Bynder Brand Portal launch best practices
We recommend launching your portal in two phases “soft launch” and “hard launch”. Soft launch, includes a select group of heavy users. During this phase, users can provide feedback to ensure any minor adjustments can be made to the system before hard launch. Hard launch incorporates all users of the system across the organization. Dependent upon the number of users, best practice may include a phased roll out to certain regions or business units. While minor changes to the system can be made after hard launch, it’s recommended to make these changes during the soft launch phase. A users first experience often sets the stage for the overall user engagement, and major changes to the system after their first experience may act as a deterrence and negatively impact user engagement.
For email templates, see Launch email templates.
For more best practices, see Launching Bynder: roles and responsibilities and Improve adoption: gather user feedback.
Phase 1: Soft Launch
What should be the outcome of Soft Launch?
Documented user feedback
A plan for applying in-scope configuration changes
Identification of out of scope configuration changes and change requests
A plan for hard launch
When should soft launch happen?
Majority of the implementation tasks have been completed
Your team feels the system is ready for new users to use the system and provide feedback
Recommended 1-2 months before hard launch
Users need enough time to use system and provide feedback.
Implementation team needs time to make necessary changes or improvements to the system based on feedback.
Who should be part of the soft launch?
Select heavy users, particularly those who will be uploading assets or accessing the portal on a frequent basis.
Consider including other “Light”, “Regular” or “External” user profiles along with users from different groups of the organization, regions or business units. This ensures all use cases are accounted for during soft launch.
How should soft launch be communicated?
Most communication is recommended via e-mail.
It is recommended that these emails should come from the business lead on the project. This will ensure the person is prepared to answer incoming questions about the system launch.
Other ways to communicate launch can be via company meetings, company intranet or company “news” emails
Recommended communication plan
Introductory Email #1
Send one week before users are invited to the system
Communicate the following:
They have been selected to test a new system
Context as to why your organization is rolling out the system
When they can expect to receive their log in and additional information
Official Soft Launch Email #2:
Send the day/week of soft launch
Log in information, if applicable
List of actions for users to complete to provide feedback
They should be providing feedback via an email or via a survey
Deadline as to when they should provide feedback by
User training guide, if applicable
Other Tips:
Dependent upon contracted training hours, set up an initial training session before users are asked to log in to use the system for the first time.
After users have tested the system, setting up a focus group is often a very productive means to gather the most valuable feedback.
Phase 2: Hard Launch
When should hard launch happen?
Hard launch should happen when soft launch is complete. This means all soft launch users have provided feedback and the implementation team has made necessary updates to the system.
Note that the portal should be as finalized as possible before hard launch to ensure the ideal user experience for first-time users. It is imperative that any major changes made to the portal after hard launch are communicated appropriately as to avoid a negative impact on user engagement.
Who should be part of hard launch?
Generally, all users of the system should be included in the hard launch. A very large user base may warrant a phased launch approach to certain regions or business units.
How should hard launch be communicated?
Communication via email is the recommended best practice
It is recommended that the official “launch” emails should come from the business lead on the project. This will ensure the person is prepared to answer incoming questions about the system launch.
Other ways to communicate launch can be via company meetings, company intranet or company “news” emails
Setting expectations is imperative for a successful launch. Be sure to communicate to users appropriately before the launch to avoid any user confusion or concerns during launch.
Recommended communication plan:
Targeted, very specific communications to each user group of the portal:
Introductory Email #1:
This email should be sent about 1 month to 2 weeks prior to hard launch.
Provide a high level overview of why your organization is rolling out the system and how it will impact day-to-day work
FAQ Email #2 - this email should be sent about 1-2 weeks after the Introductory Email and provide an FAQ tailored to your business use case.
Official Launch Email #3 - send this email the day/week of official launch. This email should instruct users on how to log in, include user training guides (if applicable), any upcoming training sessions and how to contact support.
Training
Dependent on contracted training hours, be sure scheduled training times are communicated to
users during launch. Training should be tailored to the specific user group.
Support
Users must be informed of how to seek support when needed. Include the following in all email communications:
New business process working with the Brand Portal: Business Lead
Basic user questions about functionality: Business Lead and Bynder Customer Success Manager
Technical questions for system issues or bugs: Bynder Support (support@bynder.com) or Bynder Knowledge Base: help.bynder.com
What next
Help users learn Bynder. Add tutorials to their portal or utilize quicklinks and news articles to provide your end-users with tools that best help them learn Bynder.See Set up tutorial wizard for users, News management and Create and manage your homepage.
Check out the admin overview to learn more about how you can train your end-users. See Administrator tasks.