How to Do a Pre-Launch Campaign for Free?

Whether you’re setting up a new business or introducing new products to the lineup, an effective pre-launch campaign is crucial to ensure it’s well-received on the launch day. While large-scale enterprises spend millions on promoting new products, raising brand awareness is slightly complex for startups.

Most startups have to kick off with limited capital resources for product development and marketing strategies that build anticipation and buzz in the audience. With the high marketing costs and expensive PR packages, many entrepreneurs put off their promotion campaigns until after the launch - costing a failed launch.

Surprisingly, as an upcoming startup, you don’t need a hefty marketing budget to make yourself visible to prospective customers. We have outlined seven compelling tactics to conduct your pre-launch campaign with little or no budget.

Why Set Up a Pre-launch Marketing Campaign?

In a world with established companies and spawning startups every day with revolutionary ideas, a comprehensive pre-launch marketing campaign is a prerequisite for every upcoming business.

A promotional strategy builds anticipation and excitement in the target audience,  paving the way for a successful release. The idea is to let people know what’s cooking, develop their interest in the product or service, and drive them to become valuable leads.

Most companies view pre-release campaigns to determine the most effective marketing channels to advertise the product to the right audience. Besides, providing free trials and samples to a selected audience allow developers to revamp the product according to users’ feedback before the official release.

Pre-launch Campaign for Free - Raise Brand Awareness with $0 Budget

Sometimes having a revolutionary business idea is not enough. For a startup to survive in the dynamic market space, it needs a community of avid followers who are eager to purchase what you’re offering.

According to most marketers and professional analysts, implementing your marketing strategy before the launch generates more leads than executing it afterward. That’s why it’s only feasible to spend a bigger portion of your marketing budget on a pre-launch campaign compared to post-launch period.

In case your funds are too limited to spend on marketing, you might need to grow your hype organically. Although raising brand awareness and building waiting lists with zero budget sounds impossible, it’s nothing unheard of.

Many businesses have generated buzz and built extensive waiting lists in the pre-launch phase without spending a penny on marketing. If you want to join the league, set your promotional tactics in place 4 - 6 months before the scheduled launch date.

Following a well-planned and calculated pre-launch marketing campaign checklist can help you achieve the following goals ahead of the final launch:

Understand and Cater to the Correct Audience: Identifying your target audience is the first step of any marketing plan. Discover their inclinations, preference, and possible pain points, so you know where and how to direct your campaign.

Distinguish Yourself in the Market: Besides bringing a unique product idea to the market, set a distinctive tone when addressing your audience. Be original and interactive with your prospective customers.

Stand Out from the Competition: Identify your close competitors in your niche. Discover how they do business and cater to their audience. Once you figure out their marketing approach, you can devise a more customer-centric strategy that sets you apart from your rivals.

Establish a Dynamic Online Presence: Even if your business focuses on real-life, physical products, it’s necessary to have an online presence - in the form of a website, social media accounts, or online marketplaces - to develop trust and credibility.

7 Tactics to Conduct a Free Pre-Launch Campaign

If you have scheduled a launch date for your business, better start as early as possible. Initiating your promotion campaign early provides two main benefits - building an online community that resonates with your business idea and an email list of prospective clients who are ready to buy from you.

When preparing and launching your campaign, take these objectives as general guidelines or KPIs. Adopt the following tactics to raise awareness before your product hits the shelves:

Build a Team of Skilled Professionals

No matter how much you love running a one-person show, you can’t build an empire alone! Whether you are building a SaaS product or preparing to launch a business, getting a team on board expands your network, improves efficiency in meeting objectives, and diversifies your marketing campaign.

Research suggests that startups established or managed by teams can secure three times as much funds in crowdfunding campaigns than the ones run by an individual. Team up with professionals who can not only share your workload but also believe in your vision enough to help it become a reality.

As the founder, you will need more than your core team - especially when it comes to taking product shots, infographics, and video shoots for advertising. Sure, you can DIY most of these tasks, but if you want to conduct a dynamic and engaging campaign, prefer outsourcing your work to professionals who are skilled in their art.

Develop a Coming Soon Landing Page

Before you initiate your pre-launch marketing campaign, develop an online interface to attract visitors and capture leads that come your way. No need to build a full-fledged website in case of any budget constraints, a standalone landing page will do the job - and Robinhood’s pre-launch success is the perfect precedent.

Whether you are leveraging social media to put your name forward or preparing for a press release, don’t forget to insert the link to your landing page. It paves the way for visitors impressed by your product idea to sign up for a free trial. A page must be user-friendly and attractive enough to compel users to get on board before the final release.

To impress any forthcoming visitor, a landing page should have the following features:

A clearly inserted CTA button.

Quick and easy sign-up process for new users.

Allow users to register for waiting lists and pre-order an upcoming product or service.

Track the traffic inflow to determine which marketing channels bring more visitors.

Employ heat mapping software to figure out how users interact with your website and treat any possible shortcomings.

