A new intranet launch campaign is the best way to whip your employees into a frenzy of anticipation that drives adoption and engagement. Building an eager buzz among employees is crucial to a successful intranet launch. However, it won’t just magically happen when you hit go live. Your intranet strategy needs to generate excitement in advance so your people are engaged from the get-go.
Here are 15 creative ideas to ensure your intranet launch starts with a bang. Whether it’s a revamped or brand-new intranet, use these ideas to generate interest and encourage employees to jump on board.
How Do I Promote My New Intranet?
Your new intranet has probably been months in the planning. Time and effort have gone into selecting a provider, designing a compelling user experience, and ensuring it has the functionality employees need. However, launch with a whimper rather than a roar, and you risk wasting that investment.
Just like any company project, your intranet launch requires careful planning. It’s never too early to start preparing your intranet launch campaign. In fact, you should start the process as soon as you commit to a new intranet platform.
There are three phases to a successful intranet launch:
- Pre-launch
- Launch date
- Post-launch
The following intranet launch ideas are organized under each stage. You can use our comprehensive guide packed with tested strategies to set you on track for success.
Ready to get started? Let’s go ahead and jump in.
Intranet Pre-Launch Campaign Ideas
This stage is all about preparing employees and getting them to buy-in to the change. It’s vital to address the what’s in for me question that will be on everyone’s lips. Focus on how the intranet software will make their lives easier, whether it’s internal communications, remote work, or improving the employee experience.
Ensure you highlight the advantages and benefits and make them relatable to employees. For example, the automated forms feature is useful but unlikely to spark a massive surge in enthusiasm. By contrast, your people will love social intranet features like #channels, @mentions, and activity walls. So, make sure these exciting features take center stage.
1. Identify Intranet Ambassadors
Set up a team of early adopters to help spread the word on the shop floor with a soft launch. Intranet ambassadors can perform demos to different departments, explain the intranet’s capabilities, and show them how their pain points will be addressed.
2. Develop A Teaser Campaign
Drip feed information and leak teasers to create a sense of excited anticipation. Content snippets, blurred screenshots, posters, and an internal press release will get users hyped up for the new intranet.
3. Give The Intranet A Name
An intranet name gives the new platform a personality and identity that employees can get behind. Why not get your people involved with a naming competition? Employees can get creative and suggest names that reflect your company culture and brand.
And it’s a great way to engage remote employees or staff in dispersed offices. They may not feel the same sense of anticipation as head-office-based employees who are closer to all the action. Check out our post, Intranet Names: The Essential Guide To Naming Your Intranet (Including Examples), for more ideas.
4. Set Up A Launch Countdown Clock
It could be a physical countdown clock centrally located in the workplace. Or it might be a virtual ‘coming soon’ one on the old intranet. A ticking clock creates a sense of excitement and urgency. It also helps employees prepare by setting clear expectations about when the changes will come into play.
Ready, Set, Go Live!
Launch day has finally arrived – congratulations! The focus of your launch campaign now switches to adoption and engagement. You want users to dive in and explore the new intranet on a daily basis.
Check out the following strategies to ensure your intranet has the best possible start.
5. Create A Launch Video
Develop a short highlight video showcasing all the new functionality your company intranet has in bucket loads. Highlight all the resources available, including group pages. And help grow a contributor community by emphasizing interactive blogs and social intranet features.
Make sure you include a welcome introduction from the CEO. It’s vital to get the message across that senior leadership supports the new intranet and is excited about what it has to offer.
6. Develop An Interactive Tour
This is an excellent option for remote staff. An interactive tour or video conference uses the personal touch to highlight key functionality. Be sure to include features on the site they may not otherwise find, like activity walls and advanced intranet search.
7. Employee Training Program
A comprehensive employee training program is a must-have for every intranet launch campaign. Training is essential to quickly get employees up to speed with the new intranet.
Remember to include virtual sessions to engage remote employees. And consider hosting in-person or online lunch and learn events to minimize disruption to the working day.
