How do you announce a new website launch?
To answer this question, you need to start by defining why people need to visit your website and who those visitors will be. If you've created personas for your content, you have already done this work. Once you know who you're trying to reach by announcing a new website, you're ready for the details.
Write a press release
Although most people get their news digitally these days, writing a press release or blog post announcing your website launch is a great place to start. A press release is usually short, no longer than one page, and it lets people know what you're presenting.
Make sure that your press release is written in the right format so that it will get picked up by various news organizations and distributed to the right departments.
If a publication has room, they will add your announcement exactly as you have written it, although they may edit it. Submit your press release to as many organizations that cover your industry or have readers that would be interested in your announcement.
If you're selling products or services that can be discounted or promoted with a special gift, offer this promotion to incentivize current and prospective clients to visit right away.
A great example of a promotional offer is the free trial of a streaming service for several days, giving customers a chance to try it now and buy it later. Most people are thrilled to try free offers like this, exposing them to the product you're selling.
Send out an email
Sending out an email to a targeted list of potential buyers is still one of the best ways to promote a new website launch (or other business announcements).
An email list is composed of people who've opted into your email list which makes it much easier to get their attention and interest. Using landing page best practices, you can send email recipients directly to a landing page that is the beginning of your sales or marketing funnel.
Benefits of an announcement email
Even though emails are one of the oldest ways to communicate with customers online, email marketing is very effective. It also helps you personalize your marketing since you can add a name to every email.
1. Email users have opted-in to get your email
An email list is comprised of existing customers and other people interested in your business enough to sign up for your email. That means they want and expect to hear from you.
They've invested themselves in your content. So, when you send out an email they are more likely to read it than the audience on social media, for instance.
2. Email is easily accessible
Since a high percentage of people have access to their email from their computers, tablet, and phone, email can reach them practically anywhere there is an internet connection.
To get to your email, they just need to click on their notification or app on their device to read your email. Many services now give you the option to send out notifications to subscribers via text.
These are good ways to alert people, however, they don't give you much room to send a message. Some companies use texting to alert subscribers about a new email.
3. They can opt-out
Email recipients can opt-out at any time if they're no longer interested, putting the power of choice in their hands. Since they are aware of this, they feel more confident in staying on your list. It also means the people on your list are still interested in what you sell.
4. You can send an email at any time of day
There is no barrier to sending an email at any time of day or night because you can schedule it to distribute at the most effective time. You can create and send the email, then send it globally in different time zones. In fact, you can schedule them to be distributed at the right time in every time zone. Segmentation is a good way to do this.
5. Emails are delivered rapidly
Email goes straight to the user in a timely fashion, meaning that everyone gets one almost immediately after it's sent. That is different than social media which doesn't allow all of your followers to see every post unless they search for them or visit your home page or dashboard.
6. Emails are trackable
Mailchimp makes it easy to track users' behavior after they open your email. This helps you determine the effectiveness of your email and which content they are spending time with when visiting your website.
