communication, is a great channel for designers to talk about their rebranding process and for the CEO to start conversations about the rebrand from a business perspective.

With the amount of work that goes into a rebrand, it’s imperative to take advantage of the opportunity to generate new interest in your company. The best way to create buzz is through social media, since it offers a direct line of communication to your customers and public and allows you to control the narrative. If that method generates enough interest, it could even spur traditional media coverage of your new identity. 

Ultimately, understanding how to announce a rebrand on social media will help you achieve the goals you set for your rebrand.

Photo by Surface on Unsplash