3 Creative Ways to Soft Launch on Social

Let’s take a minute to discuss how to soft launch a new brand (or bae) on social.

Feb 8, 2023

February is here! People are finding their groove with New Year Goals, Black History Month celebrations are in full effect, fans are in a frenzy over Beyoncé tickets, and the Day of Love is soon approaching.

Have a new product, service, or brand you’re working on but not ready to fully launch? Or in honor of Valentine’s Day next week, maybe you have a bae you want to shout out but still keep on the low?

Well, I have tips that work for both. Let’s jump in.

Provide a sneak peek

Give your community a first look before it's officially released. You can do this by offering them a brief overview of its features and benefits. Make sure you include visually appealing images or videos that showcase the value offerings. That way, you’re able to keep your audience engaged and encourage them to stay tuned for the full launch.

For example, I’m a Ryan Destiny fan. When she provided a sneak peek last year of her song “How Many“ using a small clip from the music video in a Reel, her audience (including me) got excited and looked forward to the full release.

ryandestiny

A post shared by RD (@ryandestiny)

You can also create cool graphics for your launch. Canva has many free announcement templates you can choose from to customize.

I can’t believe valentine’s day is next week! If you decide to provide a sneak peek of bae, here are a few examples you can re-create that do not include putting an emoji over their face or blurring them out of photos.

The holding hands - Easily show how you and your person are connected
The close-up - Crop the photo up close to go incognito
The silhouette - Face a scene where the environment is the focus
The iPhone moment - Have your bae join in on the mirror selfie fun

Take us on the journey

Interestingly enough, TikTok is prioritizing Carousels while IG is focusing on Reels. However, either one can be used to take your audience on a behind-the-scenes journey to showcase how you created your brand or service before the full launch. Share the challenges you faced and the lessons you learned along the way, providing opportunities for your audience to relate to you and your story.

According to this article on Mashable, photo dumps are becoming the new daily vlogs.

For your new bae, maybe you don’t want to share a photo of them but a favorite memory from your dating journey instead. A snippet from a date night (I know y’all have seen the hand and/or second plate photos) can also get the job done.

Create a small test group

Want to share what you’re working on without showing the masses? Start by releasing your new brand or service to a small group of people, via close friends on IG, private Twitter communities, or even a private chat thread. This approach allows you to get feedback, create polls, and Q&A all in a small group before releasing it to everyone. It’s also a great way to build community. Consumers want to feel included, so the test group with early access will probably be the first group who will support and purchase when you fully launch.

Here are two of my favorite articles to learn more:

Note: These articles focus on the Close Friends feature on Instagram but can be used for any private group feature on social to your advantage.

Close Friends is also another method people use to soft launch a bae since it allows you to be selective about what people see. Not trying to go through the extra steps I mentioned earlier? I feel you. Use close friends to share the news with the people you choose.

peppermint gingerbread chai tea latte @sprihathefirst

Let's not understimate the "close friends" only story beta test followed by a story only soft launch

Rachel Sennott @Rachel_Sennott

congrats on the instagram soft launch of ur boyfriend (pic on story, elbow and side profile only)

Remember that idea you were working on? Don’t give up; the year is just getting started. Instead of waiting until it’s perfect to show the finished product, show your work and use the creative ways I shared above to build anticipation and excitement among your audience, while also giving them a behind-the-scenes look at your journey and story.

SN: The bae soft launch tips were just for fun. Soft launch, hard launch, or no launch. Just do you.