What is a Pre-Launch Campaign?

Launch days are exciting enough, with new customers piling up on your website and sales rolling in - or at least that’s how most entrepreneurs envision it. The key to a successful product launch that drives those initial sales and generates revenue depends on the pre-launch marketing.

Most startups and fintech businesses focus on finding, developing, and showcasing the right products to their audience. An industry-competitive product may secure entry into the market, but it’s the groundwork behind the product launch that makes a real impact.

Without a proper pre-launch marketing strategy in place, your upcoming projects might not make the breakthrough. More than 85% of new-fangled products fail yearly due to insufficient brand awareness, impelling founders to form desperate sales strategies and offer heavily discounted prices that cripple the customer’s trust.

Pre-Launch Campaign - An Overview

A pre-launch marketing plan encompasses the initial groundwork companies implement before the formal introduction of an upcoming product or service. The primary goal is to build excitement and anticipation around your product in the audience so they are eager to buy your product on the launch day.

Most marketers use pre-launch strategies as beta-testing to finalize their promotion strategy, identify appropriate advertising channels, and develop favorable tactics before the official launch. Customer feedback is another valuable indicator to gauge how the audience perceives the product and fine-tune it to meet their requirements.

The campaign usually spans from a few days to months but by the end, make sure you have the following factors from your pre-launch campaign checklist sorted out;

• An established SEO-optimized website with an interactive user interface.
• Robust social media presence along with influencer collaborations for broader outreach.
• A well-engaged and excited audience that’s eager to buy from you and facilitates word-of-mouth marketing.
• A clear understanding of the marketing channels and strategies that align with your business model and the audience. Develop roadmaps to achieve pre-defined goals.
• A fully-functioning customer support department that engages with your audience, educates them about products, and answers their queries.

Benefits of a Successful Pre-Launch Marketing Campaign

For a product to make it big in the market, it must align with the audience’s needs and preferences. A pre-launch promotion plan must encompass everything from extensive market research to identifying the right channels to promote your product.

While it may require huge capital and human resource, conducting the campaign properly will bring you the following benefits.

Raise Brand Awareness

Given the current business scenario; there’s no shortage of ideas. What might make yours stand out from the rest in the league, is a robust marketing strategy. You may develop a cutting-edge product set to outclass its competitors, but unless your audience views it the same, it is a potential flop.

The best way to shape your audience’s mindset is to develop a creative branding strategy that appeals to their senses. Let them know how your product aims to assist them, what makes it better than its counterparts, and when it’ll hit the stores. No matter what your product is about, it’s the buzz and excitement you create that count.

Generate Valuable Leads

Launching a product without building anticipation in the market first may leave you with zero customer response on the launch event. It is essential to make your product features known to the audience for effective lead generation.

It’s like selling tickets to your upcoming concert, making sure the audience is alive and waiting when it’s time to perform. The pre-established customer base gives your business the initial momentum after launch, which only multiplies as the sale continues.

Optimize Product Development

Most companies take pre-launch campaigns as a form of beta testing to acquire customer validation for their newly-developed product. Ensure that the product you are developing is a problem-solver for the audience it is designed for.

Instead of relying on your gut feeling or experience, you must factor in both target audience analysis and competitor analysis. Consider ways to improve and optimize your product during the pre-launch stage to make it more user-friendly.

As a company head, make sure the marketing and product development teams align on one page for fluent revisions.

Develop a Marketing Plan

Whether you’re planning a startup or heading a large-scale enterprise, having a marketing strategy is fundamental for a successful launch. An effective advertising plan identifies the relevant audience and determines appropriate channels to engage with them.

Despite its name, a marketing plan is a cumulative effort from every department, driving every campaign toward a unified business goal. The strategy's primary purpose is to maximize user engagement, ensure customer loyalty, and acquire a sizable market share in their niche.

Determine Appropriate Marketing Channels

Not all marketing platforms are meant to suit your business. Each advertising channel works differently, with some better than others at connecting you with your valued customers. Instead of making an appearance on every channel, choose the one your audience prefers for better reach.

For instance, social media help you build and strengthen customer relationships.

Before you test various market channels, look towards your competitors for direction. Identify what marketing mediums they use and direct your promotion and launch campaigns accordingly. What works for them may as well work for you.

5 Crucial Elements of a Pre-Launch Campaign

Setting up your campaign beforehand allows businesses to acquire customer loyalty, taking them a step closer to achieving milestones and objectives. Adopt these pre-launch marketing practices to make your business campaigns a success every time:

Build Your Landing Page

Before you set forth on an advertising campaign, it’s important to have a landing page set up to acquire leads and contacts. Whether you’re just starting with the product or have the design and copy fully prepared, a landing page will help you present your best foot forward, regardless.

