10 Best Pre-Launch Marketing Tactics To Try

4. Run a contest

People love free stuff, so this is a great pre-launch marketing strategy for building hype. Running an Instagram contest, for example, could boost your social engagement and attract more followers you can market to.

When running a giveaway, sweepstakes, or contest, ensure the entry requirements are easy and fun to participate in, and that the prize is relevant. That way, even people who don’t win will still come away with a positive association to your brand.

5. Build hype through influencers

Influencer marketing is one of the best ways to build your brand online. It’s where someone with a following in a specific niche promotes your brand. 

They could range from celebrity-range famous to having only a few thousand followers in a really specific interest group. Either way, they’ll be a valuable connection between you and potential new customers. 

Before launch, you could partner with an influencer to share exciting content about your upcoming product in return for payment (or the goods themselves). 

Freebies are usually appreciated, but the larger their following, the more likely it is you'll have to allocate some marketing spend on a fee. It could be worth it, as it's a more authentic method than many traditional advertising channels.

Example: Direct-to-consumer underwear brand Thinx launched a new product line by using influencers in categories like fashion, health, and wellness. 

6. Create a press kit

Part of a successful product launch is having bloggers and publications write about you, so you want to make it as easy as possible for them to do so. 

If you want to get featured in popular publications, it’s a good idea to have a press kit prepped and ready to go. This is a collection of information about your brand and product that journalists can access easily when they’re writing a story.

You’ll still need an angle to be interesting enough for press coverage—what are you doing that’s unique? Are you serving your local community, or making a splash because of your alternative business practices? These are the types of stories journalists love, and a press kit makes it much easier for them to whip up some valuable coverage for you.

Example: Beer brand Impossibrew has its founder story laid out in its FAQ page and a batch of photos for journalists to use in its press page.

7. Throw a launch party

Having a large group of people in one room, all excited about your project, creates a united energy you can’t create through emails, phone calls, or one-on-one meetings. Invite over 50 motivated and influential friends, show them your Kickstarter video and make a speech telling them why you need their help and exactly what you need them to do.

8. Use Amazon Live

Amazon Live offers a new way for customers to learn about products and interact with their creators. You can use Amazon Live to show off your product, demo how it works, and give people a sneak peek of what’s to come. You can also answer any questions potential customers might have in the chat box.

This streaming shopping experience hosts large brands paying five-figure fees for Amazon to produce their shows. But there’s also a range of influencers running more intimate shows for their dedicated fanbases, giving them custom product demos on a platform where they're ready to buy. Think TV shopping channels for a new era. This could create a great new opportunity to demo your product before launching it.

Example: Carla Stevenné, a makeup and beauty influencer, regularly appears on Amazon Live, interacting with her fans in the chat while promoting and unboxing new beauty products.

9. Run audio ads

Audio ads are a fantastic way to reach potential customers in an intimate, focused way. You can target people based on their interests, demographics, and even what they’re doing (for example, commuting or working out). 

Platforms like Spotify and Pandora have ad options targeted to specific interests, and you don’t necessarily need a huge budget to use these.

You could consider podcasts as a potential channel. You can either sponsor an existing show that's popular with your target audience or start your own podcast to talk about your product, interview industry experts, and build up hype before launch day.

Example: Mattress brand Eight Sleep found a better return-on-advertising spend than expected when it used audio to promote a new premium mattress product. It found that radio and podcast ads offered the time and attention needed to explain its features in-depth—necessary for a high-price item.

10. Connect with niche communities

Niche communities have long been drivers of product development. But in today's digital landscape, connecting with them is much easier and letting them become key drivers in the hype for new launches. And this is especially important when your product needs a personal touch to persuade customers to purchase.

Niche enthusiasts love sampling the latest products and telling others about them. By introducing your product to a specific-interest community, you’ll get valuable feedback from committed experts and potentially a host of new converts to your cause. It’s all about trust, so make sure you play by their rules and respect the group’s etiquette.

Example: Image Skincare targeted 1,000 PopSugar’s Dabble beauty product community members to promote its new Vital C Anti-Aging Serum. While only 13% of users were familiar with the brand, 96% said they’d recommend the product to a friend.

Read more: How to Create a Marketing Plan [+ Free Template]

Pre-launch strategy case study: Healthish

Healthish operates in a busy space: health products. A $6.6 billion industry, there is no shortage of competition when launching a new product. Healthish was a newer brand launching a new product into the market and needed a smart pre-launch strategy to raise awareness.

To launch its signature product, a water bottle that tracks hydration, co-founders Emily Chong and Nathan Chan worked with niche influencers to build hype.

To reach its target market, Healthish sends free water bottles to fitness influencers, fashion bloggers, vloggers, and other groups related to their niche. Afterward, influencers share images and videos of their products online—but only if they are happy with them.

Learn more about the pre launch marketing strategy that turned Healthish used by reading The Pre-Launch Strategies of a Million-Dollar Brand.

Tips for a successful pre-launch 

Here are some of our favorite tips for nailing your next product launch:

• Offer samples. Trying before you buy is a major contributor to purchase decisions. If possible, get your product into the hands of likely consumers to help them bond with it and want it even more.
• Incentivize early adopters. Early adopters can be crucial in the first days after launch. They’ll create a buzz if they're happy, so why not delight them as much as possible?
• Collect useful feedback. You can get feedback for the product you’re launching to inform future versions—new variations, premium editions, localized iterations, and so on. You could also consider feedback for new product lines that solve problems or address demographics. Note what people are saying and address the most common issues first.
• Track sales performance. You can’t measure success by gut feel, even if it’s a small-scale launch. Use all the tools and platforms available to track relevant metrics, like which product variations are selling best, and which aren’t.
• Test everything. Treat your launch as an experiment. Some things will work, and some won’t; the only way to find out is by going for it. Don’t get disheartened if it doesn’t go the way you planned. Collect as much data as possible—hopefully, it’s the first of many launches and you can use your learnings to make post-launch campaigns even better.

Run a smart pre-launch marketing strategy next launch

The idea is to make your earliest adopters feel special, that they have some ownership in what you’re doing, and to motivate them to share what you’re doing organically.

By building up hype pre-launch, you can ensure that your product does well when it finally hits the market. But these strategies don’t just affect the product in question—they help build your startup and turn many customers toward becoming fans for life. 

Whatever stage of product development you’re in, it’s never too early to get out there and interact with your target market. The rewards, in time, could be huge.