Does anyone have experience building up social media presences prior to the launch of a product/service? We know our target customer and target user (different in this case) and want to build an audience to inform upon launch.
It can certainly be tough to build up a substantial follower base, starting from nothing or very little, especially if you haven't launched your product yet. But here are a few tactics to help you get in front of more people pre-launch:
1) Start sharing tons of useful content. Before you bother sending people to your Twitter feed or Facebook page, you want to make sure they'll find something valuable once they get there. If you have the time, create original content that ties into your industry, your product, or your company in some way (without directly promoting yourself, though). If you don't have the bandwidth to create your own content, find other articles from bloggers you admire or experts in your industry, and share their content. Just make sure you're putting out information that's highly relevant and valuable to the audience you're trying to attract so you can engage them once they find you.
2) Create conversation. The people who aren't following you yet aren't seeing your tweets, so how do you show them value and get them to discover you? Start a conversation! At Change Collective, we're rolling out our first course on Becoming an Early Riser. So I'll do a Twitter search for "need to wake up earlier" and find a bunch of people who are tweeting about the exact problem we're setting out to solve. By favoriting their tweets or replying with -- "That's great! We think we can help - check out our newest course & let us know what you think!" -- I'm getting our product on their radar and simultaneously providing value to them.
3) Ask for help. Start with your fellow team members, and ask them to share the company's Facebook posts or retweet some of your tweets. You can even create lazy tweets for them to share. What about your board members? Advisors? VCs? They all have a stake in helping your company grow awareness and adoption, so find an easy and appropriate way for them to help by leveraging their networks. And if you have friends and family who are excited about your business and supportive of what you're doing, they probably won't mind a friendly request to help spread the news every once in a while.
Hope this helps! I just joined an early-stage startup and I'm currently building up our marketing from scratch. Happy to jump on a call and offer some tips from the trenches if you'd like. Best of luck!
I've had quite a bit of success running Twitter ad campaigns for @socialharvest actually. The product (free software) isn't done yet, but jumping on social media early is important.
You should build a presence as early as possible for any product. You can't just be done, go live, and say, "Hey world! Here you go!" ... You'll then say, "Wait, world? Where are you?"
You don't need to spend a lot of money to be frank. You'll want to run a campaign targeted at getting newsletter sign ups or something. This is probably one of your goals anyway before product launch (and still should be after!).
Those types of campaigns (lead generation campaigns) cost a lot less on Twitter when you target them very narrowly. You also get a much higher engagement rate AND they bring you new followers too (without cost). Whereas a followers campaign on Twitter is far too broad and will burn through your ad budget FAST...For followers who are unqualified (could even be spammers) or who unfollow you anyway.
Then you'll want to do the same old grooming techniques blogged about a million times out there. Follow a few people and unfollow those who don't follow you back. Though I'd add to that, follow relevant people and it's ok if you don't unfollow some just because they don't follow you back. If they are relevant...Well? Why not?
This brings me to the last point:
Use social media! That's how you build a presence.
There's no quick trick really. It takes constant time and attention. However, I think you can truly spend a few minutes a day sharing relevant/related links/content, following people, retweeting/favoriting, and be just fine. You should see your followers build nice and steady. Without coming off like spam.
This strategy is great for Twitter. For other social networks it's similar, but different and there may be one network that works better for your product too.
Before you can initiate an active visibility campaign, there are some foundational elements you must have in place. By building the foundation, you have a way to create relationships and encourage people to sign up for your email list as you build your social audience.
Blog – this is a no-brainer. You absolutely must have a piece of digital real estate you own and control. This is where all traffic is directed as you build your audience. This where you post the search-engine friendly content that helps you get found by those searching for the solution you and you book offer.
Email management service – this is also non-negotiable. Without an email list of qualified prospects and customers, you will always struggle to sell your product. The people who give you their email address are telling you they value what you offer and want to hear from you. Do your research and find the best email service that meets your needs and your budget. The most widely used are Aweber, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, InfusionSoft and 1ShoppingCart.
