Launching a new product is an exciting new venture for any business. A new product or range has the potential to boost sales, increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.
This may be a product you have developed in house or a new brand or flagship product that has been added to your portfolio.
If you do not have a strategic marketing plan behind this, the chances are, the product could fail.
The key to a successful launch is an integrated strategy. The very first steps of the product launch are vital, right from the product data, name and description.
Product data and imagery
The product data of a new launch is extremely important. You want to have a great model name that is understandable to all end users, as well as being optimised for Google. You will want a detailed description, summarising the product in the first two lines; this is essential for organic search listings.
After this you will want to add more detail into paragraphs and bullet points, avoiding large chunks of text. If you have a video or tutorial on YouTube it is a great idea to add this to your product description to engage your customers even more.
When adding in the product data to the IRP, you will always want to create linked products; this gives the customer an idea of what the product can be used for or with, increasing upsells.
Create the perfect landing page
For a successful product launch, an informative and appealing landing page is a necessity. This is where all traffic will be directed from your marketing campaigns such as Google PPC, Facebook Organic and Paid Marketing, Affiliates, Emails and Bing PPC.
This is the area to showcase your product and give the consumer more information to encourage them to make a purchase. Call To Actions, imagery, videos, and descriptions are all encouragement to your customer to take the next action.
Using the example of the makeup brushes below, here is a Custom Content Page that was created for this brand new launch.
The top three products are sets; these are the most expensive products of the launch so we want to initially showcase these.
There is an explanation of each kit underneath the image along with a call-to-action for the customer to buy the product.
Directly below is the showcase of the single brushes, also with an explanation of each and a call-to-action.
Using a custom content page will give you the flexibility of making your product look extremely appealing, with the use of custom product lists, the product / products can be displayed on this page.
By completing the SEO fields within the Custom Content Page, you are giving your products a better chance of displaying in Organic Rankings on Google.
This is a very quick and easy task and will drive traffic to you free of charge, so never miss out on this opportunity. The Title and Description are essential.
Traffic channels
Google and Bing PPC
This is an extremely important channel when it comes to launching a new product. Always alert your Google and Bing Pay Per Click service provider with plenty of notice of when you are launching your new product. They will be able to set up new campaigns accordingly.
Social media
Social Media is also an extremely important channel when launching a new product. This is where a lot of your customers are most likely to engage and share your product. It is advised to do one channel well before trying to post on all channels.
Social Media should not just be organic posting; this should also consist of paid advertising where appropriate. Facebook Marketing is an example of this where you can really target the people who are most likely to be interested in your product.
When you are launching a new product and posting this on social media, always be clear that this is NEW. Have creative / good artwork at the correct size, and ALWAYS link back to the product on your website. Do not give your customers any excuse not to click through.
Marketing emails
Marketing emails are extremely important for new product launches, as the people who have signed up to your mailing list ARE the people who have an interest in your product.
It is important to target your mailing list as soon as your product has been made live so that they can feel like a VIP who has found out about your exciting news first. Some things you should think about when creating your email are:
- The Subject Line: Make this exciting; include the word NEW if it is appropriate. You need to engage your customers right from the very beginning.
- The creative / artwork: Get your designer to make your product look awesome.
- Targeting: Do you want to target your WHOLE mailing list? It is recommended to split your email list up into segments. This can be achieved by breaking your list up through country, language, purchased brands, categories or models. You can find out more about this here.
- Call to Action: ALWAYS include a call to action in your email; make it irresistible for your customers to take a closer look at your new product.
Keep the momentum going
The end of your product launch is only the beginning of building a successful long-term strategy, so it is essential to keep the momentum going. Create follow up emails to go out the following day / week. Keep posting on Social Media and keep on top of how your paid advertising is performing.
Good Luck!
