How can you build anticipation for your product before launch?

Identifying a need in the market then developing a product Defining and understanding your target audience is important. But it's more than that. Questions that should be considered are how and where to reach them, what needs are you addressing and what sets you apart from the competitors. Also, depending on what industry you are in can determine how much resources should be spent on defining your audience. Collecting insights can be granular down to the critical purchasing criteria to buyers journey to discovering pain points. There are many audience framework templates that can be used as a starting point, and can go as detailed as is required.

defining personas and creating value proposition around them are the real crux in making your product really usable. landing pages, coming soon flyers, community (WhatsApp etc.) groups, excel sheets are your actual first MVPs where you can gauge the interest before you launch the product and get some real good feedback. however, these can still vary for B2B, B2C/D2C, B2B2C , B2G , P2G etc.

You need a strategic pre-launch marketing plan to generate excitement for your product before its launch. One could do three things: 1. Teaser campaigns that offer glimpses of what's to come, intriguing visuals and cryptic messages can also help pique curiosity. 2. Leveraging social media platforms completely and showcasing product features and benefits would be helpful 3. Collaborating with influencers or industry experts to generate buzz and endorsements would be key.

Before you start creating buzz for your product, it's crucial to understand who you're trying to reach. Your customers aren't just interested in specs and features; they want to know how your product will make their lives better. Put yourself in their shoes. What problems do they face? How can your product simplify their lives, make tasks easier, or bring about the desired results? Focus on the impact your product will have on your customers, not just its technical details.

One way to make it very relatable to the audience is to create different relatable stories for each user segment? That way, each segment can resonate with the story. Also, the story telling will be creative by default.

Based on the results from defining your audience and knowing your product, laying out the value proposition, messaging, and positioning is helpful and can serve as a foundation for marketing to different audience segments. So for instance, if the audience are SMEs (subject matter experts) the way to reach them is through technical articles, blogs and presentations/webinars via LinkedIn and industry third party media. Marketing the story should be done strategically so to avoid wasting resources.

To my mind , masking the product and letting select target audience use / experience it and capturing their reactions can add excitement This can be planned meticulously to get a larger audience to want to know more about the product

A compelling product story can captivate your audience, generate excitement, and build anticipation for your product long before its launch. The Essence of a Product Story A product story is not just a list of features or a technical description; it's a narrative that connects with your audience on an emotional level. It's about understanding the problems your target customers face and how your product will make their lives better. Craft Your Story with Care To craft a compelling product story, follow these guidelines: Start with the 'Why': Why is this product being developed? What problem does it solve? Why should people care? Emphasize the User's Journey: Put your customers at the center of the story. Keep it Simple and Relatable

At Shopify, I've seen merchants create effective social proof strategies by recognizing each social media platforms' nuances: LinkedIn values educational thought leadership content. Instagram requires an aesthetically pleasing and themed profile page with consistent cadenced content like: - Expert testimonials on Mondays - Memes/trends on Wednesdays - Customer testimonials on Fridays TikTok is less about diversity of content and more about hitting the right note and repeating it. Brands reuse sounds and formats to showcase products in familiar ways, capitalizing on the algorithm's preference for recognizable content. By tailoring your social proof strategy to each platform you can build a community of engaged, loyal customers.

When you're launching a new product, it's important to build trust and credibility with potential customers. Encourage people to leave reviews on relevant platforms. This could be product review sites, app stores, or even your own website. Sharing success stories: Write case studies or blog posts about how your product has helped other businesses. This shows potential customers that your product is actually effective. Partnering with influencers: Work with people who have a lot of followers in your target market. They can help you get your product in front of more people and build excitement. Also, social prof comes in shapes like: Using trust badges. Highlighting media coverage. Engaging in community discussions. portfolio of work

I’ve found it incredibly effective to let small groups of influencers (organic and/or paid) get a sneak peak at your product pre-launch and set coverage for a specific date. Days before launch you can get not only press coverage but more organic coverage of your product and it’s abilities featured on your target user’s social and news timelines. The FOMO is strong when it looks like everyone enjoys the new product. I’ve seen it spur on strong launch day sales numbers time and again.

Engaging your community is like having a built-in focus group and marketing team. How to Engage Your Community Here are a few tips for engaging your community: Create a central hub: Set up a forum, social media group, or online community where people can connect and talk about your product. Start conversations: Ask questions, host contests, and encourage discussions to get people talking. Show up regularly: Be active in your community, responding to questions and participating in discussions. Value their input: Show your community that you value their feedback by taking it seriously and making changes based on their suggestions. Say thanks: Let your community members know that you appreciate their support.

Identifying a champion for the product in their market is immensely helpful to the success of the introduction launch. It's not only about influencers, but should include the end-user, and other job demographics like the person who holds the purse strings all the way to the quality control (just examples of my industry, depends on the market you are in). This organically creates a engaged base of potential users and champions for your product.

Apart from what the paragraph mentions, test and iterate cycles also help immensely in taking decision on when to pivot and re-strategize the offering.

After the launch, don't just forget about people who showed interest. Keep nurturing them with emails, trials, demos, and webinars. Create some extra content like videos or social media posts for future use. Also, train your sales team thoroughly. Get on the phone with them and pitch the product together to boost their confidence. Analyze Results and Focus on Retention Once the dust settles, analyze your launch results. Identify what worked, what didn't, and what you learned. Share your findings internally or publicly. Now, shift your focus to retaining existing users. Educate them with webinars and share case studies to show them the value of your product.