Optin/Landing page – you need a blogsite (#1) and an email service (#2) to set this up. Create a simple page inviting people to get free updates about your product and when it's going to launch, something like a "first to know" list. Offer a gift like a free report in exchange for their email address. This is list building 101.
Where does your ideal reader hangout? Use Quantcast to check out demographics on the sites your audience frequents. Use your Facebook Page Insights to learn more about the demographics of your followers. Use Google Analytics to find out how your blog readers are finding you.
Set up and complete your social profiles. Make sure you are using the social networks your ideal audience is using. If they are on Twitter, you better be using Twitter as well. It should go without saying, but I see this mistake all the time… make sure your social profiles are COMPLETE. Include your headshot, cover image, bio, and links to your site and other social networks. Your social networks are where you will be posting microcontent to entice your readers back to your blog.
Now you're ready to build your audience on social networks with targeted content you create and curate to support the benefits of your product.
It takes consistent, constant publication of content that engages and educates your prospective customers.
If you have questions about creating a strategic social marketing plan for your launch, please schedule a call.
One more suggestion, though all the below are excellent. Use it to target potential investors and journalists. Think big, but start small.
Echoing Zack, I'd say target specific users if you can -- influential individuals you might write about you, share your content or otherwise support you when you launch.
To catch their attention, though, you have to first figure out *who* they are -- and drilling down like this can be challenging and time-consuming at the beginning. It's worth it to have that bang at launch!
One other tip -- consider guest posting on blogs that cater to your target market, and send readers back to an opt-in. Piggy-backing off other brands' already-established communities is often a quicker and smarter way than trying to grow your own from zero.
Be genuine! The biggest mistake new companies with their social media marketing is that they get way too excited about themselves and forget to care about their followers. Engage in honest and open conversations without flogging your product or website in every tweet or post. Show your followers that you care by encouraging them and thanking them. They will be much more likely to share and retweet and that means your targeted market grows more quickly too. Show a genuine interest in knowing, sharing and learning as much as possible about your product or service. You want people to think about you every time they think about your field of expertise. Have fun, show your branding's personality but also remain professional at all times. Good luck!
Social media presences prior to launch product services ? This is a tough and expensive activity. On my opinion it works only with renowned brands. Only they can attract the attention of the crowd, without mentioning any product. Otherwise, it must be vice versa - first launch in order to inform the market and then build customer base.
all the best
Val
I like to create several of the following: YouTube videos, mainly sizzle reels and them share them on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter mainly, but I have now been seeing success with Instagram.
Also, with Instagram, you can target your audience using up to 30 hashtags. I can help you determine which of those hashtags are the best for you and your product launch.
Those are my three favorite strategies that work for me and my clients.
I hope this helps. I can work with you to create these and more strategies for your product launch.
Sincerely,
Bruce Chamoff
Six years ago, I was transitioning from classroom teacher to entrepreneur/small business owner. I wanted an audience, because I'd be promoting myself and my company as a speaker, author, and book publisher. I started with Twitter and built a large audience in a year (I now have over 90K followers). While I love Twitter and know it helps my business, if I could go back in time, I'd scrap that idea and begin with email.
Forget marketing "gurus" who say email is dead; they're wrong! Email is still the top online marketing tool for any business. Is a blog important? Sure. A nice website? Definitely. A social media presence? Yep. You can work on all of those while you build your email list, and you can start that in a day.
Get yourself a fantastic giveaway (a lead magnet), find a good email service, set up your autoresponder, and run some cheap Facebook ads, leading people to your giveaway and email capture page.
I built my list to 10,000 in a couple of years, and I still wasn't working very hard at it. Even 500 good leads can be huge for a product launch. Plus, if you nurture these people properly in your emails, they'll become your ambassadors. Let me know if you have any questions.
