How to promote a grand opening on social media: a week-by-week plan

Most new businesses start posting the week they open. By then, it's late: people haven't heard of you, nobody is following, and opening day depends on passers-by. Businesses that start earlier open to people who already know the name, have watched the space come together and have the date in their diary.

The build-up is also the easiest content you'll ever have. Empty rooms becoming a shop, the first delivery, the sign going up, the team's first training day: people love watching something new arrive on their street.

Before you start, set a simple goal for opening day, such as a number of customers through the door, bookings for the first fortnight or sign-ups to a mailing list. Every post in the plan should move people a step closer to it: first knowing you exist, then following you, then putting the date in their diary.

Claim your name everywhere first, even on platforms you won't use much yet, so the handles match. Then set up your Google Business Profile with an opening date.

Google says you can enter an opening date up to a year in the future, and once your business is verified, the profile shows on Google 90 days before that date. In that window you can post to announce the opening, add photos of progress and write your description. Customers can't leave reviews or photos until you're officially open, and after you open the profile shows a 'Recently opened' tag for 90 days. Our guide to listing your business before it opens has the steps.

1. Choose one name and handle and claim it on every platform you might use, even if you'll only post on two of them at first.
2. Write one bio line that says what you are, where and when you open.
3. Set up your Google Business Profile with the opening date and verify it.
4. Add your website or a simple holding page, and link it from every profile.
5. Collect the first photos: the empty space, the sign, the team.

Source: Google Business Profile Help: Add a business opening date, checked 15 October 2026

Adjust the timing to your own build, but keep the order: curiosity first, details second, urgency last. Building work often runs late, so don't announce a firm date until you're confident in it; changing it twice costs more goodwill than announcing it a little later.

You need around three posts a week before opening. The ideas listed after the table fill most of them, and each can be a feed post, a reel or a story.

• A time-lapse or before and after of the fit-out
• Unboxing the first delivery of stock or equipment
• Meet the team: one person per post, with a question they answer
• A poll: 'Which should be on the opening menu?'
• The story behind the name or the logo
• A sneak peek of a product or service, without the full reveal
• The neighbourhood: favourite nearby spots and why you chose this street
• Practical details: hours, parking, booking, accessibility

Treat opening day as an event, not just the first day of trading. Create a Facebook event from your Page, so the date, place and updates live in one public page, and publish a Google Business Profile event or offer post with the date and times. Our local event promotion plan covers the full timeline.

Plan the day itself as carefully as the build-up. Decide who will film and post, which moments you want to capture (the ribbon or first unlock, the first customer, the busiest hour) and what you'll say if there's a queue or you sell out early. A short 'sold out of croissants, back tomorrow at 8' post often does more for word of mouth than a polished advert.

Give people a reason to come on the day itself, such as a small opening offer, a free taster or a local maker's stall, and say clearly when it ends. If you run an offer on Google Business Profile, Google says offers need a title, dates and times.

Sources: Meta Business Help Centre: About Facebook events for businesses, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Create and manage posts on your Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026

Your first customers are likely to live or work within walking distance, so reach them where they already are.

• Introduce yourself to neighbouring businesses and suggest a shared post or offer
• On Instagram, use a Collab post with a partner so the announcement appears on both profiles
• On Nextdoor, post from a Business Page once you've verified it; local event posts are allowed
• In local Facebook groups, ask the admin before posting the opening
• Use your town and neighbourhood hashtags, and tag your location once it exists
• Invite local groups, clubs or schools to a preview hour
• Drop a short note or flyer to nearby homes and offices with your handle and opening date

Sources: Instagram Help Centre: Create collaborative posts on Instagram, checked 15 October 2026; Nextdoor Help: Business page policy and posting guidelines, checked 15 October 2026

Opening day is the start, not the finish. The weeks after are when people decide whether you're part of their routine.

Many new businesses go quiet once they open, because running the place takes every hour. Batch a fortnight of posts before opening day so the feed keeps going while you settle in. Keep posting at the pace you set before opening. Thank your first customers, share your first reviews with permission, introduce regulars who agree to it, and show what's changed based on feedback. Ask every customer for a Google review once you're open, without offering anything in return, because Google prohibits incentives for reviews. After 90 days, review what brought people in and set your normal posting routine.

Source: Google Business Profile Help: Tips to get more reviews, checked 15 October 2026

Imagine a new independent bookshop opening in a market town. Eight weeks out, the owners claim the same handle on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok and set the Google opening date. They post the empty shop, then shelves going up, then a reel of the first boxes of books arriving.

Four weeks out, they announce the date, create a Facebook event and post a Google update. The café next door co-authors a Collab post offering a free coffee with any book on opening day. In the final week, they post a daily countdown of staff picks. On the day, stories show the queue and the first sale. Over the next three months, they share reviews with permission and start a monthly book club event that keeps people coming back.

Zolyp, which we make, can plan the whole build-up in the calendar, write and design each post from your Brand Brain, and publish to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads once you approve, including your Google Business updates. You supply the real photos of your space and team; it does the planning, writing and scheduling. Plans that create the posts start at $29 a month, Lite is $9 a month per brand if you only need scheduling, and there's a 3-day free trial.