8. Launch An Intranet Scavenger Hunt
All work and no play makes for a dull working day. An intranet scavenger hunt is a fun way to engage users and get them diving into the new intranet. Hide images in intranet content and get employees to identify where they are. Or create a questionnaire with answers that can only be found on the new platform. Who doesn’t love a bit of competition? So, offer a prize to the winning employee.
9. Profile Pictures And Fun Facts
Employee profiles are always a hit with staff. They bring people together and make it easier to connect with colleagues, whatever their location. While many will already have a LinkedIn profile, the concept of an employee profile may be new to users.
Get the early adopters to kick things off with example profiles to demonstrate the potential to other users. Then, spark some excitement by encouraging employees to upload profile pictures of themselves as babies and share some fun facts. Who knew that unassuming Noah in Accounts was not only a super-cute baby, he’s also a martial arts expert! Employees can replace their embarrassing baby photos with updated ones after a few days.
10. Make The New Intranet The Default Homepage
One of the best features of modern intranets is the ability to integrate with other enterprise apps, like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Salesforce. With single sign-on, employees can access all the tools they need within the new intranet. Make the intranet login page the employee’s default homepage, and you create a captive audience. Drive adoption by ensuring access to all workplace resources is only through the intranet.
Post-Intranet Launch Campaign Ideas
It’s several months down the line. Your intranet launch has exceeded expectations, and staff feedback has been top-rate. You now have engaged users and a vibrant community. Maintaining that momentum and ongoing success is the focus of this post-launch phase of the intranet project. The emphasis here is on continuous engagement, review, finetuning, and honest feedback.
11. Gain Feedback
Use the intranet’s two-way communication channels to invite regular feedback from employees. Survey or poll users to find out what features they love and what aspects of the platform could be improved. Use the insights and feedback to finetune the intranet offering or roll out new sections and ensure its continued success.
12. Offer Ongoing Support
Appoint a dedicated intranet administrator or go-to person for all things intranet-related. Sometimes, employees may get stuck or need help to get the most out of the platform. And ongoing support is vital for any new office employees who may need extra hands-on coaching to get fully up and running.
13. Recognize Super-Users
Encourage adoption by rewarding intranet super-users. For example, it could be a profile badge, shoutout on the intranet newsfeed, or an @mention on instant messaging.
14. Share Customer Success Stories
Spread the word about your people’s fantastic work by sharing customer success stories. After all, the purpose of the intranet is to make employees’ daily work easier. Highlighting how the intranet has helped workers deliver better services or products is a surefire way to boost engagement with the platform. It also goes a long way to strengthen team bonds and build company culture.
15. Recognize And Reward Top Performing Employees
Use the intranet to celebrate the successes of individual employees. There’s nothing more motivating than a public thank you from the boss. Make sure news authors recognize superstar employees within the organization on the intranet homepage.
New Intranet Launch Best Practices
Launching an intranet is often an overlooked task by the project team. Perhaps you had a previous intranet. Or maybe the software is new to the organization. Whatever the case, it’s often assumed that the magic automatically happens. The truth is it doesn’t. Launching intranet software requires careful planning and preparation, and the work starts once you begin selecting a platform.
Here’s a quick recap of the best practices we’ve covered.
Remember, there are three distinct and equally important phases to the intranet launch campaign:
- Before the launch date
- Launch day itself
- Post-launch.
While the objectives differ slightly for each stage, the overriding aim is to get employees to buy into the change. Highlight the features, benefits, and the difference it will make to your people. You want them to be excited and eager to dive in and access all the great tools, features, and resources available.
A successful intranet doesn’t just happen. You need to make it happen. You can use our 15 creative intranet launch ideas to make sure launch day in your organization goes with a bang rather than a whimper.
Ready To Launch Your New Intranet?
MyHub’s intranet software is an excellent place to start. We are a leading provider of cloud-hosted intranet platforms. Businesses worldwide use our beautifully designed intranets to share, connect, and engage.
MyHub’s intranet also comes as a dedicated mobile app – perfect for today’s hybrid and on-the-go workforce.
Sign up for a free demo or 14-day trial today and get ready for lift-off.
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