Launching a new brand is a huge and exciting step for any business. But for your launch to be successful and for it to attract the attention and momentum you want for your business, you need to have a strategic plan in place for the launch process. I’ve helped to plan and execute brand launches for various clients over the years, in addition to my own branding, and I’ve learned valuable lessons about how to do it right. Here’s how to successfully launch a new brand.

Redefine your target audience

If you aren’t clear on exactly who your ideal customers are, or if it’s been some time since you’ve reviewed and analyzed who they are, now is a crucial time to redefine your target audience. A clearly defined target audience is an essential element of planning to launch a new brand.

The best way to learn important information about your target audience and craft messaging and content to attract and engage them is by creating a customer persona. Consider their interests, goals, pain points, and how your business can provide them with value. My free resource, The Guide to Attracting More Clients, gives you an in-depth guide to creating your ideal customer persona.

Establish goals and business objectives

Before you start dreaming up what launching your new brand will look like, you need to consider the business strategy that will be behind it. As with any significant move and investment in your business, goals and business objectives are essential. 

If you can successfully launch a new brand, it will be a major positive change in your business. Your goals and business objectives will help guide your launch-related decisions to ensure they align with what you want to accomplish.

As you plan your goals and business objectives for your brand, try to be specific and consider setting measurable milestones. Instead of saying, “I want my website to get a lot of traffic,” perhaps you’d like to reach a certain number of visitors or views in the first 30 days. That way, you have a baseline by which you can measure your success and potentially shift your strategy moving forward.

Set your launch schedule 

Once you’ve established goals for your launch, and defined the audience you’re targeting, your next step is to come up with a launch schedule. Specifically, you’ll want to select your launch date. Setting an end date will keep you accountable. Creating a plan for your launch will help you plan for the time you need to complete everything on time.

To successfully launch a new brand, you’ll need to dedicate a considerable amount of time to developing and marketing it. It’s not something you can whip up in a day! It’s important to allow yourself time to prepare and execute your launch, so you should avoid doing it during the height of your busy season or when you’re in the midst of a big project.

Now is the time to review your data to explore where your content sees the most engagement. Your social media analytics will help you identify days and times that your followers interact most with your content, and website analytics will shed light on traffic trends. Scheduling a date that aligns with peak interaction dates and times will let you launch with optimal exposure and create hype.

Develop your messaging

Your launch messaging will be some of the first communication that new followers and audience members see from your business. You want to make sure it reflects your brand voice, who you are, and what you can do for them. To launch a new brand that will be memorable and professional, you have to be strategic about your brand messaging.

The way you communicate with your audience can help you stand out in the marketplace. Be real and be honest with your audience. Share your wins and share your struggles. Let them see your business’ values and what matters to you, and how you weave them into running your business. 

Avoid constant plugs and pushes to sell, and instead, create opportunities for engagement and interaction. As your customers learn more about your brand, they will begin to feel connected and loyal to your business.

Create a social media strategy for your launch 

The social media strategy you develop for your launch will play a big role in promoting and spreading the word about your new brand. The content you share on your chosen platforms will help you to announce your brand. It will help your target audience understand who you are, what you do, and why they should take notice.

Here are various content ideas you can use to create your social media calendar as you plan to successfully launch a new brand:

• Share your process
• Define your ideal customer
• Explain your core values
• Define your business vision or mission statement
• Share why you started your business
• Explain why you wanted a rebrand
• Share your services and how you help 
• Explain the problems your business solves
• Define why your business is unique
  

Rebuild your brand identity

When you prepare to launch a new brand, one critical step is ensuring your new brand identity shows up correctly everywhere your business leaves a visual mark. That means establishing and applying your brand elements globally for consistent and professional marketing.

Logo: Start by placing your updated logo in essential locations. These include:

• Website header and footer
• Email signature
• Business cards
• Business merchandise
• Social media profiles

Color Palette: Your color palette is the foundation for all of your visual branding. It sets the tone for the overall look and feel of your brand, reflects your brand’s message, and shapes how potential clients and customers view your business. Of all the brand assets you review for your launch, its role is fundamental to creating all of your visual elements.

Typography: The typefaces you choose for your new brand play an intricate role in your brand’s overall look and feel. As you prepare to launch a new brand, it’s essential to make sure your brand’s typography is used throughout your business. That means, anywhere your audience will see text associated with you.

Graphics & Imagery: Graphics and imagery are powerful communicators of your brand style, values, and personality in your marketing. Your new brand’s launch should feature visuals that are consistent and align with your aesthetic. That way, when your audience sees them, they can easily recognize them as something from your business. 

Brand guidelines: Organizing all of your brand elements in your brand guideline is the best way to ensure that your branding is consistent across your business. Your brand guideline provides a reference for every element in your branding. From your color palette and font styles to logos and submarks, your brand guideline is the standard by which you use your branding.

Set up visibility ads

To quickly communicate your fancy new brand and get it in front of new audiences, set up ads to help spread the word. Creating visibility ads with high-quality content will get your business noticed. Plus, they help you speed up the process of making a name for yourself and attracting a following.

Paid social media ads are a valuable tool, but not all visibility opportunities have to be paid ads. Instead, you can look into being a guest speaker on a podcast, or perhaps contributing to a guest blog. They are great avenues for exposure and access to audiences that may not be familiar with your business and what you have to offer.

Launching a new brand is a significant undertaking, but if you plan and strategize well, and can create incredible results for your business.