Roll Out Your Visual Identity - A Brand Rollout Checklist

So, do you get started with crafting a rebranding rollout plan? Learn how to roll out a rebrand in this article. We’ll discuss the essentials, from startup branding to the importance of team huddles and even SEO.

Plan Out Your Brand Rollout Strategy 

Having a proper brand rollout plan is essential if you want to breathe new life into your visual identity and even overall brand strategy. Just like the first time you’ve mingled with your brand identity, you will want to be thorough, not just with color schemes, but logo design, typography, and font sizes, and you might even want to rethink your brand mission and vision if necessary. 

And creating a totally new identity is still just one part of the equation. Crafting something new yet coherent from scratch takes time. That’s why you want to do the new brand rollout by the books as well. You don’t want to see your new design fail just because your rollout was planned poorly. 

And honestly, this is where most things fall through the cracks. A lot of businesses simply overlook the planning and the processes that go into the new brand rollout plan and end up with subpar reception. To make matters worse, they might even lose some of their existing customers in the process, as they might feel disconnected from the new visual identity. 

This is why proper planning is crucial. Fortunately, we’ve created the ultimate brand rollout checklist to help nail your brand rollout and get the best possible results from it. 

Rebranding Checklist

How to forge a rock-solid rollout plan? There is a lot to think about, but you’ll see that some of these things might not apply to your case unless you’re changing the name of your firm together with the rebrand. 

Address Your Team

• First of all, make sure that all the senior managers know about the rebrand and the main reasons behind it. Ensure that your internal communications are positive and consistent across the board. 
• Also, ensure that your teams feel involved in the process. Give them time to get used to the changes that are about to come. People can become extremely attached to the brand they’re working for, so they should be able to have a say to some degree in these shifts. 
• If you, for some reason, can’t share the new identity before the rollout, let them know that there’s something new coming. They’ll need time to accept the change.
• The entire company should know the business reasons and benefits behind the new identity.
• Ensure that your business partners are also on board with the rebrand.

Be Thorough With Your Online Presence 

• You might need to register a new domain name and set up a new email address as a part of the rebrand. Don’t wait for the last second to do it.
• You will definitely need to redesign, if not rebuild, your website. Changing the existing branding elements on the site can take some time, so put it high on your rebranding rollout plan.  
• If you are rebuilding your entire site, you’ll want to eliminate the old one. As such, you’ll need to redirect it to the new platform along with your SEO authority. And if you do keep your old site but build a new one, make sure that you will put an announcement on it and invite visitors to go to the new one.
• Update your Google Analytics for the new website URL.  
• If you’re keeping the old site, don’t forget to update the page titles and your descriptions.
• Update your blog section with a new article about the rebrand.
• Update your SEO keywords.
• Refresh your online directories and listings.
• Check the list of directories and sites that mention your brand and send them a link to the new site.

Don’t Forget Your Clients

The new brand rollout plan should also include informing your existing clientele about the rebranding process. You’d be surprised to see that they also can get quite attached to your brand emotionally, and they might associate the changes with negative things, like price increases, termination of current products/services, and such. When planning your customer communications, remember this.  

• Ensure to send out an email to your subscribed customer base to inform them about the brand rollout. Ensure them that the changes are all positive and they will also benefit from the new identity. 
• Send a follow-up mail with the exact date of the new brand rollout. 
• Don’t forget to talk about the rollout if you get a chance to talk to them in person and give them your updated business cards. 

Your Social Channels

Facebook

• If you’re changing the name of the business, change your username and name of the FB page, as it will appear in the URL
• Update the “about” information where you can find your email address and website.
• Don’t forget to update your cover photo and profile image on the day of the brand rollout
• Update your CTA buttons, if needed

Twitter

• Update your username, and email address
• Update your site’s address along with your cover and profile images

LinkedIn

• Page info, logo, name, and URL should all be updated
• New “About Us” section, if needed
• Update your cover image if necessary.

Instagram 

• Update the bio, profile photo, username, name, website address, and email contact.

YouTube and other channels

• You will need to perform similar changes to those listed above on other channels, such as TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and so on. 

No matter which channels you use, as a part of your new brand rollout plan, don’t forget to post an update about the rebrand and pin it to your feed’s top for at least a month after the new brand goes live. Also, update any website links on your social channels. 

Operational Necessities

• Your bank, HMRC, Company House, and insurers should also know about the rebrand, especially if it involves changing the name of the business.
• Update your privacy policies, terms & conditions, statements, invoices, etc.
• You will probably have to update employee contracts, along with customer and supplier contracts.

Branding/Marketing Materials

• Update email signatures
• Envelopes, letterheads, business cards
• Voicemail messages (out-of-hours, hold-on messages, and so on)
• Internal forms and documents
• Name badges, if necessary
• Presentations
• Word document templates, catalogs, flyers, and brochures
• Show kits
• Customer testimonials, case studies, online ads, banners, social ads, Google ads…
• Photography with old logos and old visual identity should all be changed.
• Don’t forget about creating and sending out press releases to relevant news outlets or industry websites
• Issue press releases about the new brand rollout to associations you’re a member of, like chambers of commerce, etc. 

Pro Tip: The Rollout Should be a Blast

Once you’re done with everything, make sure that everyone’s ready for the changes, and consider organizing an event for rollout day. This way, you can prepare and show off not just your new brand logo and visual identity but your online and offline assets as well. When it comes to your logo redesign, be mindful of the new factors that will now influence the process of how to design a logo. Get your teams hyped up for the big day, along with press members, partners, and clients. Ensure that the event surrounding the rollout is all about highlighting the positives of your new identity so you can take advantage of the momentum you’ve built up later. 

Be Patient and Flexible

However, the most crucial point is that no matter how thorough you are with all the planning, there will be things you will forget or simply won’t see coming. That said, don’t get overly stressed about the rebranding process and the rollout at the end. Don’t forget that your first brand wasn’t built overnight, so keep your cool if you’ve noticed that something fell through the cracks.

And lastly, even despite your best efforts, some of your clients will need some time to pick up on the new identity. We’re living in a fast-paced world. And chances are, they’ve missed it. Others might be a bit negative about it. Don’t sweat it – instead, get them time to get accustomed to the changes. 

Just be confident and hold your new brand banner as high as possible. If you believe in your new brand, others will too.