Canned fish is the latest food product to take over social media, and one brand is leading the way. Fishwife Co-Founder and CEO Becca Millstein was inspired during the COVID-19 pandemic to make a splash in the canned food industry by offering premium, ethically sourced seafood in beautifully designed cans.
Becca was able to have a successful launch, gain hundreds of thousands of fans, and have articles featured in publications such as VogueAnd The New York Times. None of this would have been possible without its ingenious launch strategy.
Becca explains how you can make a big impact with your launch, even on a limited budget, and build a brand you’re proud of.
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5 Tips for Planning a Successful Launch
1. Find a design partner who understands your vision
Becca wanted to find a graphic design partner to ensure the brand’s visual identity spoke to its target audience. “I looked at a group of illustrators on Instagram and surveyed my friends and family to see who they felt most attracted to,” says Becca. She ultimately chose a designer who completely understood her vision.
Next, Becca created an inspiration board to share with her designer. “The board had a very narrow goal, and I would encourage people to strive for that,” Becca says. Creating a small and powerful map will keep your designer on track, making the iteration process smoother.
2. Run a beta test
One of the best decisions Becca and the team made before the official launch was to launch an online beta test. “We created the visuals and the brand name and collected all these samples from the canneries that we were developing products with, and we did this little launch of 100 beta boxes,” Becca explains.
The test sold out in less than an hour. This gave him insight into what people thought of the brand and gave the team confidence that they were ready for an official launch.
3. Lean on your friends and family
To get the word out, Becca first asked her own community to spread the word about the launch. “Keep a microcommunity-focused approach early in your launch because it will make an impact,” says Becca.
The more Becca asked for help, the faster the brand grew. “People will start sharing it, and it will end up in the hands of a journalist or an influencer,” she says.
4. Use influencer seeding to spread the word
Besides her own community, Becca invested as much as she could in seeding influencers.
Fishwife sent small samples to designers who might attract a new type of customer for the brand. As a new business, this approach fueled the launch and attracted new customers to the website. “There’s a lot of value in getting your product into the hands of influential people,” says Becca. If your product is too big or too expensive, Becca suggests finding a snack or sample version to send to influencers.
5. Remember: It doesn’t have to be perfect
Even if you start your business one way, that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way forever. You have plenty of time and space to tweak your brand and improve different aspects along the way.
“We’re constantly evolving the brand,” says Becca. It can remind us that doing is better than perfect. Sometimes you need to stop sorting through the details and just get your brand out there. Expect change and rest assured that your brand will only get better after launch.
To learn more about Becca’s marketing strategy on a tight budget and the creative branding exercises she used to define the look and feel of her brand, watch the full Shopify Masters episode.