You’ve done it! After days, weeks, or likely months of hard work by you and/or your designer, your new branding or website is ready to see the light of day. Of course, simply hitting publish and uploading your new assets isn’t enough to get people excited about what you’ve got going on, so you need to launch your new brand or website.

What is a launch?

A launch is another word for a marketing campaign – it’s about putting your business out into the world in a way that builds momentum. For a brand or website launch, you want to build interest and brand awareness to get new eyes on your business and get your current customer base excited.

Who should I target with this launch?

A launch of a new website and/or brand should be primarily targeted at your current customer base, though you will likely get new people who were on the periphery of your world (such as followers of your current customers) swept up in the excitement. You likely won’t want to run paid marketing to your new brand or website launch unless you’re also running a sale or driving people to your products. Here are some of the places you can launch to: 

• Your email list 
• Partner/friends email lists 
• Your social media platforms 
• Partner/friends social media platforms 
• Friends and family 
• Your designer’s following 

So now you know what a launch is and who and where you can launch to, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of how to plan and execute your launch. This is one of the key places where people get tripped up and causes many to just hit publish, upload one social media post, and move on, so bookmark this page or grab your notebook and let’s get into it! 

How to Launch Your New Branding or Website in 3 Steps 

Step 1: Prelaunch

This step is all about taking that excitement you feel for your new brand or website and trying to spread it on to everyone who comes into contact with you or your business. So, how do you take people from, “oh you’ve got a new website? That’s cool,” to desperately refreshing your website address around the time you said you’d launch just to get a look at your new site? 

You’ve got to build the excitement. 2-7 days before your launch (you can totally do longer, though more than 14 days will make the excitement much harder to sustain) start teasing your audience with what’s to come. You can: 

• Send out an announcement email (and follow-up emails) 
• Run a competition for your launch
• Start sharing teasers on social media 
• Tell people the story behind the rebrand or new website 
• Share top tips and educational posts 
• Share images of your excitement and celebration 

It’s also worth spending a few minutes here to consider what people will do once they’ve seen your new thing. Is there any action you want them to take? Could you find a way to encourage them to get on your email list if they haven’t already? This isn’t a totally necessary step, but since you’re getting all those eyeballs on your business, consider what you could set up ready for launch day to entice them to stay in touch. (A note of caution: don’t get so wrapped up in this step that you delay your launch – keep it simple!) 

Step 2: Launch Your Thing

Whether you’re launching your new brand, website, or something else entirely, make sure you set that date and actually launch it! On launch day, do something special. Do a fun (but on-brand) video and share it on your social media channels, offer your followers a discount code, give away a free thing, and above all, make it easy for people to see your new thing. 

Since this is a launch of something visual, and not something you’re trying to get people to buy, you don’t need to use any super persuasive copy or scarcity language – just use your enthusiasm to pique their interest so they engage with your brand. If you are sharing your new store or similar, try to keep your focus on making people curious enough to take a look at what you’ve got to offer. 

Spread your content out throughout the day and have a fun photo or video to emphasise that your brand or website is now live and ready to see. Thank people for their messages, views, and any other action they’ve taken. Make it feel like a big, exciting event, even if you’ve been alone on your phone and laptop all day – no one needs to know! 

Step 3: Don’t Ditch Them

For 3 days after your launch, continue to remind people to check it out. You can also do so a week after your launch and again a month later. If you didn’t offer something free on launch day, consider doing so now – a competition or giveaway is a good option. Thank people for the kindness they showed on launch day, even if all they had to do was click a button and look at your site. This is the perfect opportunity to solidify a connection with new followers. 

Pro Tip:

Try to use this launch as a way to jump-start your social media following and newsletter open rate. Think about it – you just put all that energy into engaging with your audience and now they’re primed, engaged, and ready to hear from you. This is the p-e-r-fect time to continue that level of engagement. If you drop off the face of the earth (which is all too tempting and easy to do after a big launch if you’re not already an avid user of social media and email marketing), you’ll lose the connection you built.

Launches don’t have to be big and complicated, especially for a new brand or website launch, so have fun with it! Use this as an opportunity to experiment, increase your following, increase engagement, and start a new good habit. In the future, you can use what you’ve learned from this launch and the relatively low stakes and apply them to a revenue-driven launch, such as a new service or product. 

Thinking of a brand refresh or upgrading your site? I’d love to help! Check out my services here.