Spring Cleaning For Your Brand

Spring is traditionally the time of year associated with rebirth and rejuvenation. Flowers are in bloom, the doldrums of winter are over, and everybody’s mood seems to improve. If your house is anything like mine, Spring is also the time for “Spring Cleaning” and the undertaking of minor and some not so minor household repairs and improvements. From putting away the winter wardrobe to taking a harder look at that old torn window screen, it’s a great time to evaluate and fix little things around your home.

Once your house is in order, what about Spring Cleaning for your business? Do your marketing materials all match up and look consistent? Is the content on your website up to date and fresh? Is your current marketing or advertising plan working? If not, maybe it’s time to clean your business and evaluate whether your brand needs some small improvements.

Clean Up and Update Your Website

When was the last time you read over the content on your company’s website? If it’s been a while, you may not realize that some of the information may be so outdated that it doesn’t even apply to your business anymore. Is your pricing correct? Are there any old promotions still lingering? Are you and your customers sick of looking at the same old photos all the time?  Does the navigation and layout look dated and out of touch? Do you have broken links on your site that lead nowhere or to an error page? If you answered yes to any of these questions it may be time to update your website. Remember your website will never really be “finished”. It is an evolving, almost living component of your brand that needs to periodically change and be refreshed. Nothing says “I don’t care about my businesses’ appearance” to customers more than a stale website. You wouldn’t wear the same exact clothes everyday for 3 years, so why would you let your website look the same. Instead of making your website an ancillary part of your brand, make it the engine and driving force for new business.

Try a New Approach to Marketing

With all of this renewal and rebirth in the air perhaps it’s time to re-think or update your marketing strategy as well. How and where are you getting your message out? What is working and what isn’t? Perhaps it’s time to try something new. Have you thought about Search Engine Marketing as a strategy? Do you ever Google your business’ name to see where it appears? Is it on the first page of the results, or do you have to go through page after page before you find your website? Did you know that 42% of internet users click on the top search result? If your business has a great website, and you want potential customers to find your business, then you MUST invest in Search Engine Marketing for your website. Optimization is the fuel that drives visitors, and more importantly possible sales, to your site. It can be your most valuable marketing tool. If you haven’t yet considered it, it’s time to talk to an expert about it.

Update Your Logo

Design styles change over time and it doesn’t take long before your logo can look outdated, making your business appear behind the times. Sure, an established brand is a good thing, but an old logo can send out  the wrong signal. Upgrading your logo is a simple investment and does not mean changing it completely. Many companies change their logos over the years, but still maintain their brand. An update, such as color change, font change, new tagline or a re-draw on your original design shows a fresh, inspiring new look that says a lot about your business and demonstrates its quality.

Maintaining a fresh outlook and keeping the parts of your brand up to date helps build brand loyalty and brand freshness. A little “Spring Cleaning” may be the key to a successful Summer and Fall.

Tags: business start up, business upgrade, Graphic Design, guru corporation, Logo Design, logo design guru, logos, Small Business, websites

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