How to Revamp Your Brand

Whether you’re a designer, freelancer, a small business owner or all of the above, creating a strong and recognisable personal brand is essential for presenting a professional and unique image to attract new customers. 

Done right, your personal branding can complement your skills, elevate your work and impress your future clients and employers. Done wrong…  It could make or break your business.

Without knowing it, every day you are building and developing your personal brand. The way you talk, work, create and communicate, as well as the external perceptions, ideas and concepts that distinguish you and your work from others in your field – this all combines to form your brand’s personality, otherwise known as your personal brand.

In essence, your personal branding should capture who you are and what you do – whether it be personally, professionally or creatively. So, as your work evolves, it’s important to regularly check in with yourself to ensure your personal branding aligns with your vision, every step of the way.

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to revamp, refresh or makeover your brand, there’s no time like the present! Ready to feel like brand new? Here’s how to give that personal brand of yours a little bit of self care… 

Behind every great brand is an even greater purpose. One of the most important elements of crafting a successful brand is knowing exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. 

“Be really clear and confident on your vision, your values and stay true to what your brand is supposed to be,” says entrepreneur and influencer Jess Holsman. “Because if you’re not clear on your brand image and point of difference, you kind of get lost.”

As your brand changes and grows, your purpose will change and grow with it. Looking back at your accomplishments, learnings, and what worked and what didn’t, will help you to re-evaluate and realign your purpose. It’s so important to regularly revisit your goals to ensure you’re keeping your brand on track!

Whether you’re still finding your purpose or set on your goals, ask yourself: 

“You change and so will your brand,” says influencer Emma Hoareau. “I think it’s a good idea to write down what you’re about on paper – what do you love? What’s your niche? What kind of content will you create? And more importantly: what won’t you create?” 

A picture says a thousand words, but when it comes to branding, how you say those words can be worth a thousand more.

“A lot of people see “Brand” as simply visual, whereas a massive chunk lies in the verbal,” says Anita Siek, founder of branding and copywriting agencies Brandfetti and Wordfetti. “Once you have your brand’s verbal identity and messaging nailed, everything – be it marketing, design, social media, copy – all comes together seamlessly.” 

How you speak to your audience is a huge reflection of who you are and what your brand represents, so make sure you know it back to front!

Ask yourself: 

Whether your tone is serious and sophisticated or fun or quirky, make sure everything you say –  from website copy and social captions to conversations with clients – maintains a specific and recognizable tone. And it’s not just about what you say – you can establish tone through your designs as well!

Once you’ve figured out your point of difference, you’ve gotta flaunt it! 

Due to the saturated nature of today’s design landscape, clients are craving authenticity and integrity more than ever before. So having a clear point of difference is the best way to stand out.

“Authenticity is huge. Point of difference is also huge, and you have to have passion,” says artist and business owner, Jenna Hutchison. “Stay true to yourself, commit yourself to the things you care about, and most importantly, make sure you love the message you are putting out into the world. That’s the most sincere form of success.”

If you’re struggling to find your point of difference, ask yourself: 

Find out what makes you and your branding unique – whether it be your creative style, your work, your social captions – and really hammer it home. Emphasise those you-phemisms!

Whether you’re refreshing, revamping or re-branding, there are always a TON of design and branding trends on the go. From design trends and colour trends to font trends and even Instagram trends – sometimes it can be hard to keep up!

“The key is to create art that gives you joy,” says Paria, the artist behind Instagram account Labyrinth of Collages. “There’s no point in trying to please followers or chase likes. People can see if you’re being authentic so stick to what you’re good at. Your passion will shine through.”

Trends will come and go, so don’t feel like you have to follow every single one to stay relevant. But, if you’re thinking about shaking up your branding, it can help to take note of what’s trending to get some inspo. Be selective about which trends align with you and don’t be scared to experiment with new things.

(Pssst, if you want the inside trend scoop, monochrome, illustration and collage are all on FIRE right now!)

If makeover TV shows like Queer Eye have taught us anything, it’s that everyone loves a transformation! 

There are many components that go into making up your brand’s visual identity – your logo, colour palette, fonts, design style, aesthetic – the list goes on. Each of these characteristics is an expression of a different area of your brand image. While each of these elements are important in bringing your visual identity to life, you don’t have to change every single aspect to give your brand a refresh.

