How to Build Hype for a New Product Launch

Identify your market segment First, you’ve got to figure out who will be using your new product. You can develop a customer persona to get more information about this segment of your customer base. Say something like, “Obviously, I know I’m biased, but I’ve been working in this industry for a long time. Big events are a great time to talk about your new product launch. Since Apple does this every year, their customers are always ready for the events. 64% of customers make a purchase after seeing a branded video. If you’re selling a t-shirt, you don’t need to really explain to your customers how it’s used. Use all of your marketing channels Don’t just use your website to promote your new product. Promote the product at a special event and use video demonstrations to show how it works. Once your product is ready for launch, make sure everything is working properly.

Author: Neil Patel / Source: Quick Sprout

Your company is ready to launch a new product. This is an exciting time for you and everyone else involved.

Depending on your industry and brand, you’ve spent months or potentially even years developing this product.

As you approach the final stages of development, you’re starting to get a bit anxious. I can totally relate to this feeling. You’ve spent so much time, effort, and money on this that you want to make sure that it’s successful.

If your new product isn’t a hit and doesn’t sell, it could be a crushing blow, both financially and psychologically for your brand.

Here’s what you need to realize. Your product may be outstanding, but if you don’t promote the release properly, nobody is going to buy it.

Sure, you may get the occasional sale from someone walking through the aisles of your physical location or browsing online at your ecommerce store, but that’s not enough to drastically increase your revenue.

There’s no reason to wait until your product launches to start promoting it. That way the introduction phase of your product life cycle will have higher sales.

Building hype for your new product will have consumers anticipating the launch. That way, you’ll start to get sales immediately on release day.

If your last product launch wasn’t too successful, you might need some tips on how to improve your strategy the next time around. That’s why I created this guide. It’s also great for anyone who is releasing a new product for the first time.

Here’s the best way to build hype and drive sales.

Identify your market segment

First, you’ve got to figure out who will be using your new product. This isn’t the same thing as identifying the target audience of your brand.

Sure, you already know who your customers are, but will all of your customers be using your new product?

Here’s a really basic and obvious example to show you what I’m talking about. Let’s say you have a clothing brand. You sell a variety of products for both men and women.

The new product that you’re releasing is a sports bra. Obviously, the market segment here is athletic women.

You can develop a customer persona to get more information about this segment of your customer base. Here’s an example of what this looks like.

This is really important for brands that have a diverse line of products. Not every single customer of your will be interested in the new launch.

So it’s a waste of time, money, and resources if you market to everyone and anyone who walks through your doors.

Instead, take advantage of your customer information that you have on file. You may have email lists segmented into certain categories.

Send out messages to the subscribers who fit the description of your customer persona.

Work backward

Think about your end game and start there. It’s an interesting strategy, but it helps everyone on your team get on the same page.

It’s always a great idea to follow the advice of successful companies. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, says that his business employs this strategy for new product launches.

Write a mock press release. Explain exactly what your new product is and why you made it. Talk about the top features, benefits, and differentiation factors.

Keep this description clear, concise, and to the point.

Come up with a potential frequently asked questions list. What kind of problems, inquiries, or instructions would a customer have if they bought the product?

Put yourself in the shoes of a neutral person who has no prior knowledge of the product and how it works. Will they be able to figure it out?

Outline the customer experience. Determine how different people will use the product. Imagine every possible circumstance that the item could be used for.

Next, write your user guide. This should be a step-by-step instruction page that describes everything the customer needs to know about how to set up, use, and troubleshoot the product.

Once all of these steps are outlined, it will make it easier for your company to brand the product and make sure that it’s ready to be marketed accordingly.

Start testing your product

Your new product needs to be tested constantly. It doesn’t matter what it is or what kind of industry you’re in, testing early will improve the final performance.

This statement holds true for both physical products as well as intangible products, such as software.

Testing needs to happen during each phase of development.

Testing early will make your life easier in the long run. But it also has promotional benefits.

If you can get your product into the hands of beta testers and focus group participants, it can start to build hype.

You’re killing two birds with one stone here. First, you’re getting valuable feedback to ensure quality control. Second, you’re getting the word out about the new item.

These testers could be influencers within certain industries. They may have blogs, websites, or connections to people who do as well.

If they talk about their experience on social media, you can start to get free promotion without putting in any effort. You should encourage your testers to do this.