The Information Age has changed the way we do business, that’s for sure. So why are you still thinking of doing it old school with the launch of your next great product? It’s time to stop trying to book that glitzy events place and sending out an army of RSVP-invitation touting messengers to your press guest list. Move over, traditional press launches; the webinar launch is here and it will take matters into its own hands.
Doing a product announcement or launch through a webinar maximizes the benefits of social media in terms of content virality and extending the reach of your messaging. Webinars make you connect to your target market the traditional press, even as a traditional live product launch does, but, with the added value of utilizing social media as a speedier, almost instantaneous way of reaching out to a wider audience wherever they are in the world and literally in the digital landscape.
Because it is a more visual representation of your product launch messaging than say, a press release or product brochure, a webinar is a highly shareable product than can make the social media world abuzz with how wonderful your new product is in literally a matter of seconds. Add the value of live tweets, Facebook shares and Instagram reposts and you have a supercharged product launch that is not at the mercy of the press to reach your target market.
Table of Contents
A step-by-step guide
So think about this: You set the date for your product launch, plan out how your webinar will flow, dispatch invites to your target audience through email blasts, your website landing page and a social media campaign to boot, prepare the technical requirements for your webinar and get ready to do a post-webinar social media campaign to extend the reach of your launch messaging – and voila, you have your product launch!
Step 1: Set the date
Choose a date when your product is all ready to meet the market and your market is equally available to meet your product. Guard against any urge to set your webinar on a weekend and be guided that studies show that any day from Tuesday to Thursday is the best time to do a webinar.
Time is also a serious consideration, so choose the time of day when the largest chunk of your audience is most likely to attend, which polls point to 1:00 PM or 2:00 PM EST.
Step 2: Plan your launch programme
Doing a product launch through a webinar should not be any different from doing it in a more traditional way. Keep things exciting, but simple. Do away with unnecessary glitz just so you can. Remember that your new product is the star of your webinar launch, so make sure that every aspect of your webinar makes your product shine. This is the time to show how great and trailblazing your product is, so make sure that your presentation, including visual presentation aides, highlight your product.
Step 3: Blast away invites
Send out invitations to your product launch using all means possible.
- E-mail? Check.
- A redesigned landing page on your website? Check.
- A social media campaign to create buzz around your event? Check.
Keep all your tracks covered and throw in a social media teaser campaign to boot.
Step 4: Take care of the technical stuff
You don’t want a product launch that went haywire because the webinar platform and the internet service provider you chose turned out unreliable. Do your research, ask around the industry and do all the necessary technical preparation. Technology should be your friend, never your foe, especially when you are doing an event as important as your product launch.
Step 5: Extend your messaging reach
With social media, It ain’t over till it’s over – and you’re only over when your audience has ceased to be interested. After your webinar, upload a recorded version of your event so that those who either attended or got word of your wonderful event and product can share their thoughts on your new product.
Reinforce the virality of your product launch by providing shareable content, and this can be your recorded webinar or even an altogether post-launch teaser content as part of your ongoing social media campaign to introduce your new great product.
A final word of advice
Webinars are not only a cost-effective means of announcing or launching your new product, but are also a promising tool for making social media work for your business goals. So the next time you introduce your new product, be wise and think big by doing it with a webinar.
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