5 steps to a successful product launch

With the holidays just around the corner, I’ve been getting more questions about how to sell your products and I’m so here for it! It’s tempting to create a product, share it in a post, and call it a day. But as the leader of your business, I want you to embrace your role as Marketing Director, and think strategically about not just your product, but also how you’re going to launch and promote it. 

Read on for 5 steps to consider and LOTS of ideas for getting people hyped up for your products this season! 

STEP 1: Get customer input before launching a new product

Getting a sense of interest for product ideas or options helps you to gain buy-in from your audience from the very beginning. Customers love feeling like they are part of the process and get excited when they see what they voted on become reality. Getting customer feedback can also help you narrow down your product set by offering the items that are most popular so that you don’t overwhelm yourself by doing everything at once. An easy way to gauge interest is through an Instagram Poll, or if you want to go more in depth, you can send a Google Form to your subscribers.

STEP 2: Tease your products before you launch them

Create some posts or stories that share sneak peeks of what you're planning to offer, and communicate a launch date in the near future (within a week or so). Set a countdown in Instagram and build up momentum towards that date so people know to look for your product. 

When we launch something without giving our audience a “heads up”, we are essentially hoping that they will make an impulse buy when they see it for the first time, and the majority of people need more time to make a purchasing decision. 

STEP 3: Take pre-orders or run a pre-sale of new products to help you determine how much inventory to carry

If you’ve never sold a product before, you probably aren’t sure how much inventory or supply to buy. Taking pre-orders or running a pre-sale with a small discount can help you to gauge interest in your products to help you determine how much to stock. You’ll want to purchase a small quantity of supplies so you can create samples and take photos to show your customers or create mock up images of your products. (Custom Scene is a great website for creating mock-ups of products and they have some adorable holiday flat lays for just a few dollars!)

 Using these product images, you can start collecting pre-orders, noting to customers that items will ship in 2-3 weeks (for example). You can then use the sales that come in to determine how much inventory to carry and place a larger order for supplies.

STEP 4: Stay top of mind by saying your message in different ways 

As mentioned earlier, people often need time to make a purchasing decision and shop around for the perfect gift. In addition, generally speaking, 10% or less of your audience sees your posts and stories. So you’ll want to continue reminding your audience about your offerings to stay top of mind, but say your message in different ways so they don’t tune out.  

Here are some ideas for how to keep things interesting, without brute force selling: 

• Take photos of your product in different settings. Think different angles, backgrounds, maybe some in use or with a person in the image. This will keep things fresh and offer something new each time you promote your product. 

• If you have multiple products, try highlighting them one at a time. Show behind the scenes or the product in action for just one product, before highlighting another product later in the week. This will help your message stay focused so people don’t get overwhelmed with too many choices!

• Create a reel to show your product in action. People love seeing videos of the product in action, and Instagram’s reel feature is a great way to do this within people’s short attention spans. Reels also reach a larger audience than just your followers when you share them to the Explore page! 

• Repost stories from customers talking about your product. When people see others buying or talking about your product, this generates social proof that gets more people to pay attention. Similarly, sharing videos of you working on orders can also create a sense of urgency and desire. 

• Share with your friends! You wouldn’t believe how many people forget to share their business with their friends, so here’s your reminder :) Share your products on your personal social media accounts or email your friends and family with a link to buy and share. 

STEP 5: You may choose to spend some money to reach buyers outside of your audience

As with all these steps, this one is totally optional, but given the huge shopping season, your ad dollars can go further during the holidays. You can advertise on Etsy, Instagram, or Facebook or look for holiday marketplaces or fairs, which often have a fee to participate. 

WHEW. That was a lot, so here’s a PSA: You do NOT need to follow all of these steps! This is your business, and you get to choose what’s right for your approach, time, and energy. Remember, there are no silver bullets in business, it’s all about trial and error, and the most important thing is that you are learning and having fun, fellow CEO! 

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