How To Launch A New Product or Menu On Social Media
When something exciting is happening in your business, social media should always be one of your primary ways of sharing the news! After all, with billions of people on so many different platforms, it’s a huge, yet inexpensive opportunity to convert your existing audience to sales and put your products in front of more eyes. But how do you ensure success when launching a new product or menu on social media? Read on for our best tips and tricks!
Outline Your Goals
Like any social media campaign, it’s important to outline your goals and KPIs before you begin. Sure, we know that your overall goal is to sell, sell, sell, but there are definitely more specific ways to measure success. How many units of your new product do you want each customer to be purchasing? Do you want to see customers in new cities? And how about your social media accounts – how much do you want your reach, engagement and followers to have increased by the end of the campaign? Once you’ve clearly defined what your goals are, you’ll then be able to come up with the best strategies and content to achieve them.
Determine Your Timeline
It’s true what they say – timing is everything! Now’s the time to get out your calendar and create a timeline for your campaign. You’ll want to give yourself plenty of time not only so that you can avoid having to rush to make content, but also so that your audience has enough time to see and share the information you publish.
When setting out a timeline, think about what information needs to be shared, and when. Despite how excited you are, don’t be tempted to share everything about your new product or menu all at once. We’ve found that the best way to do this is to mark out your launch date, and work backwards, highlighting dates for important ‘milestones’. These milestones can also be considered your teaser campaign, where you reveal new facets or information about your product or menu over a period of time.
These could be:
Teaser 1 – Tell your audience something new is coming
E.g. You asked for new snacks and we listened. Something new is coming soon…
Teaser 2 – Tell your audience what problem your new product solves, without revealing what it is
E.g. Can’t find the perfect snack on the go? We’ve got just what you need… Coming soon to Melbourne Snack Company!
Teaser 3 – Share a facet of your new product (what it does, its ingredients etc), without revealing what it is
E.g. Made with 100% real Australian strawberries to give you boundless energy throughout the day… Coming soon to Melbourne Snack Company
Teaser 4 – Announce your product and share the launch date!
E.g. We’ve been making you drool for long enough… Introducing our new ____, available online and in major supermarkets from 15 March!
When thinking about your timeline, you’ll also need to think about what happens during and after your launch too as you’ll need content to sustain the hype around your new product, as well as to integrate it into your rotation of social media content.
Create your content and COntent calendar
Now that you know what information needs to be published and when, it’s time to get creative and create the images, graphics, videos and copy for your launch campaign. It may be helpful to storyboard your timeline, so that you can add in visual drafts of the content you need to prepare. Here, it’s important to think about which social media platforms you’re going to be using, which of their features you can leverage to maximise your audience, and the best type of content for the platform. When creating content, the most important thing to keep in mind is that it should be eye-catching, engaging, and create hype and awareness about your new launch. With that in mind, here are some proven strategies that we’ve used for our client’s past campaign:
Countdowns + Call To Actions
In order to ensure the success of your launch, it should make sense that your audience should know when your new product or menu will be available from. Pair each milestone with a specific call to action (e.g. ‘Comment which of our new dishes you’re excited to share, ‘Tag someone who should know about our new fragrance!’) and you’ve got a winning formula for both engaging your audience on social media and spreading the news about your launch. Countdowns are also especially important if the new product or menu is replacing an older one – meaning that it won’t be around anymore! So, to avoid disappointing your customers, make sure they have one last chance to enjoy or stock up on their favourites.
Product Previews + Influencer Collaborations
Working in line with your teaser campaign, create excitement about your new products by sharing reviews of your product from trusted sources. This is a good opportunity to get media, public personalities, bloggers, and influencers involved in your launch. Simply send them your product or invite them in to try your menu. When dealing with bloggers and influencers, you can often strike a deal with them to post an agreed upon amount of stories and posts for the product/ experience, meaning that you’ll also generate content that you can then repost on your own platforms. Read more here to find out how to succeed with influencer marketing.
Giveaways + Competitions
Giveaways and competitions are common tools for encouraging engagement and growing your following on social media, however, they can also be a cheap and easy way to spread the news about your launch amongst your audience and their circles. Check out our For a step-by-step guide on how to run a giveaway,
don't forget
-Stories and ephemeral posts are just as important as those on your feed or main account. Don’t forget to include them in your launch strategy and create content that’s specific to their dimensions and included features!
-When conducting social media marketing, paid campaigns and boosting should definitely also be a part of your strategy. Find out how to create the perfect multi-channel marketing strategy here
-Before you launch, make sure that you’ve updated your e-commerce catalogues so that your new product is shoppable via social media.
Want to leave your new product or menu launch to the marketing experts? Get in touch with us today!