As you plan an upcoming product or service launch, don’t overlook the power of email marketing. Many marketers make the mistake of waiting until the product has been launched before writing about it in their newsletters.
Sure, the fact that you just launched a new product or service is newsworthy and of interest to your subscribers, but you could have been pre-selling months in advance with email marketing.
Email marketing in the pre-launch stages can:
- Drum up interest
- Gauge interest
- Make your subscribers feel like insiders
- Generate excitement
- Spread the word to others
- Generate pre-launch orders
If your product or service is a few months away from being ready for launch, hint at it in your newsletter and ask your subscribers what they think. This is an excellent way to drum up interest, gauge interest, and make your subscribers feel special.
In addition, you could also use an interactive poll or ask for detailed feedback. You may be surprised at the suggestions you can incorporate to make your product or service even better. Don’t forget to thank subscribers for their feedback in subsequent newsletters and tell them which suggestions you’ve incorporated. This can turn subscribers into stakeholders.
But there’s more. You can also use your email marketing to generate excitement for the upcoming launch and pre-sell it. You may even want to include special subscriber-only incentives, discounts, or contests to generate both excitement and pre-launch orders.
Create a series of short email marketing messages in the weeks leading up to the launch discussing the problems your new product or service will solve. For example, if you are launching a small business coaching service, create a series discussing some of the common challenges and solutions small business owners face. This will position you as an expert and provide you with an opportunity to mention your upcoming coaching service.
Help your subscribers spread the word by including social media sharing tools and “send to a friend” buttons. Don’t forget to ask subscribers to spread the word. This is a great way to build your list and gain even more exposure.
About a week before the product or service launch, you can use email marketing to make a limited time offer exclusively to your subscribers. Offer an enticing pre-launch price good for orders placed over the next 72 hours. As the deadline gets closer, send a final appeal notifying subscribers that the pre-launch bargain is about to end.
When your product launches, your email marketing will move into the traditional post-launch phase. Since you leveraged the pre-launch so effectively with email marketing, you will already have an enthusiastic pool of potential buyers ready to buy (and some already did).