Navigating Your Social Media Presence During a Rebrand

Is your presence on social media an accurate representation of the current state of your business?

The average organization updates their identity every seven to ten years, according to an article by Entrepreneur discussing why businesses rebrand. Common reasons for rebranding include repositioning your business to engage with new audiences, turning around a declining reputation, and updating messaging after a merger or acquisition. Regardless of the reason, rebrands are a major opportunity for businesses to redefine how others perceive them and their presence on social media. To learn best practices for managing your brand's social media accounts, read our whitepaper.

Social media plays an integral role during the rebranding process — it’s one of the main platforms that people use to interact with or learn about a business outside of the business’ website. Whether your business has recently undergone major changes (like the merger of Spredfast and Lithium to form Khoros) or you’re looking to overhaul an outdated social media strategy, there are five crucial steps you need to take when rebranding your social media presence.

Before settling on a new name for your business, check to ensure the handle is available on the social media platforms your audience uses. A tool like Knowem can help you easily see if your name is available across hundreds of social media sites. If the handle is already taken, you will either need to decide on a new name or try to purchase the handle from the entity that has it.

Some users will attempt to “squat” on usernames, meaning they sign up for an account to secure the handle hoping someone will offer to buy it at a later point. The good news is that this practice is against the terms of service on almost all social media platforms, so contact the platform’s support if this happens.

Once you’ve made a decision on a new name and verified that the handle is available across social media platforms, here’s how you can make the transition.

How to change your name on Facebook

Logged in as an admin on desktop, click on the About section to the left of your page. Next, click EDIT beside your page name and enter the new name you’d like to use. Click Continue, and then select Request Change to complete the process. Do the same for your username below to change the handle of your business. Facebook will notify you that their review may take up to three days for confirmation, but the name change should happen immediately on your page.

For additional support, view Facebook’s instructions here.

How to change your Twitter handle

On desktop, click the More button in the navigation bar. Choose Settings and Privacy, and under Account, update your current Username. Click the Save button to finalize the process.

Get more information on managing your Twitter account here.

How to change your Instagram name

Changing your username on Instagram is actually faster when done through mobile, so start by logging into the app. Tap the profile icon in the bottom right corner, then select Edit Profile under the number of posts, followers, and profiles you’re following. Tap on the Username box, and type your new username. Save the change by touching Done in the top right corner.

Have more questions? Visit Instagram’s Help Center.

How to change your YouTube name

Sign into your YouTube channel on desktop, and then select your profile icon in the top right corner. In the dropdown menu, click Settings. Next, click the Edit on Google link beside your current username. Erase your current username, and type your new name. Press OK to finalize the change.

Check out the YouTube Help page for more information on changing channel details.

How to change your Pinterest username

While logged into your profile on desktop, click the three dots at the top of Pinterest and select Edit settings from the menu. Edit your handle in the Username field, and click Done to confirm.

View additional instructions for editing your profile here.

How to change your LinkedIn URL and username

To change your username, sign in to your company page as an admin and click the pencil icon to the far right of your business name. In the Page Info section, replace your current name with your new one.

It’s also a good idea to change the Public URL of your page when switching to a new name. To do so, sign in to your Page admin center and click the Admin tools dropdown. Select Public URL, and enter the new URL you’d like your business to appear under. Click Save changes to finish the transition process.

For further support updating your LinkedIn Page, visit this help page.

How to change your Snapchat display name

Snapchat does not let people or companies change their username for security reasons, however, you can change your display name. To change your display name, login and select My Profile. Tap the ⚙️ icon to open Settings, then select Name under the My Account section. Type your new display name, and click Save to finish. If changing the display name isn’t enough, you will need to create a new account.

Find answers to common questions and get more help by visiting the Snapchat Support center.

Pro Tip: Remember to update your description along with your handles on these social media platforms to reflect what’s new about your business. We also suggest giving your followers a heads up a few weeks before making the switch. You could run a “hype campaign” to give users a preview of what’s changing and get them excited for the upcoming grand reveal.

You need to establish what your company envisions for its new social media identity and how you want audiences to see your business moving forward. Consider your goals and think about how social media can help your business achieve them.

For example, Denny’s had one of the most successful rebranding efforts ever. Macrotrends data from 2008 to 2012 indicates that Denny’s saw five straight years of declining revenue as the restaurant chain struggled to bring in new customers and connect with younger audiences.

