Over the years many clients have asked how and when to launch their new brand and website to their audience for maximum traffic and conversion.

So your new brand and website are in progress, too… but what happens when it’s ready and you’re planning the website launch announcement? How will you announce it to the world? Should you build some anticipation? Where should you share it? And what do you say in your announcement when you’re sharing? 

As a brand + website designer, I hear these questions in almost every single project. While the answers vary and are always personalized to each client, I have two launch strategies that tend to work for everyone. But before I share them, it’s important to keep these points in mind:

First, we, as the business owner, always care more about these big changes. Clients and followers care less, and that’s okay. That’s why it’s important to always share your new brand and website launch through the context of WHY your audience should care and what’s in it for them.

Second, asking your followers to “browse your new website” may or may not inspire action. But having a lead magnet ready to go when you launch your site, does. It gives your audience something valuable, encourages them to visit your site to get it, and builds your mailing list. Win-win.

Alright, now let’s talk about these two launch strategies…

Website Launch Announcement Strategy 1:

Announce Your New Website After It’s Live

Pros: The upside of this launch strategy is that your audience already has a destination to check out right away. They can immediately take action on their excitement. 

Cons: The downside is that you miss the opportunity to build a little mystery and anticipation. Your social feeds may also look like they’ve taken an aesthetic jump vs. a gradual transition. But if you ask me, no one is paying attention that closely, and those old posts will get buried soon anyway. 

Here’s everything you need to know about launch strategy 1, announcing your new website after it goes live:

Actions to Take:

• Announce the new website via your mailing list
• Announce the new website on social media
• Share content from your new website at least 1-2x/week for the next several months
• Promote your new lead magnet to get newsletter subscribers! (Highly recommend)

Imagery Ideas: 

• Share your new logo in all its variations
• Share your new color palette and any inspiration
• Share any mood boards that influenced the design
• Share a video of you scrolling through the new website or a portfolio project
• Share photos of your new brand photography

Your brand + website designer can help you with this! For my clients, I offer a social media design template bundle that includes on-brand social media templates they can use for their launch announcements. This is actually one of my favorite add-on services to do for clients!

Messaging Ideas: 

• Share the inspiration behind the change
• Share how this change will impact your work for clients
• Help clients understand why they should be as excited as you are
• Repurpose sections of your website copy into short social media captions
• If you worked with a professional copywriter, they can help you with this.

For my own rebrand and website launch in 2021, I actually repurposed all of the copy on my Home, About, and Services pages, put them into short captions, and had social media posts scheduled out for months! Easy.

Website Launch Announcement Strategy 2:

Tease out Elements of Your New Brand Before the Launch

Pros: Teasing out elements of your new brand before the launch gives you a chance to build anticipation, establish the context for this change, and prepare your audience to make the journey with you. You could do this a few weeks before the launch or a few months, whichever feels natural to you.

Cons: This launch strategy takes more advanced planning than Option 1, especially if you’re planning to tease out the design several months in advance. It may also be awkward if your launch date gets pushed back farther than you anticipated. 

Here’s everything you need to know about launch strategy 2, teasing out an upcoming launch:

Actions to Take:

• Tease out your rebrand in a section of your monthly newsletter (and share why)
• Tease out elements of the new brand design on social media (1x per week)
• If you don’t want to share specifics, simply hint that a makeover is in the works

Imagery Ideas: 

• Tease out your new logo in all its variations (unless your business name is changing)
• Share your new color palette and any inspiration
• Share any mood boards that influenced the design
• Share sneak peeks of photos of your new brand photography
• Same as above, your brand + website designer can create polished, on-brand graphics for your launch announcement(s).

Messaging Ideas: 

• Share the context behind the transition with personal stories
• Share how this change will impact your work for clients
• Help clients understand why they should be as excited as you are
• If you worked with a professional copywriter, they can help you with this.

Once your website is live, then follow the strategy in Option 1 for announcing, promoting, and sharing your new site with your past clients, network, and online audience.

So, which strategy do I recommend?

Honestly, it’s a hard choice. I think they are both impactful and valuable. In fact, you could even take what you like from each of them to create a launch strategy that is all your own. I suggest leaning toward the option that feels most natural to you, or talk to your website designer and copywriter about it. We’re here to help.

If you haven’t started your new brand or website design yet, that’s probably your first step. If you’re interested in discussing a brand and website project for your business, I’d love to chat. Click here to book a call.