Best practices for launching a new product in the digital world
As technology continues to shape consumer behaviors and expectations, mastering the art of launching a new product in the digital arena is paramount to success. Harnessing the power of online platforms, leveraging social media influence and gaining digital traction in an increasingly competitive marketplace requires a strategic and well-executed digital launch plan.
In digital marketing, every piece of content, every interaction should be engineered to foster trust and build loyalty. With a product lunch, all that content contributes to current and future sales growth. With the right strategies in place, your future product launches could be the catalyst that propels your store and/or brand to unprecedented heights.
1. Tell your (product) story
As a product manager and/or marketer, it’s your job to frame the product story in a way that makes sense to your customers. Your “why” and “how” of the product should bring it to life, emotionally engaging your customers. People love stories – they remember the good ones.
Betsy Mello, senior vice president of ecommerce sales for Dorel Home said that because many of their products are sold online, storytelling is the linchpin of their marketing strategy. “Buying furniture online is not an impulse buy – it requires much consideration and storytelling is critical,” she said. “We highlight the benefits and specifications of each product but also speak to the innovation, the problems it may solve (for example space-saving in a small dorm or apartment) and how the story of our product will fit into their lives.”
Follow these 5 steps to help you tell your product story.
1. Answer the why. Why are we doing this? What problem does it solve for our customers?
2. Simplify. Not every detail of your product belongs in the story. Keep it simple and understandable so customers aren’t distracted from your core message.
3. Focus on your customer. Your customer is the hero of your story and while revenue and metrics are important, how the product helps them is your North Star.
4. Keep it relatable. Tap into our shared humanity – empathy – to entice customers to click and read.
5. Engage. Your product story should be emotionally engaging and unforgettable. “Great stories have inherent conflict,” says Shobhit Chugh, product marketing guru extraordinaire. “They grip the readers emotions.”
Show your (product) story
We live in a fast-paced, visual world of skimmers and scrollers – there’s simply too much information coming at us too quickly for us to absorb it all. As digital marketers, we have more tools to help us tell bigger, richer stories. Are you using (the right) images and videos to tell your product story?
According to Neilson Norman, the average time on page for a website is less than a minute. The first 10 seconds are critical. Images and videos closer to the top of the page – or placed alongside a title or product name – can be pivotal for a customer deciding to read more or move onto the next site. To be effective, your images and videos need to tell a story. Sound familiar?
Follow these 5 steps to use visual storytelling in your product launch.
1. Invest in quality images. Good photography isn’t always expensive, especially in the world of AI. Consider a long-term contract with a CGI (computer generated image) provider to reduce “one-off” costs.
2. Utilize immersive content. Images and videos that create a sense of presence – think 360-degree videos, augmented reality or virtual reality – will increase engagement, retention and conversion rates.
3. Incorporate UGC. User generated content – which is often seen as more authentic and trustworthy – can help customers better understand how your product will fit into their lives.
4. Employ interactive video. This type of video content allows you to layer information and questions on videos to make the content more engaging and encourage interaction.
5. Educate and inform with interactivity. Interactive graphics can be a compelling way to showcase features and benefits.
Share your (product) story
A digital go-to-market strategy targets customers at scale through an aligned and automated sales and marketing outreach. It’s time to create the assets you’ll need to reach your customers. After all, like the proverbial tree that falls in the woods, if you plan a product launch without a digital marketing strategy, will anyone buy it?
1. Craft a press release. If it’s a big launch, a press release will help get people talking, whether that’s industry or local city/state buzz.
2. Create email marketing campaigns. Every autoresponder, lead magnet and subject line should serve as a touchpoint for engagement, propelling tangible results.
3. Build a digital ad campaign. A new report from Insider Intelligence indicates that visitors from paid search are four times more likely to convert than those from paid social. Paid search attracts a more intentional customer while social media scrollers are long term engagers. BOTH are important.
4. Design your social media campaigns. Lookalike audiences, consumers who visited your website or used your app or signed up for your newsletter can super-charge conversions. Take time to test both your audience and ad creative to ensure you’re spending money on ads that work.
5. Write blog content. The OG of online content, your blog still has a place in the world, especially if you create content like Yale Appliance.
Remember, whether you’re launching a new product or looking to refresh an existing one, generative AI can speed up the creative process, evaluate marketing results and recommend next steps based on how customers interacted with the content.
Who the heck is Julia Rosien?
As a digital brand marketer, I’m passionate about technology and how it can help us do what we do – better. How we interact with technology – personally and professionally – is where the magic happens and it’s where smart marketers focus their energy. Experience and insights coupled with emerging digital tools leads to best in class brand marketing for today’s connected consumer. Connect with me on LinkedIn.