Website landing pages allow visitors to sign up, buy free product trials, and schedule meetings with customer support staff. Make sure your coming soon landing page has a clear CTA link that compels the audience to take the next step - sign up for the newsletter or waitlist. The ideal website landing page should have the following characteristics:

• Optimize the website with advanced SEO strategies, including link building to gather organic traffic from search engines.
• Feature a visible CTA button that supports quick and easy sign-up. Most marketers offer access to newsletters and exclusive deals to keep customers updated.
• Track visitor inflow from different channels to determine the most effective marketing channels. Monitor how visitors interact with your landing page and devise solutions to make it more streamlined.

If your sign-up interface asks for customers’ contact information and email address, make sure you’re offering something equally valuable in exchange. Highlight the exclusive deals and features they can access for better response.

Advertise and Educate through Content Marketing

Promoting your business without demanding anything in return might seem a flawed strategy, but it certainly pays out in content marketing. The idea is to generate consumer-driven content providing valuable resources and information to earn their interest in your brand. Content marketing can use any of the following mediums:

• Webinars
• E-books
• Video Tutorials
• Infographics
• Case Studies

Educating the audience through your published content creates a need for your product before launch. It informs customers about your exciting new product launch and how it will benefit them. Discuss your competitors, what their products offer, where the shortcoming lies, and how your product will fill in.

To put it into context, let’s say you sell eco-friendly clothing. Instead of bombarding them with fashion ads, publish blogs, infographics, and videos portraying the damages of pollution to the environment and how your business will make an impact.

The audience might relate to the concept at first but will eventually be interested in your product . These content blogs usually have a CTA at the end, directing them to make the purchase.

Leverage Social Media Channels

The potential social media carries as a marketing medium is unmatched. More than half the traffic on online market stores drives through social media platforms. Unlike other marketing platforms, segmenting an audience based on their likes and preferences allows startups to advertise without spending huge amounts.

Social media allows marketers to build hype and curiosity around your product, keeping them hooked until the launch. Identify what platforms are mainly used by your audience and devise strategies accordingly. A social media marketing strategy should have the following characteristics:

• Immersive video teasers to spike up the audience’s interest without revealing the product.
• Upcoming updates about a recently launched product and how it will improve performance.
• Start a unique hashtag for your brand to create a buzz.
• Live streams and AMAs (ask me anything) with the staff and CEO.
• Social media contests, giveaways, and quizzes about the product to keep customers hooked up.
• Shedding spotlight behind the stage to introduce the brains behind the product. It helps engage and develop connections with the subscribers.

Collaborate with Influencers

Like commercial ads featuring famous celebrities, influencer marketing are growing increasingly common among startups and enterprises. Besides propagating your product to a wider audience, influencers also compel their followers to purchase.

“People trust people more than they trust marketing.” Although the line sounds convincing enough, 74% of online purchases are influenced by social media. A word about your new product from their favorite influencers, and the audience would line up in queues to purchase.

Finding the right influencers is vital to leverage their potential fully. Reach out to celebrities whose content and followers suit your brand and product better. Prefer people who actively use their social media handles and have a following most ideal to your target audience.

Influencer reviews on products and comparisons are another great way of making your product noticed. Expand your brand’s presence to multiple platforms and appearance on blogs, podcasts, and forums to keep the hype alive.

Conduct an Email Marketing Campaign

While social media marketing and paid advertising promise a higher conversion rate, email marketing ensure a higher ROI. A prelaunch campaign enables marketing professionals to set up an email subscriber list from the acquired leads.

By incorporating advanced AI tools and softwares, marketers can now direct customized emails to their subscribers automatically. Though many expect promotional messages from their most-shopped brands, none like reading through boring long emails.

Write simple but compelling copy for your email campaign with a clear CTA that not only attracts readers’ attention but also directs them to purchase. You can also include a sign-up form - make sure it’s easy to fill - to the email draft for better customer response.

Set out some extra budget for an email automation software that sends emails at distinct times for each customer.

Final Thoughts

Turning an ordinary startup into a full-scale brand demands a successful pre-launch campaign. Whether it’s a new business venture or a product under development, you must adopt the right marketing activities to make it a success in the future.

Effective marketing campaigns are all about connecting with the customers in a manner that resonates with their perception and appeals to their senses. Raising awareness about your brand and creating hype around an upcoming product are prerequisites of a successful marketing strategy when launching a new product or service.

Plan and set up a pre-launch campaign by creating a free account with Prefinery, outclassing others in your league.

FAQs

What is a pre-launch campaign?

A pre-launch campaign's primary goal is to build excitement and anticipation around your upcoming product.

How long is a pre-launch campaign?

A pre-launch campaign lasts from days to weeks, depending on the type or product, scale of the enterprise, and target audience.

What is the difference between pre-launch and post-launch campaigns?

The steps and strategies taken to promote a new business or product before its formal launch are categorized as a pre-launch campaign. Whereas a post-launch campaign involves monitoring sale results, reviewing customer feedback, and upgrading products based on consumer response.

How do I market my product on social media?

Social media offers multiple ways to promote a product. You can direct sponsored ads on social media feeds to catch attention, work with influencers to generate hype, and conduct challenges and giveaways to retain customer attention. You can stream live and host events and Q&A sessions to get customer feedback.