If you’re in the online business space (or, truthfully, even if you’re not), odds are that you’ve witnessed numerous brand launches. But what is a brand launch, really? And how do you successfully launch a brand?
As a brand strategist and designer who has helped multi 6-figure entrepreneurs build and launch their brands time and time again, I’m here to share everything I’ve learned over the years to help you have the most successful launch of your brand possible.
Keep reading as I spill the tea on the question, “what is a brand launch?”
What is a brand launch?
Generally speaking, a brand launch is when you officially show off your new brand or business to the public. This is a big step in any business, whether it is the first time the world is getting a glimpse at your new business or if you are rebranding your current business!
However, your brand launch is more than just putting your new logo on social media and calling it a day. You’ll want to think through your entire launch, from start to end, and consider next steps during the post-launch phase.
7 Steps to a Successful Brand Launch
There is thought and strategy that goes into every step of your brand launch, which I’ll be breaking down for you below.
Step 1: Identify your target audience
This is a super crucial part of your brand and is the first step, even before you work with a desiger and brand strategist. Your target audience determines all of your next steps when it comes to your branding.
That’s because when it comes to marketing a brand, it’s important to know exactly who you’re targeting. You need to identify your target audience (your dream client or customer) and craft your marketing materials around what would appeal to them.
This means understanding their demographics (such as age, gender, income, location) and their psychographics (such as interests, values, and lifestyle). Doing this research is essential for creating a successful marketing strategy.
Pro tip: If you try to appeal to everyone, you’ll end up appealing to no one. But if you focus on your target audience and create messaging that resonates with them, you’ll be much more likely to see that success that you’re dreaming of.
Step 2: Nail down your brand identity and brand messaging
Once you’ve identified your target audience (and you’re clear on your service, products, or offerings), that’s where a brand strategist like me comes in.
In order to create a successful brand, it’s important to establish a clear identity and messaging. This means developing a brand strategy that centers around what makes your company unique and differentiating it from the competition.
Think about it… if Christian Loubiton had the same exact style of shoes as Jimmy Choo, they wouldn’t stand out, right? Instead, they’re known for their signature red soles, and that’s helped to differentiate them from the market. You want to do the same, but for your branding.
Your brand identity consists of many elements after your strategy is set in stone: your primary logo, secondary logo, brand mark(s), icon(s), color palette, type suite, and sometimes, even more, depending on the depth of your brand.
Here at Bethany Works®, we use brand archetypes to design our client’s brands. If you want to know what your brand archetypes are, be sure to take my FREE brand quiz!
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This is also the step where you’ll want to get clear on your brand messaging, which often goes hand-in-hand with your brand strategy. Your messaging refers to the words you will use to relate and market to your dream clients. For instance, a laid-back millennial brand would probably want a more conversational tone, while a high-level OBM working with 7-figure entrepreneurs would need a more sophisticated tone and word bank.
Together, all of these elements help to position your brand to be unique and authentic to its core.
Step 3: Create a launch plan
Launching your new brand can be really exciting, but it can also be really stressful. Creating a launch plan can help take some of the guesswork out of your launch and ensure everything goes off without a hitch! It can also ensure that your entire marketing team is on the same page if your business is more than just you.
When launching a new brand, it’s important to have a plan in place to ensure success. Your plan should include details on how you will market and promote your new product, from any launch parties you’ll throw to any gift boxes you may send and everything in between. You’ll also need to create a budget and timeline for your launch.
Once you know the when and how you are going to launch your new brand, it’s important to think about what you are going to share. Some of the most important things to share are:
- Your new why/promise
- Your core values
- Any new products or services you are launching
Pro Tip: If you want to make the launch as hands off as possible, you can schedule out all of your social media marketing, so you only have to worry about showing up your stories. You can also just create a content calendar with all of the post ideas and concepts, so all you have to do is write the caption and hit post each day – this is one of my favorite pieces of advice.
