Published on April 16, 2012 Website launch: creating a buzz before you go live
No matter what you sell or where you sell it, attracting enough of the right people to your place of sale (i.e. your website) is an absolutely crucial part of the buying process. After all, people can’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist.
It can take some time to build up enough potential purchasers visiting your site, along with their interest and intention to purchase so the earlier you start the better. Here are some ideas for how to get people interested in your site before you launch.
1. Use social media
When it comes to any sort of business, treat Twitter and professional networks like LinkedIn and Facebook as valuable assets in your pre-marketing effort. Twitter allows you to publish short messages about your business and progress to launch online, for your interested followers. Followers can include your pre-existing network of professional friends, but you may also pick up new interested people – as search engines monitor Twitter Posts, and Twitter itself recommends people to other people.
Tweet regularly, but about interesting things that potential customers might want to know, and if your followers list wants to make suggestions/requests be open to that too. They will be the ones buying from you so any early input can help you.
2. Use traditional media as well
If you have something very new and different to sell – for example a completely new product or innovation, traditional media channels such as press releases and media interviews can generate news media coverage for you on or before the launch date.
If you are writing a press release, make sure you think about what the news angle of the story is. News agencies don’t care if you’re launching a new business, but if you have a completely new way of doing something that’s done today, a totally different, innovative product or selling idea, or a way to link into an upcoming event of general news interest, then that will get their interest. News is a competitive market, and only the most interesting news angles that will appeal to the readers of the news website, newspaper or TV/You Tube channel will be receptive to the message.
Some press release writing tips:
- Write from the top down – the MOST important facts must be in the first paragraph.
- The most important information in each paragraph should be in the first sentence of the paragraph. You should be able to read a press release from top to bottom by only reading the first sentence of each paragraph and know exactly what it’s about and not have missed any key facts
- Don’t try to put in a clever headline – write a simple and clear headline that’s descriptive of what you’re writing. If a news editor publishes your release they will most likely want to put their own headline on the piece. If it’s not published but recorded on a PR news archive online, then you’ll want a headline that can be searched and found for your key search terms
- Write the same way a newspaper does – use simple language aimed at a young teenager, avoiding jargon wherever possible.
3. Use email marketing
Use your Facebook page to build up potential subscribers to your newsletter about your business. You can write to your subscribers to keep them up to date and offer them a loyalty discount when you lauch. There’s plenty you can do with an interested subscriber list – the key is to keep them interested in what you have to say, but not bombard them with things. Top of mind, but not overwhelmed with your message – or else your message and potential buyers will be lost.
4. Be creative
If you can encourage people to retweet your message on Twitter, or sign up friends, reward those people and they’ll be even more vocal. It’s up to you as to how you do this, but the more creative you are the more successful you’ll be in the end at creating a pre-launch buzz.
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