With the future of the organization at stake, Denny’s launched a massive rebranding campaign in 2013 that relied heavily on a new social media strategy to shift their identity with audiences. The results were astounding: Denny’s started with 72 thousand Twitter followers in 2013 and grew that number by 719% — to 518 thousand followers in 2019. This success has carried across multiple platforms, and content like the post below regularly goes viral.

Rather than posting about new offerings and ongoing specials, Denny’s shifted to a savvy, iconic brand persona through the use of memes and wildly creative content. Denny’s now has an identity unlike any other brand, and millennial engagement continues to increase with the business that once struggled to connect with younger audiences.

With your identity established, it’s time to develop a posting plan to ensure your brand can consistently deliver great content. You should experiment with post frequency to see what generates the most engagement from your audience. To get you started, here are our research-backed suggestions:

How often to post on Facebook

In an interview with Forbes, marketing expert Neil Patel stated your post frequency should depend on the number of followers you have. For businesses with 10,000 followers or more, posting two times a day is the best way to maximize clicks and engagement. However, using this strategy with fewer than ten thousand followers actually reduces clicks-per-post. So if you have fewer than ten thousand followers, aim for one to five posts per month.

How often to post on Twitter

The co-founder of Copy Buffs, Dakota Shane, compiled data from ten studies into an Inc. article that breaks down the ideal post cadence for each social media platform. While Shane recommends striving for 15 tweets a day, he notes that it’s better to have three quality tweets than 15 lackluster tweets. Rule of thumb: emphasize quality over quantity on Twitter.

How often to post on Instagram

The Instagram experts at Dash Hudson took a sample of 1,400 businesses to determine how often businesses should be posting. They found that posting more than once per day decreases the individual reach of each post, but increases your overall reach.

With that in mind, we recommend posting three to five times a day to build awareness during the rebranding process. Once you hit the desired follower count, consider scaling down to one post per day and shifting focus toward building a strong relationship with your current audience.

How often to post on YouTube

When it comes to YouTube, marketing-guru Jeff Bullas recommends looking at your competition and simply trying to post more often than them. In an example, he mentions a competitor was posting once a week, so his team began posting three times a week to position themselves as a more informative resource. Take a look at your competition and create your cadence by one-upping them.

How often to post on Pinterest

According to Social Media Week, you should aim for five pins per day. Pin up to thirty times a day, but make sure to spread them out across all your boards and at different times.

How often to post on LinkedIn

In a DowSocial article, their experts suggest posting daily if possible, but a few times a week at minimum. There should be plenty of exciting information to share during the rebranding process, so let people know what’s changing with your business.

How often to post on Snapchat

Bootcamp Digital recommends posting four to seven times a week with a mix of short videos, images, and story posts.

Overall, the most important key to success is consistency. Social media shouldn’t be a day-of task. Come up with a plan and deliver a consistent stream of content to your audience. Analyze the results of your efforts every month and make adjustments as you see fit until you have a proven method to generate engagement.

Consider a visual makeover to reinforce the idea that your business is changing. In 2015, Google surprised everyone by changing its iconic logo to a sans-serif variant that was designed to convey the company’s more modern and playful identity.

Use the rebranding process as an opportunity to update outdated design principles and make adjustments that convey the new tone of your business. Your change can be as simple as adjusting the font, or you can incorporate a hidden secret like Fandango did when they updated their logo in 2014.

While the “F” has always been a ticket stub, the logo redesign added a second “F” that combined with the original to make a full ticket.

Don’t just update your logo, consider overhauling your style-guide and changing your color palette to mark a significant shift across all of your content.

The final step in the rebranding process is to monitor the results of the changes you’ve made and look for ways to improve performance across social media platforms. Wait at least a month for the changes to take full effect, and then start looking at how past performance compares to current.

Not sure what to look for? Read about the essential factors of social media listening in our blog post, or see how Khoros Intelligence makes compiling this data easy so you can spend less time digging through reports, and more time engaging with customers.

Rebranding your business is an exciting process that presents the opportunity to completely change the way people perceive your organization. Social media can play a huge role in this transition, so let it showcase the changes you’re making.

To help you make the most of social medial during your transition, you may want to consider working with an experienced partner to guide your new strategy. Learn how Khoros can help you create customers for life with solutions catered to the unique needs of your business.

And if you'd like to learn more best practices for social media management, read our whitepaper.