You’ve put your blood, sweat, and tears into creating a product that you’re sure is going to be “the next big thing”. But you can’t just put up your website, write a press release, and expect people to flock to your business to buy your product. Before you release your product into the world, you need to plan a product launch that will drive traffic to your site, get consumers excited, and convince them that your product is something they need.
A product launch is key to breaking through the crowds of competition and grabbing the attention of consumers who are bombarded with new product advertisements on a daily basis. And there are some simple steps you can follow to make sure your product launch does just that.
Get ready to plan a launch party for your product that will totally thrill consumers, here are four steps for the perfect product launch.
1. Know your audience.
Once your product is ready to be launched, you need to conduct research on your audience so you can get to know who your customers are. By knowing your audience inside and out, you’ll be able to determine how your product fits in with their needs, what channels you can reach them on, what influencers they trust and how to grab their attention.
After doing some research on your target audience, try creating a buyer persona to get really detailed about who your customers are. A buyer persona is essentially a fictional person that represents your ideal customer and you can use a free tool like Xtensio’s User Persona Creator to easily create one. Your product launch will only be a success if you know who to target and what marketing messages will connect with them and convince them to buy.
2. Give yourself ample time.
Your product launch is not something that should be thrown together in a couple weeks, you need to give yourself ample time to not only plan a product launch that will hopefully go off without a hitch, but you also need time to create a buzz around your product.
Your product launch planning should start a number of months before your launch date, and while you’re planning, you can let people know that you’ve got something exciting in the works. Notify your email subscribers when they can expect your new product and you can also add a countdown timer to your website.
If you’re using WordPress, you can use a free plugin like T(-) Countdown, to easily add an eye-catching countdown timer to your site. Don’t rush your products most important day but remember to pick a date and stick to it, you don’t want to disappoint consumers who are eagerly anticipating your launch day.
3. Create mystery and build anticipation.
There’s no better way to create a buzz around your product launch than by creating a little bit of mystery. Building anticipation and getting consumers excited to find out the big secret you’re keeping will help them stay invested; they’ll keep an eye on their inboxes and return to your site again and again in anticipation of your product reveal.
Tease your followers on social media with sneak peaks of your product, create a video announcing that something exciting is coming, create a countdown timer, or post photos that give just a tiny glimpse of your new product. These are all tactics that will turn your product launch into a suspenseful, exciting event that consumers will love to be a part of.
4. Create product content.
Another important step for the perfect product launch is to create product content. Start brainstorming some ideas for the types of content your target audience would like to see. Should you create entertaining video content? Or do you need to write in-depth tutorials on how to use your product? Or maybe both? Crafting engaging, useful product content will help consumers on the web discover your business and give them the information they need that will convince them to buy.
Start planning and creating your product content months ahead of your launch, you can use a tool like CoSchedule to easily organize and schedule all of your content. This way when it’s time for your big day, you’ll have one less thing to worry about.
It’s taken a lot of time and a lot of hard work for you to get this far, you wouldn’t want to mess it up with a poorly planned product launch. So, follow these simple steps and your product launch is bound to be a huge hit. And remember to keep the momentum going after your launch day too, so you can continue to celebrate your success for a long time to come.