Last week, we opened up about an overlooked challenge of running a successful business — getting bored with your offers. 

Most entrepreneurs experience this at some point. They put all their energy into turning their passion into a sustainable business. But eventually, they lose that initial spark and just want to talk about literally anything except the same offers they’ve been promoting for years (or even decades.)

Sound familiar?

If that’s where you are in your business right now, you might want to consider launching a sub-brand (or sister brand). You’ll get a chance to revive your creativity and focus on something else for a bit — without completely derailing your existing business (you know, the one that’s paying your bills).

So, how do you do it? What does it take to launch a successful sub-brand? We’ve got the answers — we just went through this whole process with our own sub-brand, Uncanny Unedited!

Ready to get going? Let’s walk through each step of a strategic sub-brand launch and see how it’s done. 

A sub-brand isn’t just a fun weekend project

Sorry to disappoint you, but creating and launching a sub-brand isn’t just something you can up and do over a long weekend or a slow month in your biz. Unless you’ve got a time machine, you can’t take that Thursday afternoon feeling of being bored and whip up something new to release Monday morning.

A successful launch takes time, planning, and effort — even when you’re launching something under the umbrella of your existing brand.

But don’t worry — we’re not here to rain on your parade and kill your creative spirit. Instead, we’re gonna give you 3 easy steps to take to turn your seed of an idea into a full-fledged sub-brand that happily coexists with your existing business.

Step 1: Start building excitement

You’re creating this sub-brand because you’ve got an exciting idea you just can’t wait to get out into the world, right? So the last thing you want is to make your announcement and hear nothing but crickets from your audience.

You want your audience to share your excitement! To be thrilled that the brand they know and love is offering something new! To be committed to clicking that Buy Now button before they’ve even read your whole launch day email!

How do you make that happen? You start by planning ahead and building a runway for your launch:

Don’t keep it a secret

You don’t want to spill all the beans about your new brand until it goes live. 

But you also don’t want your launch to be a complete surprise to your audience — so share some teasers and sneak peeks with your audience to build awareness (and excitement).

Expand your target audience

Chances are your sub-brand isn’t going to target exactly the same clientele as your existing business. If it was, you’d just be releasing a new offer, not a whole new brand. 

So think about how you’re going to attract leads for your new sub-brand. 

You’ll probably pull a portion of your existing audience, but you also need to make a plan to pull in new leads who are a perfect fit for your new brand!

Plan a kickass launch party

How do you want to present your sub-brand on launch day? How are you going to convey all the excitement you feel for this project in a way that inspires your audience to join you? 

It’s all about showing up in whatever way fits you and your brand. 

Maybe you host a live online launch party with games and prizes. Or maybe you take a quieter approach, like sharing a launch video on YouTube or going live on Instagram. 

Think about what feels right to you, and make a plan!

Invite your network

Your launch party doesn’t just have to be a solo show — maybe you can make it a block party! 

Do you have colleagues, peers, or affiliates who will be excited about your sub-brand? If so, invite them to participate in your launch. Even something as simple as a social media shout-out can have a big impact!

Be prepared

In case you missed it earlier, launching a sub-brand is a lot of work. Even with good planning, you might not have everything ready to go on launch day.

So decide ahead of time what absolutely, positively needs to be ready for your launch — and make sure you get those things done:

• Website: Your sub-brand needs its own website — one with finalized design, copy, imagery, and working links.
• Social media: Make sure your sub-brand has its own social profiles with the correct branding and bio links.
• Sales funnel: Get your lead magnet up and running along with your opt-in form and nurture sequences.

Step 2: Create a (realistic) timeline

Now you’ve got a plan to create excitement and prep your audience for your launch. Now, you need to figure out how to pull it off — and how much time you (actually, realistically) need to get it done.

We can’t tell you exactly how much time you’ll need to prep for your launch — we don’t know your life (or your team/work schedule/business processes, etc.). But we can show our typical timeline so you can take a look and figure out how much time you need to prepare for your own launch.

1 month out

Once you’re about a month away from your target launch date, it’s time to start teasing your audience. You don’t want to give away so much that your actual launch is anticlimactic. 

But you need to start building excitement and showing your audience what to expect. That means creating and publishing content that will capture attention. Think behind-the-scenes sneak peeks on social media, a quick mention in your main brand email newsletter, or a “coming soon” blog post.

1-2 weeks out

Ramp up the excitement with more content and CTAs. Mention your sub-brand in some of the regular content you put out for your main brand. If your sub-brand has its own social media profile, make sure you’re posting regularly, and connect with other names and businesses in your space.

Show off your excitement — that’s what your audience will respond to. Let them know why they should be excited about this new venture, when the official launch will happen, and how they can start engaging now!

Launch week

If your sub-brand launch is going to include a live event, this is the time to start collecting those RSVPs or sending out Zoom links to everyone who’s attending. 

If you’re not doing a live event, that’s OK. You could consider offering a waitlist for people who want to access your new offer right away. Give them an incentive for joining the waitlist, like a discount if they order during your launch window.

LAUNCH DAY!

You’ve finally made it — you’re ready to send your sub-brand out into the world. Now’s the time to go all out on the excitement and announcements: 

• Allllll the social media posts — Reels and Stories along with static content, if possible
• Emails and more emails — send at least two messages to announce your sub-brand and give people the opportunity to engage (follow on social, visit the webpage, etc.)
• Blogs — post the big news on your main brand’s blog so you can drive traffic to your new offers
• Community — connect with people in your community who align with your sub-brand (referrals can be powerful!)

Celebrate your hard work

Launching a sub-brand might not sound like a lot of work (after all, it’s not like you formed a whole different company or anything), but trust us — it is. You poured so much time and energy into creating your new idea and bringing it to life, and you deserve some major kudos and a well-earned break.

Of course, you can’t just go into hibernation. You’ve got to keep showing up for your main business and your new sub-brand. But take some time to decompress — burning yourself out isn’t going to help your new venture succeed.

This is where your regular content marketing can start doing the heavy lifting. Once you’ve made it through the launch, you can rely on your scheduled content, sales funnel, and social media posts to continue building the audience for your sub-brand.

You don’t have to do it all by yourself

In case we haven’t made it clear, we’re gonna say it one more time. Launching a sister brand or sub-brand is a BFD — and it takes a lot of work. This isn’t a weekend project or something you can just do on a whim, not strategically anyways. 

We spent months getting Uncanny Unedited ready for the limelight, and that investment was the key to a fun and successful launch. (Go take a look at the new website and see what we’re cooking up over there!)

But you don’t have to do everything yourself. The other key to successfully launching a sub-brand? Knowing when to ask for help. So if you’re looking for a partner to help you launch your sub-brand, we’re here for ya! 

Whether you want a strategic plan for your launch or full-service copy and content support for your launch (and beyond), we’re ready to help you bring your idea to life. Not sure exactly what you want help with? Book a discovery call and we’ll help you figure it out.