Implement modern SEO techniques and on-page optimization to improve traffic and solidify link building.

Establish a Brand Presence through Social Media

In the current market dynamics; social media plays a major role in making your new product launch successful. More than half the traffic on online marketplaces comes through social media platforms. If you fail to build an influential presence on social media, you might lose access to more than 50% of your target audience.

Here’s how you can build a robust social presence with your brand without overspending your budget:

Create Accounts on Different Platforms

First, sign up on social media platforms that are more relevant to your desired audience, and create compelling profiles. Some channels might suit your startup more than others, depending on the type of campaign you’re running.

For instance, if you’re building a SaaS product, set LinkedIn and Twitter as your primary platforms for reaching your audience. In case your startup leans toward the entertainment industry, direct your campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr for a positive response.

Employ Social Media Scheduling Tools

Simply, creating accounts is not enough. Publish content regularly on every preferred medium to keep your audience hooked and excited about your upcoming launches. Since managing multiple platforms and focusing on other aspects of your business simultaneously can be nerve-wrecking, employ social media scheduling tools.

They allow you to regularly post and rotate content between different social platforms according to your scheduled times. Constant interaction with your blog posts, news, images, and video teasers can help you effectively engage your audience.

Connect with Niche Communities Online

People are more inclined to buy from companies that maintain a positive and healthy synergy with their customers. Before you build a community based on your subscriber lists, start interacting with pre-established online communities that relate to your brand identity.

Reddit is a popular platform for seeking and approaching respective communities for effective engagement. The platform splits its user base into various subgroups, each dedicated to a different topic or concept. These subgroups or communities harbor thousands of members worldwide, where you can engage with potential customers for your product.

Engaging with the right audience helps you steer your product development. Members of a niche community are like-minded enthusiasts who often serve as industry experts for your brand. They can sample your new product and provide valuable feedback or critique to fine-tune it further ahead of the launch.

Whether you want to conduct market research to identify the need for your product or connect with your audience, engaging with communities allows marketers to figure out what the audience needs and how to provide it.

Build an Email List of an Interested Audience

One of the primary motivations behind a pre-launch marketing strategy is to develop email lists and build a community based on them. Collecting emails of individuals that sign up on your website or the social media leads enables marketers to revise their promotion strategy and cater to the correct audience.

Email lists are a contact source for potential customers - people eager to get their hands on your product. Not only do these customers expect to receive emails from their prescribed brands, but they also wait for it. You can engage your connections with the latest news developments about your product and influence them with social media ads, webinars, and other online events.

Given the favorable prospects of email marketing, lists can help you redesign your promotion strategy for a higher return on investment (ROI). Over time, you can employ email automation tools to segment, personalize, and direct a series of thank you and welcome emails.

Publish Blogs and Case Studies

The most effective marketing strategy is one which doesn’t sound like one. A subtle but proficient way to promote your startup is to develop credibility and trust in the audience through content marketing. Publish valuable resources for your brand, like content blogs and case studies, to sound valid and trustworthy.

Conduct webinars, publish e-books and case studies, feature youtube videos, and carry out live sessions to reveal more about your product and how it will help make a difference. Spread credible and researched information related to your niche to attract an interested audience and earn their trust by the time your product launches.

Create a Press Kit for Brand Recognition

Publishing content through your social media profiles can improve customer engagement, but to build your brand identity and credibility with the audience, you need bloggers and publications to write about you. Seeing endorsements from their favorite press channels will boost the audience’s trust in your brand.

In order to get yourself featured in mainstream publications, it is compulsory to have a press kit prepared. A press kit carries information about your startup and new product for journalists and bloggers to access when producing content about your brand.

Besides the standard introductory information, you must provide something compelling and interesting enough to attract press coverage.

Compile a PR kit of your business, list your USPs, features that set you apart from competitors, and incorporate product highlights and teasers to make it coercive. These bits of information can compel journalists to write your brand story.

Final Verdict

Preparing a pre-launch campaign allows you to set clear KPIs, identify and cater to the right audience, and gauge your product according to market trends.

A creative and cleverly set up pre-launch campaign for free can drive in a bigger audience and generate more leads than an aimlessly designed strategy costing millions.

Team up with skilled professionals in your niche, develop a striking landing page to gather leads, plan a compelling social media strategy and keep your audience engaged for a successful product launch. In case it feels time-intensive and challenging, Prefinery.com can handle everything around your marketing campaign.

FAQs

How much budget do I need to run a pre-launch campaign?

A comprehensive pre-launch campaign can cost somewhere between $2,000 to $20,000, depending on the scale and period of the campaign. However, applying clever promotion tactics can also help you acquire extensive leads before launch if you have a limited budget.

How early should I start a pre-launch marketing campaign?

Starting your promotion campaign early allows you to generate massive leads, determine the suitable marketing platforms, and engage the relevant audience. Run your campaign at least 4 - 6 months before the official release of your product or service.