17 October 2019
How to Launch Your Brand
Launching a brand is as exciting as it is nerve-wracking. Whether you need to stand out in an already crowded market or are trying to demonstrate the value of a new product to a sceptical audience, it’s important that you absolutely nail it.
The first step is research and planning. You can read more about the research and planning stage in our recent blog post, which details the average brand launch timeline.
“You want to pique people’s interest and attract potential customers so that when it comes to launch day, they’re ready to buy and engage right away.”
Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to kick that plan into action. We’ve assisted in many brand launches over the years, so we’re more than familiar with what needs to be done (and what often gets forgotten).
Ready to launch?
Get Your Website in Order
It doesn’t matter if you’re an eCommerce store or only have a physical presence. People will be searching for your brand online once it launches, so you need to make sure it looks great and can handle an influx of traffic.
Even if you’re only going to have a landing page, your online presence needs to be consistent with your brand design.
Make sure you’ve linked your socials, and most importantly, ensure your hosting is airtight. There’s nothing worse than crashing your website on launch day.
“Whether it’s a discount code for your subscribers, a free item for the first 100 customers, or a limited edition item only available on launch day, you want to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity.”
Update Your Stuff
And by stuff, we mean physical stuff. Signage, uniforms, and stationery should all bear your branding by the time launch day rolls around.
Not only does it make you look professional (and show off your amazing brand design), but it prevents any potential confusion. Your new customers may very well be keeping an eye out for your latest logo, so you’d better make sure they can find it.
Start the Countdown
A successful brand launch begins well before launch day. You don’t want to open your doors to an audience of no one. You want to pique people’s interest and attract potential customers so that when it comes to launch day, they’re ready to buy and engage right away.
This is called creating brand awareness. By drip-feeding your brand to the world through a drumbeat campaign, you’ll be creating buzz that you can capitalise on as soon as you open for business.
There are a few ways to go about this. Here are the methods we’ve seen the most success with:
Social media advertising. The potential in social media advertising is unlimited. You can reach specific audiences, target people where and when they’re most receptive, and create ads that look like organic content. The ability to retarget people who’ve engaged with your ads also works perfectly with a strategic brand awareness plan.
“No matter how amazing your brand may be, you need to give people a reason to care about it.”
Email marketing. Never underestimate the power of an email list. Automated emails are a fantastic opportunity to drip-feed your launch and build anticipation. This keeps your brand on your audience’s radar.
Email marketing can work in tandem with social media advertising. Think of social media ads as a way to grab emails, and email marketing as your own launch campaign delivery system.
Organic social media. This is a particularly great method if you’re launching a rebrand of your existing brand with an established social media following. There’s also great potential to work with social media influencers. We’ll cover more details on using social media to launch your brand in an upcoming blog post (watch this space!).
Offer Something Special
No matter how amazing your brand may be, you need to give people a reason to care about it. And there’s no better incentive than a sale.
Whether it’s a discount code for your subscribers, a free item for the first 100 customers, or a limited edition item only available on launch day, you want to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity. This will allow you to use the audiences you’ve reached through your digital marketing channels and turn them into loyal customers on day one.
Have a Party
Because what’s a brand launch without a launch day celebration? It doesn’t have to be a grand affair with lots of attendees. Even having an internal launch party for staff is a great opportunity to create buzz-worthy content to share on social media. It all adds to the excitement that your new customers will love.