Step 4: Build the anticipation for your new brand
As you’re getting your marketing planned out, you’ll also want to start to build some anticipation for your brand new launch. Luckily, there are tons of fun ways to build excitement among your target audience.
Looking for some ideas? Here are some of my faves:
- Use teaser campaigns to get people excited about what’s to come. These could be images or video – either work.
- Share sneak peeks or behind-the-scenes footage to create a sense of mystery and intrigue. A fun way to do this could be to invite certain people to opt into your close friends story; make it exclusive!
- Hold online or in-person launch events where you can unveil the new brand to the world. This is a great way to create a sense of excitement and generate some buzz around the launch before it comes.
- Get influential people on board. Get big names or respected industry experts to endorse your new brand or even share about it. This will help generate trust among potential customers.
By following these tips, you can create a lot of hype and anticipation for your new brand launch and hopefully see some success once it’s finally unveiled to the world! But you’re not done yet…
RESULTS THAT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
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Step 5: Have a strong social media presence during your launch
A brand launch is a very important event for any business. It’s the moment when you finally reveal your new product or service to the world and officially kick off your marketing efforts. When you are thinking about how to have a successful launch, having a strong social media presence is a must.
This can start with your launch plan when you lay out what you want to post, which platforms you want to post on, and when you post, but it does extend further than that. Once the posts are published, it is important that you engage with the people that are commenting and sharing your new brand.
Not only can this help spread your reach, but it can also make your followers feel more involved and connected with your new brand. These are the connections you want to make early so you create a loyal community that can turn into repeat customers/clients.
Pro tip: As people comment on your posts or react to your social media stories, be sure to send them a quick thank you DM. This helps to add a personal touch to your business account!
Step 6: Continue to engage and get feedback post launch
Launching a new brand is always a risk, but it’s one that can pay off big if done well. The reassuring part is that you can always learn from a launch, and your audience is going to be filled with information that can help you as you grow your brand post-launch.
After launching your new brand, it’s important to continue engaging with your audience and getting feedback. This will help you determine whether your brand is resonating with people and whether you need to make any changes.
One way to get feedback is to conduct surveys or polls on social media! You can ask your followers what they think of your brand, what they like or don’t like about it, and what kinds of products or services they would like to see from you in the future.
You can also ask them to share their thoughts in comments or replies to your posts. An easy way to encourage engagement on your posts is to have a giveaway of some type and encourage people to comment and tag someone else for a chance to win.
Another way to get feedback is by monitoring your analytics. You can track how many people are visiting your website or following you on social media, as well as what kind of content they’re engaging with the most. Be sure to also have your analytics set up on your website (a tool like HotJar combined with Google Analytics is perfect for this).
This information can help you determine which aspects of your brand are working well and which ones need improvement. By continuing to engage with your audience after launching your brand, you’ll be able to get invaluable feedback that will help you grow and improve your business.
Step 7: Party & celebrate duh
Woohoo, now is the fun part – congratulations on your brand launch! A successful launch is an important milestone for any business, and it’s definitely worth celebrating.
Here are a few tips on how to celebrate your brand’s success:
- Have a party! Invite your customers, partners, and employees to celebrate with you. It’s a great opportunity to show your appreciation for their support.
- Make a donation in honor of the brand launch. Choose a charity that aligns with your company values and donate money or products in celebration of your brand’s success.
- Issue a press release, publish a blog post, or share a graphic on social media announcing the brand launch and thanking everyone who helped make it happen. This is a great way to generate some free publicity and let the world know about your new business venture.
- Finally, keep up the good work! Continue to put effort into building and promoting your brand, and enjoy watching it grow and succeed.
Launching a new brand can be an exciting and challenging process. It’s important to have a clear vision for your business and set achievable goals in order to make the most of your launch. I hope you found these tips helpful and that they will help you create a successful brand launch.
Psst… are you still in Step 2? Then it sounds like you might be a great fit for one of my services.
