A rebrand is a pretty exciting project. It’s a chance to redefine your identity, refine your messaging, and present your business in a way that better reflects where you’re headed.

It’s also more work than most people expect and that's where we come in!

Recently, we went through our own rebrand, and while the process was rewarding, it taught us several valuable lessons that we’ll be putting to good use for our clients moving forward. If you’re considering a rebrand of your own, here are five things we learned along the way.

1. Update Your Google Business Profile Last

One of the biggest surprises we encountered was the timing of updating our Google Business Profile.

When you submit a name change to Google, they often look at your other digital assets to verify the legitimacy of the request. Your website, social media profiles, directory listings, and other online properties all contribute to that verification process.

If your Google Business Profile is updated before the rest of your online presence, you may run into delays or additional verification requests.

Our advice: Update your website, social channels, and other digital assets first. Once those changes are live and indexed, then update your Google Business Profile.

2. Create a Master List of Every Platform You Need to Update

Before our rebrand, we thought we had a good handle on all the places our company name and logo appeared.

We were wrong.

Between project management software, CRM platforms, email signatures, invoicing systems, social profiles, directory listings, analytics tools, and countless SaaS subscriptions, there were far more touchpoints than expected.

Creating a master checklist before launch would have saved time and prevented a few missed updates.

Our advice: Build a comprehensive inventory of every platform, account, and software tool your business uses. Then work through the list systematically during the rebrand rollout. Once we had our list it was a gamechanger.

3. Design a Small Profile Version of Your Logo

Most logos are designed with websites, signage, and print materials in mind. However, today’s digital world requires logos to work at extremely small sizes and these should be created right away... You will need them.

Social media profile photos, browser favicons, Google Business Profile images, and messaging platforms all display your logo in tiny dimensions.

For profile images, we recommend creating a simplified version of your logo designed specifically for square formats. A common size to prepare is 400 x 400 pixels, though creating larger source files allows for greater flexibility across platforms.

Our advice: While designing your logo, create a dedicated profile-mark version that remains recognizable even when displayed at very small sizes.

4. Plan Your Customer Communication Before Launch

A rebrand can create confusion if your audience isn’t informed properly.

Whether you’re changing your company name, logo, messaging, or all three, customers should understand what’s changing and, more importantly, what isn’t changing.

For service businesses with a smaller client roster, personalized communication goes a long way. Sending custom emails allows you to explain the reasoning behind the rebrand and answer questions proactively.

For businesses with larger customer bases, a short video announcement can be highly effective. A simple 30-second video explaining the change helps maintain trust and creates excitement around your new brand identity.

Our advice: Create a communication plan before launch and make sure everyone who interacts with your customers understands the messaging.

5. Don’t Forget Your Marketing Collateral

Digital assets often get most of the attention during a rebrand, but physical marketing materials matter too.

Business cards, brochures, presentation templates, trade show displays, apparel, vehicle wraps, signage, and printed leave-behinds all need to be updated to maintain brand consistency.

It’s easy to overlook these items until you’re standing at a networking event handing out outdated business cards.

Our advice: Audit all physical and digital marketing collateral before launch and budget time for replacements where necessary.