Social media is perhaps the most powerful tool for organic lead generation and customer engagement for businesses. However, before the product launch, the social media is often ignored — and not for a good reason.
Whether you do not have a considerable customer base to communicate to or do not wish to announce the product yet, brand presence on social media can turn the product launch on its head.
The power of social media brand presence can no longer be ignored, and the majority of businesses begin to realise its importance jumping on social media platforms. But wouldn’t it make more sense to have a considerable amount of interested consumers when you launch rather than to only start reaching your target audience? A perception that you need to have a product ready to attract customers is outdated.
Social Media is a free marketing tool that takes little investments to manage. Yet, it organically engages users and creates a community around your brand, whether you announce it or not. Why not seize this opportunity and adapt early on to launch your business with a boom?
Every business can make use of social media channels even before the launch, and here is some food for thoughts to break those anti-social perceptions down:
I am not ready to announce.
You do not necessarily have to announce everything about the product and business or anything at all for that matter about your product. If you want to keep it a secret, social media use can build a little bit of mystery around it and anticipation for the launch. Haven’t you seen social media bloggers go on and launch their own business with an existing personal following base? It is exactly the same with your business, except you already know what you want to achieve.
What will I achieve?
Every business may have a different goal when generating leads before the launch. Apart from building an engaged community that will most likely be interested in a product once you announce it, there are more other ways to capitalise on social media. Newsletters sign ups, crowdfunding and word-of-mouth, are just a few goals you may choose to set up for your business. It purely depends on a brand and a stage of business that you are at.
What can I post?
Whether you decide to make an announcement or not, you should set up a theme for your social media pages based on your product and industry. Identify your target audience and research what platforms do they use and what type of content is the most attractive to them. Indeed, it may be challenging to come up with what to post if announcing a product isn’t an option.
General information related to the type of a product and industry, the vision behind the brand and inspirational posts tend to do wonders attracting followers on social media. If using multi-content social platforms, you can link posts to news articles and blogs, or make use of curated content. Think about what your product will solve and communicate this problem to your audience. The rule is to post aesthetically pleasing content that is valuable to your audience rather than pushing through a sales pitch.