12 Marketing Moves to Make Before You Open the Doors
Opening day is a marketing event. Most of the work happens before it.
By Lance Wagner · Published · Last Updated
What marketing should I do before opening a business?
Before opening, claim and verify your Google Business Profile, get a simple site live with an email capture, shoot real photos, build a pre-launch list, hang coming soon signage, and line up local partners. Verification and reviews take time you can't buy back later.
The businesses that open strong didn't get lucky. They spent 90 days doing unglamorous work.
Twelve moves, in order.
1Lock the name and the look
Name, logo, colors, signage. Everything downstream depends on these being settled.
2Create the Google Business Profile early
Verification can take weeks and you cannot rush it.
Start it the day you have an address, even if you're still framing walls.
3Put up a one-page site
What it is, where, when it opens, and a place to leave an email. That's enough for now.
4Start collecting a list
A list of 300 locals on opening day is worth more than any ad you'll run that week.
5Claim your handles
Even the platforms you won't use. It costs nothing now and a headache later.
6Document the build-out
People like watching a place come together. It's the only time this content exists.
7Get real photos
Space, product, team. Before opening week, when you'll be too busy.
These feed the profile, the site, the ads and the press.
8Hang coming soon signage
The cheapest media you will ever buy, aimed at people who already drive past.
9Meet the neighbors
Two or three neighboring businesses and the local chamber. Cross-promotion beats cold advertising in a new market.
10Set up the review flow before you need it
Know exactly how you'll ask, when, and who's responsible. Week one is when reviews are easiest to get.
11Turn on local paid media 30 days out
Search for people already looking, geo-targeted social for people nearby who don't know yet.
12Plan the first 30 days after opening
Most launches spend everything on opening week and go quiet in week three.
Hold back budget for the month after. That's when habits form.
The short version
- Start the Google Business Profile before you need it. Verification takes time.
- A pre-launch email list is the highest return work you can do.
- Shoot photos before opening week.
- Save budget for the month after opening, not just the week of.
Questions people ask
- How far in advance should I start marketing a new location?
- Ninety days for profile setup, site and list building. Thirty days for paid media and signage.
- How much should I budget for a launch?
- More than a steady-state month, and weighted toward the pre-open period. Roughly half to sixty percent before the doors open.
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