Setting up a launch on social media requires an effective campaign that will help to spread the word about a new product to the brand’s target audience.

A social media campaign for a product launch allows a business to get creative and produce high-quality content that will engage customers and reach campaign goals. However, it is important for businesses to realise that a product launch on social networks takes a lot of work and needs to be planned in advance so that pre-launch material can be successfully distributed. If you are thinking about launching a new product online, you have come to the right place! Here is a guide to successfully setting up a new product launch using social media. 

How Can Social Media Help with Marketing a New Product?

Social media is an exceptional tool for reaching a variety of audiences, in a matter of seconds. There is a range of social media channels to join and publish on, which means that no matter which age group you want to target, you can deliver eye-catching posts straight to their devices.

Many successful brands have created a social media campaign for a product launch at one stage; the buzz and hype surrounding launch day engages and hypes people up for what’s to come.

Whether your products or services are digital or physical, social media is a great way to inform existing customers of a launch and get new followers involved with the brand. To do this successfully, a business must create a marketing strategy that can be tracked and analysed to get the best results for the new product.

A new product launch is an excellent way to build followers and brand awareness online. 

How Do I Create a New Product Launch Strategy?

There are a range of important steps to preparing for a product launch; including defining goals, planning a timeline, deciding on a social platform (Facebook and Instagram are the most popular platforms for a new product campaign), and creating quality content, ready for the product launch. 

Determine Campaign Goals

The first thing that should take place for any marketing strategy is the identification of goals. What do you want to achieve out of marketing a product on social media? What goal is the social campaign working towards in the long run? Without established goals, it is likely your new product campaign will not go as well as it could! This is because goals give you something to work towards, increasing your chances of campaign success.

When thinking about creating goals for your product launch, try to refer to the framework of SMART goals. Following SMART goals ensure the targets you set are ‘Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-Bound’. Instead of defining incredibly ambitious goals, think up smaller targets that your campaigns can actually reach within your budget and scope of time.

For example, you may want to increase your brand awareness but which goal will you set that can be measured to show you have been successful with this? Some brands use website traffic as a key to brand awareness, and may set up a goal of “Increasing website traffic by 20% in 8 weeks”. Set specific and reachable goals for your social media product launch.

Appropriate Social Media Channels

For most campaigns, it is better to focus on one or two specific channels rather than spreading thin across multiple channels and decreasing your chance of hitting campaign goals. A company marketing a new product on social media should focus on just one main channel to target content towards. This social media platform should be chosen in regard to where the target audience of the new product are most likely to be. If your company targets products or services towards other businesses (B2B) then Twitter and LinkedIn are the best platforms to use for the launch. But if you run a business that focuses its product to a public audience (B2C) of a younger demographic, Instagram and Facebook will work best for your social media content. 

Create a Realistic Timeline

Successful product launches are set up with a realistic timeline in mind; one that will allow the accomplishment of goals. For launching a new product on social media, there should be pre-launch content ready to market at least 4 weeks prior to the launch date. This builds up excitement around the product and gives a teaser as to what is to come. Therefore, the planning of a product launch campaign should begin at least 2 to 3 months prior to launch day. It is vital to create a realistic timeline so that content and posts can be created and planned leading up, during and after the launch date. A realistic timeline will allow you to organise content that will get you the best results and build up a buzz around the new product.

Establish Visual Ideas for the Social Media Campaign

One of the best ways to engage people with your campaign online is to be as creative as possible through the content you are putting out. This means creating mood boards, putting together colour schemes and deciding which visuals work best for the marketing of your product.

Content will be the main part of your strategy for social media campaigns, which is why the way it looks will have an effect on how it performs. Once you have established the visual side of the campaign, you need to decide on the type of content that will be released to market your new product.

Will you use videos, photos, stories, create a hashtag or blog post? Content that can be published to your website and linked through to social media is also a highly effective way to increase website traffic and get people onto your landing page. The type of content you put together should depend on the social platform you are using and the demographic of your followers.

Get as creative as possible but don’t forget that you are working to a timeline, so try not to start anything that you won’t have time to finish for pre-launch.

Decide on Additional Marketing Tactics to Assist Product Launch

As well as creating and publishing quality content to boost excitement around the product launch, it is also a great idea to work on related marketing tactics that can assist the campaign. For example, influencer marketing is a highly effective way to market your business to a specific community. Influencers on Instagram can truly help to increase brand awareness and encourage people to purchase with your brand in the future. Getting Instagram influencers involved with launch could skyrocket the results of your campaign.

If you are using Facebook or Twitter, rather than Instagram, you could use contests to spread the word about your campaign. A contest will encourage people to engage with your brand as there is a chance they can get something out of connecting with you. The more people that get involved with your contest, the more people that will become exposed to your brand in general. Contests can be as creative as you like and may require customers and followers to use your hashtag, post photos or share your video online.

Create and Prepare Social Content for Launch Day

So, you have defined your goals, set out your colour scheme and graphics visuals, decided on marketing tactics… it is now time to create your photos, videos, stories, graphics, blogs, hashtags or anything else you need for your launch campaign!

These posts should be created around 2 months in advance of the launch date so they can be scheduled for a month prior. The success of your campaign will depend on how organised you are with your schedule and posting creative content!

Use a scheduling tool to prepare all social media posts for specific dates, and don’t forget to design captions that will assist the campaign and call people to action. Your marketing should also continue for a few weeks after launch day, so remember to schedule posts up to 4 weeks after launch.

Track Analytics of Campaign

Your videos, stories, photos and other assets should all be analysed each week to find out how your campaign is performing and whether it is on its way to achieving the goals you set out in the first step. It is okay to change up the strategy during the release if you feel that your initial schedule isn’t working well for your goals. Social media is all about being adaptable, so track analytics and change up the plan if it’s not working for your business. 

Market Your Product on Social Media with The Social Network

Here at The Social Network, we offer social media marketing, consultancy and training for businesses that need help making an ROI online and increasing brand awareness. We can help with your social campaigns so that you actually reach goals and hit targets. Find out more about our services online and get in contact with us to start your online campaign and take your business to the next level.