Rebranding your business is such an exciting step in your brand growth! But in all the excitement and dreaming about your new look, have you stopped to plan how to actually launch your rebrand?
Sure, you’ll probably post about it on Instagram. But what else? How will you get your audience as excited about the rebrand as you are?
Listen. As a designer and fellow online business owner, I KNOW how frustrating it can be to work really hard on something, launch it, then hear… crickets.
It can make you feel like you’ve wasted your time. All that hard work, and no reward?
I don’t want that for you, friend.
I want to help you avoid the disappointment and buyer’s remorse by giving you a practical launch strategy you can follow.
Keep in mind, there’s a LOT that goes into a successful brand launch. (Good design being one of them ;)) But here, I’m going to give you four steps to take that will help you get your audience really freaking excited to celebrate your new visual identity!
Choose a date at least 1-2 weeks ahead of time. Setting a specific launch date will help keep you more accountable and make it much easier to plan your launch strategy.
Don’t start updating anything that’s public with your new look until right before this date (more on this in the next step).
The goal is to get your audience excited about your launch, right? So let’s get them ready for it.
Look at Taylor Swift. Now I’m no Swiftie by any means, but you’ve gotta admit, that woman knows how to plan a launch strategy. She builds excitement for her new albums with cryptic posts and new profile photos. She teases with the tiniest hints, and her fans go nuts.
OR she announces a brand new album with no warning.
But she can do that, because she’s Taylor Swift.
You’re not Taylor Swift.
So no, I don’t recommend dropping a whole new brand aesthetic on your audience without a little warning first. But I DO recommend dropping hints that something new is coming.
You don’t have to be cryptic about it like T-Swift. Just build the anticipation!
Here are a few practical ways you can do that:
Doing this will help get your audience excited, AND you won’t blindside them when you launch your new look!
On the launch date (or right before), be sure to update the look of everything related to your business at roughly the same time, so that your brand aesthetic is consistent in all locations. This includes all your social media channels, website, documents, etc.
If it has your logo, fonts, or colors on it, update it.
If there’s no consistency, you might end up confusing the same audience you’re trying to excite!
For example, let’s say your old logo was a romantic script font and your colors were feminine pastels. Your NEW logo is going to be more bold and modern with neutral colors.
Now, put yourself in a potential client’s shoes: they visit your Facebook page where you still have your old logo in the profile photo. All your graphics are in the pastel colors. Maybe they’re into it, so they click on your website, and instead of cursive titles and pastels, the site has already been updated with your new bold logos and neutral colors. What’s their thought process going to be like?
“Why doesn’t this look the same as the Facebook page?”
“Did the business change? Is it even the same business?”
“It’s pretty, but is this company still right for my needs?”
“I’m confused…”
*closes tab and finds another business to work with*
Don’t waste all that hard work you put into your new brand identity by accidentally turning away a potential client! Consistency is KEY.
Of course, some of these may take more time than others, and the list will be longer if you’re also changing your business name. But just keep these in mind, and remember to keep everything that the public can see consistent at all times.
It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for: launch day!! Time to share your new look with the world! After all that hard work, just one little post would feel a little… anti-climactic, don’t you think?
So, make the launch day feel worthy of the hype! You can:
Try to plan ahead and write your content before launch day, which will save you time and energy, so you can spend the day celebrating instead of stressing about what to say!
Here are a few best practices for crafting your announcement posts:
Bottom line: get really excited about the launch, and your audience will share that same excitement with you!
So, who’s ready to skip the crickets and go straight to the, “OMG this is amazing!!” instead?!
*Raises hand*
I hope these steps help you feel much more prepared and excited to launch your rebrand, whether you’re launching it soon or someday. And if rebranding is on your to-do list, check out this post for tips on how to plan for a rebrand!
Happy launching!
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