Launching a new product is always exciting for the business launching it, but how can you make it more exciting for fans and followers? If you’re able to build more hype, attract more people, and boost your brand’s visibility, you can ultimately sell more products – and create strong momentum for your future marketing and advertising efforts.
What are the best ways to do it?
Start Early
One of the most important things to do for your product launch is start as early as possible. Starting your marketing and advertising campaigns early gives your audience more time to plan for your product launch event. It also increases the total amount of exposure you’re able to get, meaning you’ll reach more people and reach them more frequently in the weeks leading up to your event.
Another advantage of starting early is that you’ll have the opportunity to gather more data, which you can use to adjust your event as the day gets closer. For example, if you notice that your customers are responding very well to one piece of marketing that emphasizes an upcoming giveaway, you can make the giveaway even more exciting or emphasize it more heavily in your future marketing and communications.
Begin a Countdown
Using digital signage software, and with the help of online tools, begin a countdown. People love countdowns, as they build anticipation and serve as a constant reminder that something excellent is coming. In the days and weeks leading up to your product launch, you can send out occasional reminder emails and social media messages that feature snapshots of your countdown. And during your live event, assuming you have one, you can use gigantic digital signs to count down the final minutes and seconds.
Host a Live Event
Most product launches benefit from having a live event, assuming you can afford to have one. Live events give your fans and followers more chances to meet and interact with each other, giving you a chance to build your brand community. It’s also a way to make your project launch seem even more exciting and significant.
These are some of the most important strategies to make it work:
· Choose the right venue. Choose a venue that can appropriately hold the number of attendees you expect – and make sure it’s clean, nice, and stocked with the amenities you need.
· Plan some entertainment. Nobody wants to sit around for several hours, dealing with dead time as they wait for the product to officially release. Plan to have some entertainment, such as musicians, comedians, or even something more obscure.
· Create contests and games. Engage your attendees even more by creating contests and games. People prefer being interactive participants, rather than passive recipients of information. How can you get more people involved?
Livestream the Unveiling
Some of your fans and followers won’t be able to make it to the live event, either due to scheduling conflicts or because they live across the country and don’t feel like traveling. To serve these fans, consider livestreaming the unveiling.
Livestreaming has become incredibly popular over the last several years, giving people around the world chances to experience live events and more authentic, personal interactions. If you sufficiently market and advertise your upcoming live stream, you could easily get thousands of live viewers. Just make sure you have a plan to keep virtual people engaged and interactive.
Spark Discussion on Social Media
Social media is fertile ground for building hype around a new product. Accordingly, it should be one of your most prominent tools in planning and executing your product launch. In the days leading up to your big event, build anticipation with hints of what’s to come. If you’re hosting a live event, give your attendees more reasons to post about their attendance (such as providing photo opportunities and advertising event-related hashtags).
Sponsor a Giveaway
Everyone loves a giveaway. One of the fastest ways to build hype for your product is to hand out a few free samples of the product to your biggest fans. Accordingly, during your product launch or in the days leading up to it, randomly select at least a few winners to walk away with the product for free.
Employ Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
AR and VR have been around for many years, but only now are marketers truly harnessing the potential of these technologies. Depending on the nature of your brand and your product, AR and VR technology could be the perfect way to make your audience more immersed and more engaged with your product and its possibilities.
Ask Your Fans What They Want to See
Better yet, make your product launch event even more exciting by asking your fans what they want to see and delivering it to them. Using product surveys and interviews months before your product launch, get a sense for who your target audience is, what they want, and what will make them the most hyped during the product launch itself.
Pay close attention to the results of your product launch. How did customers react to this? How much did sales increase after the event? What kind of feedback did attendees of your live event leave? Take this information seriously and use it to plan an even better launch for your next product.