Whether you’ve been in business for donkey years or you’re just
starting up, it’s hard to successfully introduce a new product without some kind of promotion. Granted, you’ll probably have some wind in your sails if your brand is widely known for delivering quality on a consistent basis; and if your enterprise is new, it might be harder to convince the world to prefer it to an already existing one. Regardless of their size and longevity, businesses find that they have to promote their latest market offerings.
How do you draw potential customers’ attention to your new products, in a world in which they’re bombarded with a seemingly unending stream of information? How do you ensure that they don’t unconsciously screen out your invitations as needless clutter?
Here’s your answer: five proven strategies for attracting customers to your new product or service.
- Share customer reviews
While it’s not a bad thing to blow your own trumpet sometimes, people tend to get more interested in what you’re about when they read or hear positive accounts about your products from people who’ve used them.
You might collect and share complimentary
feedback from people who have used your older products, or use comments from customers that you’ve granted a sneak peak into your new offering or allowed to pretest it. Post these as videos and quotes on your social media page and your website (if you have one). Anyone doing a random search for the type of product you sell may just find the testimonials convincing enough to give your business a try.
- Sales promos and discounts
Leverage the power of freebies and bargains.
There are many ways to do giveaways. You could go with the “buy two get one free” type of promo, or use something other than the same product as a gift accompanying every purchase of the new product. Just make sure that it’s an item your buyer will appreciate.
Discounts on the new product can be formulated in a variety of ways as well. One way is to shave a fixed percentage off the regular price per unit regardless of quantity bought; you could also raise the discount with the amount of the product purchased.
Keep your eyes on your financials as you do this. Don’t devise a promo or discount if it’s going to wreak havoc on your accounts.
- Facebook Ads
Adverts on radio and TV still convert. But they’re often too costly for small businesses. Facebook Ads might help such businesses get the publicity for their products they seek.
The great thing about Facebook Ads is that it lets you target specific audiences in particular locations, depending on your budget. If it’s done smartly, it could help draw in a substantial number of initial customers.
- Contests on social media
If the prize at stake is big enough, there’ll be a large number of people flocking to your social media pages to take part in the contest.
The crucial part of this strategy isn’t really in the value of the prize, although this is important. What you should be especially concerned about is how the contest gets the public to try out your new product. For example, in order to find the correct answer to a question posed in the contest, participants will have to buy and use the product. A subtler, perhaps more effective way of using social media contests could be offering the new product as the prize. This will help the memory of that product ‘stick’ with people who observe the contest or take part in it.
- Do a countdown to the product’s launch
You can do this across your digital media channels: your website, emails and social media. Make an announcement well in advance of the launch date, and then begin building up your audience’s sense of anticipation as the day draws closer.
You may release little bits of information about the product at various points of the countdown, to keep your customers on the edge of their seats. Details that’ll work well for this purpose would typically be exciting features and functions, or interesting new designs.
The key to getting a countdown right is to not let it last for too long or end too quickly. You’ll have to find the right balance for your product launch countdown; you might want to look at countdowns for similar products and how they fared.
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This article was first published on 3rd April 2018
ikenna-nwachukwu
Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.
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