How-Tu Tuesday: Using Social Media To Launch A New Product

Launching a new product or service is a huge investment for a company; depending on the size of the launch, millions can be spent on market research, design, technology and materials. Therefore, it is imperative that when launching the new product, it is marketed in the best way possible, meaning the product/service is a success and reaches sales targets.

Over the past decade, the way in which new products are brought to market has changed dramatically. Times when the crux of a launch marketing campaign involved an embargoed launch date and media story have now transformed into an internet fueled communications plan, including the use of bloggers, influencers, creative online advertising, email marketing and of course, social media.

It is social media in particular that is being used by almost every company to launch new products and services as it has become known as one of the quickest, cheapest and most efficient ways to spread brands’ messages and reach a targeted audience.

Check out our top 5 ways to use social media when launching a new product or service:

1. Capitalise on the Consumer’s Emotions

When adding a new product or service to your current offering, it is important to pay most attention to your existing followers across the various platforms as these are the people who already know your brand, and are mostly likely to buy into the new addition to your line. Furthermore, those who have an existing connection with your brand will feel they have some level of relationship with the company and these emotions should be extracted and capitalized upon when communicating promotional messaging around the new product launch. Make a point of releasing exclusive details of the launch on social media, ensuring that your followers are made to feel special.

2. Use Social Media To Support Wider Activities

Although social media is both a time and cost efficient way to promote a new product, it is important not to rely entirely on this channel of communication as not all consumers will receive the brand message if only one channel is used.

Social media should be used to support other marketing activities such as a press release, online and offline advertising, blogger/influencer outreach and any events surrounding the launch. All marketing efforts should be cohesive in communicating the same message, meaning the consumer is not left feeling confused and knows exactly what is being offered and what makes the product special.

3. Know Your Demographic

Social media can be used to target a large demographic of consumers, but simultaneously, it can also be used to target very niche segments. Depending on the campaign and the brand’s customer, each social channel should be considered and chosen based on who uses it and how  active and engaging people are on the platform. For example, if the consumer is young and particularly active on social media, then using Snapchat and Periscope can be effective tools in capturing the attention of the consumer and keeping them engaged. On the other hand, if the consumer is older and less advanced in being social, but uses it for staying in touch with friends or family, then Facebook will be the best social tool for targeting this demographic.

4. Use a Hashtag to Ignite and Track Conversation

The main aim in using social media for marketing purposes is creating engagement and instigating a conversation with the consumer. When communicating the launch of something, it is crucial that there is a high level of buzz and excitement so that when the product is released, people are ready to purchase. This can be done through creating a hashtag that users are encouraged to include in their social posts about the launch. An effective way of keeping people interested is to release exclusive snippets of the launch product and tag everything using the campaign hashtag, allowing people to follow and track the activity. This raises interest and gets people curious and talking about your brand and product.

5. Be Innovative and Creative – Use Social

Brands want to create products and services that people ultimately want to buy, and repurchase. Furthermore, consumers like control and to share their opinions; social media is the perfect solution. As well as using social media for promotional reasons, it can also be used well before this stage in the launch process, and incorporated into the manufacturing. When market research is taking place and the product is being designed, the social channels can be used to reach out and ask consumers what they want, or it can provide them with a variety of functionality or design options to be chosen from. This way, brands can gain a better understanding of their customer and what they truly want, giving them more chance of the product selling and doing well, as well as the consumer feeling more involved and part of the process, thus creating engagement and a valuable relationship.