Social media helps connect billions of people from all over the world in ways that wouldn’t have been possible even just a decade ago. Individuals love social media for its ability to expose them to like minds and new ideas at the same time, while businesses have found great value in its ability to help promote their offerings. The nature of social media for businesses is one that requires constant pivoting, relevant messaging and an understanding of your audience’s preferences. Many brands come to a point where they contemplate whether a rebranding of the entity on social media is a good idea. We’ll review some of these considerations to help you make a decision.

Enlist Professional Services

Before you embark on a dramatic brand overhaul, it’s important to seek out professional assistance. Social branding experts are well versed in the reasons, motivations and struggles that brands face when contemplating a shift in their social media brand. These experts can use a variety of strategies to determine whether it is time for a change, from pinging your website for shifts in engagement to analyzing how well your audience responds to your current branding. If you consult with professionals and the conclusion is that changes need to be made, then trust them on how to proceed. All too often, owners try to micromanage the process and assert their preferences over that of professional branding experts.

Examine Recent Trends

When it comes to any online business or brand, there are clear ups and downs over time. Sometimes, elements outside of our control – such as changes in SEO algorithms – may disrupt our traffic. In other cases, however, it may have something to do with shifts in your competition or target audience. If your traffic and/or business has recently spiked, then you may wish to consider postponing any changes until the trend has stabilized. Likewise, a sudden drop in engagement may have nothing to do with your branding or approach. Nevertheless, a prolonged trend of decline may be signifying that rebranding your social media approach is in order. The important thing in monitoring trends is to never make any hasty or sudden moves.

Insistence for Consistency

Any solid social media branding changes will adhere to a simple principal: the resulting branding changes will be consistent. From branding and messaging to content and design, the only way branding retains an effective approach in the minds of an audience is if it is etched in their memory. Because of this, a consistent branding effort is required. Additionally, changes to your branding on social media will likely precipitate a need for changes on your website, email marketing and more. Don’t get overwhelmed – it’s OK to take time in the transition – but pinging your website to customers when your social media network is projecting a different image can weaken the effect.

Changing your social media branding strategy should be a deliberate and thoughtful process. You don’t want to rush into anything and you certainly don’t want to send mix signals with the result. By consulting with professionals, applying a consistent branding approach and analyzing any recent changes that may justify specific changes, you’ll be able to generate the best re-branding result for your brand.