A partial rebrand could give you the courage needed to oversee a full rebranding in the near future. Consider rebranding parts of your association and see how you can benefit from a bit of positive change.
Looking for a way to give your association a brand new look, but aren’t sure about the process of a full rebrand? We understand.
After all, conducting an entire rebranding for your association is a time consuming, serious process that should never be done without a full assessment of your association’s current brand. It takes time, money, and resources that your association just might not have- not to mention a serious evaluation of your membership’s satisfaction with your current brand. However, you may still be looking for a way to bring about some change within your organization without the weight of a full rebrand. So, why not give partial rebranding a try?
What is partial rebranding? It’s a way to test the waters with a rebrand without fully diving into the process of revamping your association’s entire look. It’s also a way to experiment with new ideas and changes before making an entire permanent transition.
If this sounds like something that appeals to you, you’re not alone. Many organizations go through a partial rebrand as means to test out how a full rebrand would look. But if you’re still a bit skeptical, here are a few reasons why a partial rebrand might work wonders for your association’s marketing strategy. Pay close attention and see if you might want to try out partially rebranding!
The first reason, and arguably the most obvious, for rebranding is simple: It will create a positive impact on your organization. While this seems obvious, it actually can be a doubt that many associations have when looking to rebrand specific parts of their brand. There might be some hesitation from brands moving forward with any changes, no matter how large or small.
But, rebranding specific parts of your association, if done correctly, will help you make a more positive impact when it comes to marketing and advertising to your target audience. For example, let’s say your association’s emails are losing the spark they once had. Your open rates may be lackluster, and engagement might not be what it used to. So, instead of keeping the same email design, rebranding a small part of your email strategy can actually help boost your email engagement in the long run. Think about it, if you spruce up your emails and switch up the way you deliver content and design, you could rebrand your emails into a positive change for your association. While this is just one example, there are many ways that a partial rebrand can be a beneficial practice. If you find the right branding choice to change, you’ll see a positive response in no time.
Did you know rebranding specific parts of your association can actually help you network and expand your audience? It’s true!
If you create new aspects of your brand, you’re therefore putting a new face to your association no matter the size or severity of the rebranding change. And with a new look out on your association’s communication channels, you could catch the eye of a brand new audience (or intrigue your current target audience enough to become a member!).Let’s take your association’s social media platforms as an example.
If you haven’t changed up the appearance of your association’s Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter pages, it could be a great place to start for a partial rebranding. You can create new graphics to include on your profile, set a new icon image, update your header graphic, or anything in between. Want to try out a new statement in your biography? The options are endless. Then, with a newly branded social media profile, the networking options have just opened up for your association.
According to Social Media Examiner, 74% of social media marketers use visual content in their social media strategy- and there’s a reason for it: It works. By rebranding your visual content, you can actually attract more eyes to your social media channels, which can lead to more engagement- and maybe even an increase in memberships! So, if you’re on the fence about rebranding specific parts of your association, think about the networking and audience expansion opportunities.
Similar to expanding your association’s audience, a partial rebrand can also increase the retention rates of your membership. If your association sticks with the same branding, it can lose the attention of your long-term members. There’s only so much repetition that people can take before they grow bored of the same old thing year after year.
That’s why change is absolutely essential for keeping the attention of your membership. If you can switch things up in a way that intrigues members, you can see them get excited about your association all over again, hopefully convincing them to renew in the future. For this reason, it’s important you get a read on what changes your membership is looking to see. Surveying your members can help you figure out what types of branding is working for your association, and what may be fizzling out amongst audiences. Consider sending out an email to members containing a survey about your association’s brand. You can ask questions about your logo, your mission statement, your events, or anything else you’re looking for clarity on.Then, based on your answers, you can then see exactly what areas of branding to focus on shifting in a new direction. This is great for any association looking for extra guidance in their partial rebranding efforts.You can also use your association’s events as a rebranding option to retain your members. If you’re an association who has an annual event that stays the same, you could be driving away members from attending every single year. If nothing changes, where is the incentive to join in on the festivities? Switching up your association’s events is a rebranding technique that can increase your event attendance, bring attention back from your members, and keep them interested in the benefits you have to provide them. Give your members a surprise each year with new event activities, guest speakers, vendors, etc. Retaining your association’s membership can be hard- but with some rebranding work, it doesn’t have to be impossible.
There you have it. 3 different reasons why a partial rebranding technique for associations can help your association increase its audience engagement, member retention, and overall positive influence. And who knows- a partial rebrand could give you the courage needed to oversee a full rebranding in the near future. Consider rebranding parts of your association and see how you can benefit from a bit of positive change.
