Your New Product Launch
You have spent months, or even years getting your product ready to launch, and the time has finally come to introduce your product to the market. But unless your name is Steve Jobs and your new product is a new iPhone, just announcing your new product rollout will not create buzz among the press or potential customers. You will need to take an active, hands-on approach to ensure that your product launch is a hit.
Have How-To Videos Ready to Go
If your product has high visual appeal or is targeted to a younger demographic, a rollout heavy on video exposure may be the way to go. That’s how HoodieBuddie – a hoodie with washable headphones attached – reached its audience and scored a success for its three co-creators: YuMe, ScanScout and BBE. If you decide to go the video route, be sure to have plenty of videos ready to go for potential buyers to view online or to download onto their hard drives with a YouTube Downloader, particularly handy for presentations when internet access is not guaranteed. Consider establishing an ongoing storyline that involves your product, like the ongoing series of commercials shown in the United States chronicling the healing process of the iconic AFLAC duck.
Use Social Media to Promote User Engagement
Unless you have the deep pockets of big-box marketer Wal-Mart, you cannot afford to plaster newspapers, magazines, television and radio with nonstop traditional advertising. An in today’s world of saturated advertising markets, 24/7 news cycles and short attention spans, a few sporadic TV or radio spots or a single advertisement in the Sunday sales section of the local newspaper will not generate sufficient attention to allow you to make a reasonable return on your investment.
What’s the solution? Social media can provide an inexpensive means to actively engage users who become evangelists for your products. Establish a presence for your product on Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and other social media outlets. Consider conducting a promotion to give away one sample of your product as a prize for the best blog post or photo posted on one of your social media outlets.
Show the Human Side of Your Business
People love human stories. Consider promoting your story of how the idea for founding your company came to you in a dream, or how you were always frustrated by some process and decided to figure out a way to solve the problem along with your product launch. Feature workers within your company, especially workers who have started at entry level jobs and have worked their way up to management or executive positions.
Is your company involved in efforts to improve your community? If not, consider sponsoring an event such as a recycling drive or restocking a food bank. Don’t be put off by the word “sponsoring.” You don’t have to underwrite the entire event to legitimately call yourself a sponsor. Consider supplying t-shirts or a free meal for volunteers. Encourage (but do not coerce) your employees to volunteer their time to their communities, providing paid time off if your company’s budget allows for it you’re your company can’t afford paid time off, awarding plaques or gift certificates are both inexpensive ways to recognize employee volunteer efforts.
Brian Richardson is a branding expert and technology guru. He loves writing about product launches on business blogs.