Good luck.
Social media and Business Intelligence are now inseparable. Even the most basic user of any social media service asks himself such questions as “How many followers do I have?”, “What’s trending today?”, “How do people feel about?” It is the job of Business Intelligence to tease out these answers in a comprehensive and scientific way so that the information can be organized and stored in a way that provides business value. This allows for companies to gain competitive edge, cut costs, and release products with a higher degree of success. Combining social media and business intelligence for small and medium sized enterprises is even more crucial. It allows them a greater audience reach, more effective targeting and greater cost savings. Advertising and marketing campaigns can be created more efficiently. The market for these tools is now very mature. All of the top technology vendors, from IBM to Oracle and Microsoft are fully committed to maintaining a permanent presence in the Social Media and Business Intelligence space. Information on consumer trends, pricing, sentiment, and requirements are now available directly from the consumer and do not require outsourcing to third party surveys or last year’s data. The content that comes from social media and feeds the business intelligence systems is created and analysed in real time. Today there is a wide variety of products and services available to serve a wide spectrum of budgets and levels of technical expertise. Some companies may require deep analysis of big data, while others merely need to check in on Facebook statistics. Developing your SMBI (Social Media/Business Intelligence) strategy requires you to evaluate your budget, requirements, and technical abilities. Gaining business insight from social media interaction data is no longer a matter of hiring a database administrator to churn out reports, hoping that he understands the business points you are trying to uncover. Today, most SMBI tools allow a business-oriented end user access to the user-friendly dashboard that provides a wide variety of views and perspectives on real time data. Because these tools are now so user friendly, they have now permeated throughout the entire business structure and are informing the internal business processes of many organizations. Real time social media analysis does not just define what products to make, it also defines how those products are made. It does not just facilitate customer relations, it defines them. Companies that can effectively tap into customer requirements along with market trends will be best positioned to succeed.
Marketers and PR companies are relying on social media as one of the important media to endorse their products. It is because social media’s popularity makes it perfect for new products to make an entry. These are few ways that might help you:
1. Research your audience: Before you market your product, you must have an active plan. Spend time on research and get to know your industry. Try to think from the user’s point of view, like whether the content you read would actually influence in your buying decision. Also, find out the techniques that have worked out for others in your industry to get a rough idea. And above all, know who your target audience is.
2. Share teasers: Whether you’re launching a new product or a company getting the word out there is a tough task that marketers face. A good way to get the user’s excited is to launch a teaser campaign. It is a powerful tool that helps to grab attention and build anticipation. For this to work, find out the platforms that would be useful for your product and be active there. Apart from that, email marketing will also allow you to share more details.
3. Start a blog: Apart from promoting your product on social media, build excitement by blogging about it as well. You can share details about how the product was created and let its future users know the benefits. You want your audience to think of you as an authority, which writing posts and answering questions dramatically helps with.
4. Create branded hashtags: Coming up with a catchy hashtag will be effective online as well as offline. Online, it will help your product stand apart from the others and curate conversations about it. And users can also find information about your product through the hashtag. It works offline when you conduct events relating to the launch. Promoting a hashtag encourages attendees to take the action online, share their experiences, and spread your event’s reach even more.
5. Strike a chord: To build anticipation, you must give your customers a reason to engage with the content. Each tweet and Facebook post must have value, so that it will motivate people to share it and stay interested enough in the product to possibly buy. Once you succeed, the audience will want to know more about the product. People purchase a product because there is some sort of need. Before they buy, you need to make it clear your product meets those needs.
6. Produce videos: Videos create a bigger impact than written content because of the presence of visuals. It takes lots of effort to create, but all your hard work will pay off. Videos can be a mini-advertisement, show behind the scenes, use a stop-motion animation, or film explainer videos of your products. Such type of videos will keep users interested even after the product is launched. Irrespective of its type, you can get your audience excited through a video.
