In 2022, at least 79% of consumers shop online, compared to 66% in 2020 (Statista). That’s a lot of potential customers for you to miss out on. You may not enjoy high traffic, but it’s all about converting that traffic into paying customers.
Getting your product discovered and purchased by online shoppers requires a significant investment of time and money. But, if you want to see success, you need to follow a tried and tested formula. And, if you’re looking to follow this formula, it’s best to do so as soon as possible. Otherwise, it’ll be too late.
Why Pre-launch?
The primary purpose of a pre-launch phase is to generate demand for your product. It does this by driving traffic to your website and encouraging people to subscribe to your content or to sign up for your email list. During this phase, you’ll want to focus on growing your Twitter following, creating high-quality content, and developing a social media campaign. To put it simply, it’s about attracting as many eyes as possible to your product and showcasing its value.
The advantage to launching during this time is that you’ll already have a following. And, since you have existing interest in your product, you can assume that at least some of these people will be interested in hearing more about it, particularly during the pre-launch phase. So, you can use your existing social media networks and online communities to generate buzz for your upcoming product launch.
Choose The Right Platform
Just because a lot of people use a certain network or app, it doesn’t mean that it’s the best platform for your product. Just because Instagram is quite popular, it doesn’t mean that your product’s niche is best suited for Facebook or TikTok. This is where experts come in. Luckily, you have a business partner in Mindell Inc who can help you find the right social media platform for your product.
As a first step, you can run a quick Google search to see which platforms have the most potential for your product. From there, you can narrow your search to specific categories (such as e-commerce or digital marketing) to see which platforms are most suitable for your product. Then, you can begin to research which ones should you focus on individually.
Develop A Marketing Plan
This step is essential for any business, whether or not it’s online. Even established brands don’t just magically appear on the map. They spend a considerable amount of time and money building a brand that people want to buy from. This is called market research (or product research, if you will).
With your marketing plan, you’ll want to lay out how you’re going to grow your business and which platforms you’ll use to do it. The first few months of your product’s life are crucial. If you want to succeed in this space, you must have a plan and you must be willing to put in the work. So, don’t just show up one day and announce that you’re open for business. Instead, build a plan and work towards it diligently. When it comes to marketing your product, everything counts. From your pricing to your social media strategy to your website and everything in between. Everything!
While this plan will change as your business grows and evolves, it’s a good starting point for now. Once you have this, you can move onto the next step.
Pick A Name
A catchy and simple name is key to creating a brand that stands out in customers’ minds. So, when they’re searching for a product like yours, they’ll know exactly what it is and they’ll be more likely to click the product’s name, rather than just its description or logo.
For example, if you sell socks, but your website shows images of women in beautiful, colorful gowns, your customers may not want to click on your product simply because it’s called socks. Instead, they’ll most likely assume that you’re selling women’s gowns and unintentionally visit your competitors instead.
You may also ask yourself, “Does my product name sound too much like a recipe for a delicious meal or snack?” If you’re worried about this, you can choose a different name for your product. But, if you think that your product is delicious, you can keep its name and enjoy all the delicious thoughts, lol.
Choose A Website
This is where you display all the information customers need to know about your product. After all, it’s you, the business owner or brand manager who’s going to be responsible for taking care of any issues that may arise, not a programmer or web designer. So, you may want to choose a custom-designed WordPress website that’s flexible and can be used to display all your product’s information, including pricing, images, and descriptions. Alternatively, you can create a simple landing page on your own site and link it to a product page on Amazon or any other online store.
Your website’s design is also important. Ideally, you want to choose a template that’s simple to navigate whether you’re using a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer. Keep things smooth and easy to understand for customers, but remember that you’re competing for attention on small screens, so make sure that you’ve got something unique and eye-catching that will capture people’s attention. Designing a nice-looking website, however, is only part of the process. You also need to populate it with content.
Content Is Key
If you’re still reading, you’re probably thinking, “This is quite the checklist. I’ll need a couple of hours to wrap my head around all of this.” To this, I say, “Good. That’s what we’ve got time for.”
The information you provide about your product on your website, in your social media channels, and through email marketing is critical to getting customers to love your product and actually buy it. When people come to your website from a search engine such as Google, they expect to see information about your product. So, make sure that each of these areas of marketing contain valuable and engaging content that will make the viewer want to learn more about your product.
Even better, provide them with an easy way to contact you directly through an email address or phone number. In addition to this, it’s important to keep abreast of all the latest news and information about your product. This way, you’ll be able to provide customers with the most up-to-date and relevant information about their needs, as well as keep them coming back for more.
Sales Funnel
An often-overlooked element of a successful product launch, but nonetheless an essential part of generating revenue, is a good sales funnel. This is a step-by-step guide that takes your potential customer from first contact all the way through to making a purchase. You can’t expect customers to simply walk into your store and buy what you’re offering, especially if you’re just opening your doors for business.
Your sales funnel starts with a lead magnet. This is an element on your website or in one of your social media posts that draws in customers and encourages them to subscribe to your content, sign up for your email list, or visit your website. Ideally, you’ll want to have several lead magnets on your website, rather than just one for simplicity’s sake. A lead magnet can be something as elementary as an optin form or a discount code for a limited time, or it can be a free trial, such as Slack’s popular Get a Headstart program, which gives you access to useful tools, training videos, and e-books for free for the first month. If you’re looking for a fully custom lead magnet, you can ask your company’s marketing department to help you.
You can also use your website’s lead magnet to pull in potential customers from your social media channels. If a customer follows the link from your blog to your website, they’ll see your lead magnet. Ideally, you’ll have a call-to-action (CTA), such as a button or link, on this page that encourages them to continue to the next step of your sales funnel, which is an optin form.
Form
Once you’ve lured them in with a tantalizing lead magnet, it’s time to convert them into paying customers. For this, you’ll want to create a form, either on your website or in one of your social media posts, that collects their contact information. This will include their name, email address, phone number, and a captcha (or simple checkbox) to prove that they’re a human and not a robot.