Your No Fluff Guide To A Successful Brand Launch | Business Series

What is the difference between a successful brand launch and a flop?  In a nutshell, it’s good planning vs. poor planning.  First, let’s assume you are passionate about your new business and you would love to quit your 9 to 5.  You may already have some clientele and are working round the clock to keep up with your side business and your day job.  If only you could dedicate your time fully to your own business, you would be so happy, duh!  Well let me tell you, I totally get it.  I’ve been there.  So what do you do when you are ready to take the leap?  How do you launch successfully and create the buzz you need to get your business off the ground?  Follow these actionable steps and launch your brand successfully!  

Launch Your Brand

Planning and Positioning

Obviously, you first have to develop the plan for your business and decide who your audience is going to be, what would benefit them and what would attract them to your brand.  Then define your product or service and it’s benefits.

Start to position yourself as the expert in this category and continually ask yourself, “who is my core client and what would they want to buy from me?”  Use social media and networking to position yourself and get the word out prior to launch.

Actionable Steps

• Plan your business
• Define your audience
• Define your product or service benefits
• Network
• Spread the word on social media

Branding & Web Presence

Your name, logo and URL need to stand out from the crowd and ‘mean something’ to your potential client.  Brand EVERYTHING.  You should have a quality branding design in action prior to launch.   Don’t just throw things out there and then hope for the best.  First impression is everything so be sure your branding is consistent across all platforms including print, web, video and social media.

You will need a sophisticated website, one that is mobile friendly and aesthetically pleasing.  You’ll also want to launch branded social media pages such as facebook and twitter.  Be sure they are BUSINESS pages and please don’t use your personal profile as your business page.  Decide on your plan of attack prior to launch.  What content will you cover on your social media?  What will your posting schedule be?  Content is key and it should enhance your company’s strategic positioning, promote it’s product or service benefits as well as give your customers some behind the scenes information.  Be realistic and start with a few channels that you will plan to keep up with (like Facebook and Twitter) and go from there.  

Actionable Steps

• Brand everything professionally
• Create a mobile friendly website
• Create at least two social media business pages you plan to use
• Plan your social media posting schedule and content

Build Anticipation

Get your prospects and customers excited about what is to come by enticing them with hints. Find clever ways to make your customers wonder what you’re doing and build anticipation by giving nuggets of information through social media that something new is coming and when they can expect more information.

Actionable Steps

• Involve them in a contest related to your new brand
• Give them hints and entice them to ‘stay tuned’ for the big launch
• Invite them to sign up to be notified when you launch

PR & Marketing

To support and drive traffic to your new website and social media channels a stellar marketing campaign needs to be kicked off. Your campaign should showcase what makes your brand different and what the benefits are to working with you or purchasing your product vs. the competition.  Write a press release announcing the launch and distribute to local media then get out there and network.  Tell your friends and family about your launch and ask them to help you can spread the word.  Also think of other ways of getting the word out in your community by be being active in local events, attending chamber functions and volunteering for projects.

Actionable Steps

• Plan your PR campaign
• Write a press release
• Plan a launch party
• Ask friends and family to help spread the word

In summary, your brand launch should be carefully thought out.  I hope the above actionable steps will help you launch successfully and as an added bonus I’ve created a Brand Launch Checklist which includes all the actionable steps you should take to help you with your launch with great success. Plus, a Free Monthly Marketing Calendar which helps you plan your social media, sales and other promotions.  Be sure to get your free downloads HERE and let me know how it goes!  Also please leave a comment and share your story below.