“I think the key to branding is knowing your identity as if the brand was an actual person. A brand should have a persona and a clear direction from the very start. Once you have a clear brand guide and visual identity, it’s easy to build anything around it,” says influencer and brand owner Shen-tel Lee. 

When giving your personal branding a makeover, first figure out what you do and don’t like about your branding, as well as what aligns with you and what doesn’t. This way, you can easily identify which areas are on point and which need a spruce.

Choosing a different font, shaking up your colour palette, reworking your logo, or even just trying out a new Instagram aesthetic are a few simple ways to makeover your visual identity. Or, go the whole nine yards and give your brand a whole new look with these brand guidelines.

Find all your visual branding assets – including branding kits, social media templates, logos, fonts and more – with a subscription to Envato Elements!

As your brand grows, your audience will grow with you!

Building an engaged, supportive and loyal community or client base is perhaps the most crucial element of building a successful, sustainable brand.

“My top tip for creating on-brand content is to know your audience, and know them well,” says brand expert Anita Siek. “Create human-centered content, and not just content for the sake of content. With so many brands and businesses out there today, it’s going to take time for your audience to see who you are, what you do, and – why you? BUT, if you stay consistent and show up, your audience and your community will start to build.”

If you’ve lost contact with your audience, use this opportunity to reconnect with your community. Or, if you’ve been regularly engaged with your customers and clients, use the opportunity to reach out and get their feedback on your brand. You’ll never know if you don’t ask!

Your community are the ones buying your work, fostering your growth and spreading that word of mouth marketing – so make sure you get to know them.

Have your social media accounts gone silent? It might be time to brush off the cobwebs and give your online presence a refresh! The truth is, in this day and age, having an active and consistent social media presence is a crucial part of building a successful brand.

The great news is – creating a new social media assets isn’t as hard as it looks. 

When it comes to your socials, ensure all of your profiles, images and info are up to date. It can also pay to make the most of your link in bio with a tool like Milkshake App to share everything you have to offer in one place. Think of your socials as a highlight reel or mini portfolio to make a great first impression on new clients. 

“We find a lot of customers go to our Instagram to do a “credit check” to essentially make sure we’re the right fit,” says Sheree Rubinstein, founder of One Roof Women. “Knowing this, we use it to create a feeling. When our followers see or read our content we’re making sure to provide value, connection, community and support. If they can experience it on our Instagram, they automatically connect with our brand.”

A great way to revamp your social media content quickly and easily is by using social media templates, which allow you to create on-point, consistent posts customised to your brand. You can even use templates to create your Instagram Stories!

There’s no doubt that creating a website is a fantastic way to increase the professionalism, visibility and credibility of your personal brand and attract new customers via search. While making a whole new website can seem overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be!

You don’t need a ton of content, info or pages –  your website can simply be a one-stop-shop for your clients or customers to find out who you are, what you do and where to find you. But, if you wanna show a little bit more, consider including a write up about yourself, a snapshot of your portfolio or examples of your work. 

If you’re looking for something quick, easy and effective, there are plenty of website templates, WordPress themes, and landing page templates to choose from.

If you’re ready to create or update your website in no time, check out these top Elementor Template Kits.

We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again, we’ll say it a hundred times… Consistency is KEY! It’s so important to keep your branding consistent, clear, and authentic, to ensure your brand comes across as professional as possible.

“The key to a strong brand is consistency! Making sure you are updating your audience regularly with a consistent content style and core key messages mean they’re always becoming more familiar with you and who you are,” says Stephanie Kaye, branding officer at Dash of Milk Agency.

Stephanie adds, “One of the worst things that can happen is having your audience confuse you for someone else. People need to be able to recognise your brand anywhere they see it. You don’t want to put time and effort into generating brand awareness across different online platforms if nobody can recognise the content is actually yours.”

People are drawn to branding that they can recognize and identify with, so when revamping your brand, make sure ALL of your branding – your colour palette, your contact info, your logo, your messaging, even your profile picture – aligns perfectly.

And remember, if you’re struggling to stay consistent or define your brand’s identity, ask people to assess what they associate with your brand. Sometimes a second opinion is all you need!

To develop your personal brand, find assets including branding kits, social media templates, logos, fonts and more with a subscription to Envato Elements!