Launching a new brand or product into the UK can be both exciting and daunting, but by having the right strategy in place, you can ensure you’re maximising the impact of your launch into a new market.
By the time you’re ready to launch a new brand or product, you should know your audience really well and be confident that your new product range is going to speak to their needs. There is so much to consider when creating a launch plan, for example, what channels should yuu focus on, how much should you spend on ads or agency support, what type of launch strategy should you run on our website?
Launching into the UK market also requires an understanding of how UK consumers discover products online. For many brands entering the UK for the first time, brand awareness will be naturally low, meaning discovery often happens through non-branded searches, social media, and retail platforms before customers ever search directly for your brand.
It’s also important to understand that UK search results are often heavily influenced by large retailers and publications. Sites such as Boots, Sephora and beauty publications frequently dominate search results, meaning brands need to think strategically about how they will gain visibility alongside these established players.
At Foundation, our launch strategies follow these key phases:
- Optimise website
- Build awareness
- Generate hype
- Demonstrate social proof
- Drive sales
In this article, we are going to be sharing some top tips to consider when launching a new brand or product.
What to consider when launching a brand in the UK
1. Make sure your website is ready to convert
Before thinking about your acquisition strategy, it’s imperative that your website is set up to drive conversions, so getting your website prepared for the launch is an important first step. Ensuring you have category and product pages that are well optimised for both SEO and for the customer, demonstrating signs of social proof, and most importantly, full of all the relevant information your customer might need to purchase the product. Consider things like FAQs, high quality video content that demonstrates the product live in action, user generated content and make sure your e-commerce best practice elements are in place (e.g. trust signals, frictionless checkouts, displaying delivery information etc.).
If you are launching into the UK market specifically, it’s also important to ensure your website reflects local expectations. This includes clearly displaying delivery timelines within the UK, transparent returns policies, pricing in GBP, and clear information around duties or shipping if you are operating internationally. Small details like this can make a big difference in building trust with new UK customers who may be discovering your brand for the first time.
2. Decide on a launch strategy
One of the first decisions you’ll want to make is whether to build a waiting list or launch directly to your audience. Each approach has its benefits and challenges:
Waiting list strategy
By asking customers to register their interest by joining a waiting list, you are building up a valuable pool of interested customers before your product goes live. These people have indicated that they have an interest in your brand and product, giving valuable insight into the potential popularity of the launch.
Benefits: This strategy is beneficial as it allows you to nurture potential customers through emails and content, turning them into warm prospects. It’s particularly good for products that require a bit more education or explanation, as this gives you the forum to do so. It also helps create hype and excitement around the launch.
Challenges: The risks around this approach is that it requires momentum. We don’t want the lead time to be too long and risk customers losing interest, so think about your launch date and plan backwards from there. It also requires a compelling incentive to encourage those sign ups. You could consider things like offering early access or “pre-sale” or even giving an introductory offer or gift with purchase.
Direct-to-sale strategy
Launching directly to your audience without requiring them to join a waitlist can work well for certain types of products, particularly those that require less consideration or are considered more of an “impulse” buy, as we want customers to make purchasing decisions in the moment. By elongating that process with a waiting list, we could risk deterring customers.
Benefits: This approach reduces friction by encouraging immediate purchases. It’s also ideal for brands with established audiences, loyal customers and a ready-made pool of warm customers.
Challenges: Launching direct to sale requires strong pre-launch awareness and a clear call to action.
3. Generate hype with pre-launch activities
Regardless of your launch strategy, the pre-launch phase is critical for success. Here’s what to focus on:
Compelling content
- Use video content to highlight the story behind your product, demonstrate how it works, and address key benefits.
- Incorporate founder-generated content or testimonials to build trust and relatability.
- Share this content across your organic social channels and in ads.
Leverage social proof
- Send your product to UK based micro-creators or existing customers for reviews and content generation.
- Utilise the “herd effect” by coordinating multiple creators to post about your product in a short time frame. The idea here is to flood the algorithms with user generated content to reach a colder audience. Ideally this should happen no more than 2-3 weeks before launch to avoid fatigue, ensuring you are only selecting influencers and creators that resonate with the brand values and tone of voice.
Awareness-focussed ads
- Create ads that demonstrate product benefits and show authentic testimonials. Use retargeting to keep your product top of mind for those who have interacted with your content.
For brands launching into the UK, creators and influencers can play an especially important role in building early awareness. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram are increasingly where UK consumers discover new brands and products, meaning creator content can often generate initial demand before branded search volume even exists.
4. Leverage your existing audience through effective email marketing
If you already have a community of email subscribers, it makes sense to nurture that community as they have already indicated an interest in your brand. A well-structured email sequence can nurture leads and drive conversions. Consider the following elements in your launch email campaigns:
- Problem: Highlight the challenges your product solves.
- Transformation: Show how your product creates positive change.
- Proof: Share reviews, testimonials, or your own story to build trust.
- Anticipate why customers might hesitate to buy and address those concerns in your emails.
- Using countdowns can be effective in generating excitement in the days leading up to your launch.
5. Leverage your existing community through organic social media
Your social channels should act as a “mini-website” for your product, answering key questions and building excitement. Your social content should inspire, inform and entertain your audience. When creating a social content strategy, think about your sub-topics and ensure you have a healthy mix of:
- Top of funnel content such as founder stories, lifestyle content
- Mid-funnel content such as tutorials, how-to guides, explainers, and
- Bottom-funnel content such as products in action, offers, promotions, as well as
- Authentic user generated content, customer testimonials, reviews and content of the products in action, to demonstrate social proof.
If you are entering the UK market for the first time, social media can also be a powerful tool for building early brand familiarity. By collaborating with UK-based creators and showcasing local voices within your content, you can help your brand feel more relevant and credible to a new audience.
6. Launch day!
Once your product is live:
- Send a launch announcement emails to your list and announce the launch across your social channels.
- Switch your ads to promote the live offer, emphasising urgency or scarcity (e.g., limited stock or time-sensitive deals).
- Write and distribute a press release tailored to the UK market, ensuring it’s newsworthy, well-targeted, and aligned with current media trends to help maximise its chances of being picked up by industry publications
7. Post-launch
Now that your product is live and customers are receiving it, you can get real-time customer feedback. This is an opportunity to leverage social proof even more and user generated content even more. Consider things like:
- Encouraging reviews on your product pages (potentially with an incentive)
- Incentivising content sharing through competitions
For brands launching into the UK market, the period immediately after launch is also an opportunity to monitor how demand is developing. Looking at metrics such as non-branded search growth, brand search volume, and engagement across social platforms can help you understand how awareness is building and where to focus your marketing investment next.
Get in touch to see how Foundation can help you launch, scale, and stand out in the UK beauty market today.
