31 October 2019
How to Launch Your Brand on Social Media
In our last post, we delved into everything that goes into launching your brand, from displaying your branding in the right places to utilising email marketing.
Now for the fun stuff: Launching your brand on social media.
Pre-Launch Checklist
Social media is a powerful tool, but even the most beautifully curated feed is going to be wasted without an audience.
Here’s everything you need to do before your social media launch:
Get Your Profiles in Order
That includes claiming your brand’s handle across every platform, filling out each profile with relevant information and links, and of course, populating those feeds with stunning content.
You should aim to have at least six organic posts published to ensure people follow and engage with your content, especially on Instagram. Nobody likes an empty feed.
Is your brand an online store? Remember to have Instagram shopping set up and ready to go.
Start a Drumbeat Campaign
Now for the fun part! This is all about generating interest, building excitement, and starting the countdown to launch day.
We’ve touched on using social media advertising for a drumbeat campaign in previous posts. This powerful tool allows you to find and zero in on your perfect customer, which ensures your ad creative is used as efficiently and effectively as possible.
“You gave them a reason to follow you. Now give them a reason to stay.”
There are a few ways to use both social media advertising and organic social media to create a drumbeat campaign, including having both services working in tandem.
Here are just a few examples:
- Run a social media marketing campaign staggered in stages in order to build anticipation and retarget audiences over a set time period
- Drip-feed sneak peeks of your brand through organic social media posts and stories
- Run a competition to drive followers to your page and promote it through social media advertising
- Count down the days to your launch using organic social media posts
Create a Social Media Calendar
Lastly, don’t forget to have a regular schedule ready to roll out post-launch. Posting regular content is essential to keeping your new followers engaged and beating the algorithm.
You gave them a reason to follow you. Now give them a reason to stay.
Launch Day Action Plan
Launch day is here, which means it’s time to party! No, really. Your audience should feel just as excited as you that your brand has made its long-awaited debut.
This means posting organic content that’s going to have a serious impact. Take a look at the launch day Instagram posts for our construction brand client, Figurehead:
But there’s more to a successful launch than posting a few images. It’s important that you interact with the audience you’ve spent so long curating.
This is where features like Instagram stories and live streaming come in handy. You could live-stream your launch party or host a live Q&A for your followers.
“Your audience should feel just as excited as you that your brand has made its long-awaited debut.”
Is your brand an eCommerce business? Reward your followers with a discount code for your store. This not only encourages sales but gives your followers an incentive to keep following you in the hope that they’ll get even more discounts in the future.
And remember that competition recommendation? Now’s the perfect time to announce the winner.
How to Keep up the Social Media Momentum Post-launch
Your launch may have come and gone, but the work has only just begun.
Take advantage of the launch traction and jump right into your next social media advertising campaign. You want to continue to leverage your new audience while they’re engaged and receptive. Keep your brand on their mind.
Make sure to promote your social media channels outside of the digital world, too. Display your handle on any branded items that your customer (present or future) will see.
You can find an example of this with the menus we designed for cafe Merrymen, as well as the colourful Cakeagram delivery van.