7. Find influencers: Find users who are well-respected in your field and build relationships with these influencers. Due to their popularity, the content they post will be well received among their followers. When they put in a good word about your product, your reputation increases by association. Reaching out to influencers will double your efforts.
8. Do not reveal too much: Sometimes marketers get carried away and reveal too much information before the launch. But then what is the big reveal? Build anticipation and create some suspense about what your product has to offer. Drop hints, create hype, but make sure there is some exciting “reserved” information you leave behind for the actual social media launch.
9. Hold contests: The main aim of every product is to create a buzz before its launch. Conducting contests are the best way to do it. In general, contests are fun, and people will be more likely remember your brand. So, come up with a contest that is relevant to your product. For instance, if your brand promotes fitness equipment, the contest can be “How many pushups can you do in a minute?” Fitness enthusiasts would be eager to participate.
10. Get to the point: The tone of your marketing must be engaging to users before and after they make a purchase. Include phrases that are easy to read and that people would remember. Be clear in your messaging so people know what the new product is. You can use simple landing page links, small descriptions about the product, and friendly reminders in your social media copy.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
Engage with your target audience on the different Social Media platforms. For Example, join relevant Facebook and LinkedIn Groups and post informative content that will interest people. Call me for more info on setting this up.
Pre-Launch Planning
Understand the demographics, psychographics, and pain points of your target customer and user.
Develop a content calendar outlining the type of content to be posted and the frequency.
Choose the social media platforms that are most relevant to your target audience.
Create teaser posts, videos, or graphics that hint at the upcoming product without revealing too much.
Share the journey of product development to build anticipation.
Encourage potential users to share their expectations or needs related to your product.
Community Building
Influencer Partnerships: Collaborate with influencers who resonate with your brand and can authentically endorse it.
Building a social media presence before a product launch involves strategic planning and engaging content. Here are steps to help:
Define Goals:
Identify specific goals for your social media presence (e.g., brand awareness, audience engagement, anticipation).
Target Audience:
Know your target audience and create content tailored to their interests and preferences.
Content Calendar:
Develop a content calendar with regular posts, including teasers, behind-the-scenes looks, and relevant industry content.
Engaging Content:
Use a mix of visuals, videos, infographics, and interactive content to keep your audience engaged.
Teasers and Sneak Peeks:
Share teasers and sneak peeks to generate curiosity and anticipation. Highlight unique features or benefits.
User-Generated Content (UGC):
Encourage UGC by involving your audience in the process. Run contests or ask for opinions to build a sense of community.
Countdowns:
Create countdown posts or stories to create a sense of urgency and excitement leading up to the launch date.
Build Anticipation:
Share the story behind your product, its development journey, and the problems it solves to build anticipation.
Social Media Ads:
Utilize targeted social media ads to reach a wider audience and create awareness.
Collaborate and Partner:
Collaborate with influencers or relevant brands to extend your reach and credibility.
Exclusive Previews:
Offer exclusive previews or early access to your social media followers as a reward for their loyalty.
Hashtags:
Create a branded hashtag for your product launch and encourage your audience to use it. This enhances visibility and engagement.
Engage with Audience:
Respond to comments, messages, and feedback promptly. Build a relationship with your audience.
Leverage Multiple Platforms:
Utilize various social media platforms to reach a diverse audience. Tailor content for each platform.
Analytics and Adaptation:
Use analytics to track engagement and adapt your strategy based on what works best.
By following these steps, you can gradually build anticipation, engage your audience, and create a buzz around your product launch on social media.
If you would like further guidance feel free to hop on a call!
If you want to achieve your sales and revenue targets, you need to successfully create buzz about your new product before its launch. Follow the strategies above, like conducting giveaways and contests, creating educational videos, and releasing behind-the-scenes videos. These easy-to-implement strategies will help you create some much-needed buzz on social media for your new products. It will excite and encourage consumers to talk about your product even before you release it.
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