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I love the pre-launch stage of product development and marketing. Yes, there’s a lot to be done, with tons of moving parts and uncertainty, but there’s also so much possibility in the air. You’re building the core of your entire marketing campaign!
Pre-launch marketing helps generate awareness and anticipation for your upcoming launch and test out different marketing channels. You can also use pre-launch to get some valuable feedback and perfect both the product and the marketing.
There are so many options for pre-launch marketing strategies, and once you pinpoint what works for your team and audience, you’re ready to get the hype train rolling!
Pre-Launch Marketing Strategies
When I say pre-launch marketing, what images come to mind? Probably something old-fashioned and stuffy like a mailing list sign-up or a couple of banner ads.
But the truth is, the pre-launch marketing stage can be one of the biggest and most exciting parts of the entire process. The right approach and creative marketing campaigns can actually increase the buzz surrounding your launch even more.
Run a Contest or Giveaway
Contests and giveaways are a great way to generate early excitement. You can give early access to your product, offer discounts, free merchandise, or even a prize that reflects you and your business.
These campaigns can be used to collect emails, help people get to know your product, or even give feedback on what they’d like to see in the final version. It’s a fun way to get people excited about your launch!
However, keeping everything organized for your contest can feel like another challenge piled on top of an already hectic time. If you start to let entries fall through the cracks, it can lead to customer frustration, legal complications, or even just wasted time if you’re not sure which customers are eligible.
That’s where a software to keep everything organized comes in handy. ReferralHero can keep track of customers as they enter, and let you know when a reward is in order.
What’s more, once your product has launched (or even before if you want to get really spicy) you can easily transition all the information into a fully fleshed-out referral program that will keep leads coming in the long-term.
Design a Teaser Campaign
What is a teaser campaign, you ask? Teaser campaigns are a form of pre-launch marketing that builds anticipation by releasing bits and pieces of info that eventually leads to your product reveal.
Think of it as your own version of a movie trailer—you know the pain of waiting for the movie to come out after watching deep-cutting lines in the trailer for what feels like forever, and you can leverage that same anticipation in your own product launch.
The key is to use your creative side and break up the info you share—you can tease individual features throughout the week, share sneak peeks through images or videos, and strategically time your launches to create a sense of urgency.
To keep everything fresh and exciting, you can use this kind of mini-campaign to test out different mediums. Think videos, blog posts, infographics, user stories, whatever keeps your audience engaged and dying to learn more!
Snag an Influencer or Two
Influencers have built up entire empires by helping brands run their pre-launch campaigns. Their audience is engaged, they’re passionate about products, and they have an almost cult-like level of loyalty—all of which makes them ideal partners for your marketing.
Plus, there are many ways to partner with influencers, from asking them to review or test out your product to creating a hashtag related to your launch. If you understand your audience, it won't be hard to find an influencer within your niche to connect you to people who will be just as excited about the launch as you are.
When you've found the perfect person (or set of people) to work with, make sure you touch base about their going rate and style of partnership. Every influencer has different expectations, so having an open dialogue allows everyone to come out with a better understanding of the collaboration.
A common way to do this is with an exclusive discount code or sign-up link that their followers can use. How much you pay can then be proportionate to how many leads the partnership brings in.
To track those link clicks, you can easily set up a special parameter on referral software like ReferralHero! It will take care of all the background work so that you and your customers can focus fully on your exciting new product!
The Event of the Season
If you want to really stand out, you can organize a pre-launch party or event for your loyal customers, influencers in your sphere, top referrers, or anyone interested in your brand. A memorable event will give people a tactile experience with your product, and form memories and connections they won’t get online.
An exciting experience outside the web will make even more of an impact and will get everyone talking to their friends and sharing the news about your upcoming launch. Plus, if you have videos or photos from the event, you can share them online to reach a larger group of people.
Marketing Funnel for a Pre-Launch Contest
While all of these ideas are stellar on their own, many of them can work together to create a cohesive, ultra-powerful pre-launch marketing campaign.
Take some time to think about the customer journey from the moment you make contact with them to the moment they buy your product. Each step should be carefully crafted and memorable.
Awareness
People can’t get excited about your new product if they aren't aware of it. The first contact you make with people is important, so take the time to get this phase right.
Start by reaching out to your existing customers to let them know about the upcoming launch. They already love your brand and will be excited to hear what’s new!
If you’re setting up a contest, they’ll be your first applicants, so consider giving them a special offer to get them hyped.
Create a teaser campaign to keep people guessing and get influencers talking. This will spread awareness beyond your existing network and start new users down the path to conversion.
Studies have found that having people outside your company working with you early on is one of the key indicators of a successful launch, so don’t hesitate to bring in those influencers on a larger scale.
Make sure you optimize the landing page for your website by focusing on key elements such as visuals, narrative, and CTA. Make sure visitors can learn everything they need to get invested in your contest and launch right away.
Engagement
Simply being aware of a new product likely won’t be enough to get people to engage with your brand, especially if they are new leads. That’s where something like a contest or giveaway becomes especially useful.
Craft something impossible to resist, like a great prize or a fun activity. Take the time to think about triggers that make people want to try their luck, and what activation points they’ll come across once they’re in.
The more engaging and fun your contest or giveaway is, the more people will participate. Make sure you create an interactive experience that keeps people active and involved at all times.
To keep everything organized, consider funneling people into software like ReferralHero. It can seamlessly track every action people take to gain entries into the contest.
If everything goes well, you can even turn this into a beloved tradition in your community to keep people coming back every time you launch a product.
Acquisition
Now people are invested. That’s great news! Don’t let this momentum go to waste.
Develop a clear call to action to drive people to sign up for your contest or giveaway. It should be super clear what they’re signing up for – like prizes or gifts – and how they will be contacted if they win.
The act of participating in and winning the contest or giveaway is a great way to start building relationships with your customers. Use each entry as an opportunity to collect valuable information.
Make sure you have basic contact details, such as name and email address, but also consider more specific data, such as interests and past purchases. This data can then be used to create personalized experiences throughout the pre-launch and launch process.
Once you have this info, you can use it to create an email campaign, recommend specific content you’ve made, or even move people toward a pre-sale link.
Conversion
Those that have signed up for your pre-launch contest or giveaway are now interested in your product or service. Now is a great opportunity to introduce them to what you have to offer.
Start by creating content that tells the story of your product or service. What purpose does it serve? Who would use it? Why should they invest? Make sure this content is engaging, persuasive, and full of benefits.
Consider creating a pre-sale or discount on your product or service for those that signed up for the contest or giveaway. This will incentivize the most engaged users to make the jump and become immediate customers.
The Bottom Line
Starting the pre-launch marketing process might seem daunting at first, but once you’re into the details, there’s nothing more exciting. Don’t be afraid to try out different strategies and be proactive to make sure your launch is as successful as possible.
Working with partners and tools like ReferralHero can free up your mind to focus on creative and engaging content. This creativity is what will ultimately fuel your hype train all the way to the station.
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