If you’re planning to launch a new product, influencers should be part of your marketing strategy. Endorsements by well-selected influencers can introduce your product to the ideal customers and help drive awareness and sales. Influencer marketing trends show customers’ buying decisions are swayed by influencers they trust, and there’s no better time to sway buyers than during a product launch.
Benefits of using influencer marketing for a product launch
Cost-effective advertising
Working with influencers is an affordable way for brands to promote a new product. While finding the right influencer partnerships and brainstorming campaigns takes time, influencer marketing is known for its ROI, earning $6.50 for every $1 spent.
Reach new customers
When you launch a product, you’ll share the news with your existing customers, but how do you reach new people? By working with influencers who share your target audience, you can put your new product in front of the right people. Your exposure only grows if you work with a handful of influencers in your niche.
Build brand awareness
When your brand launches a product, driving sales is a goal, as is brand awareness. With every influencer endorsement, followers see your company name and learn about its products. Your brand is “on their radar,” and that’s the first step toward earning loyal customers.
Choosing the right influencer
One of the most important steps in an influencer marketing campaign is selecting the right creator. You need someone who:
- Is in your niche
- Shares your target audience
- Aligns with your brand
To help narrow your search, consider using an influencer marketing platform like IZEA Marketplace. You can enter search terms based on what you’re looking for and narrow your results with filters.
For more advice on choosing the right creators, check out How to Find Influencers for Collabs.
Crafting an influencer marketing strategy
Pre-launch
Use AI tools for visual concepts and campaign briefs
Brainstorm your campaign ideas and solidify your plans with a campaign brief. A brief gives influencers and stakeholders all the information they need to know about the campaign, including deliverables and deadlines.
Consider providing visual concepts that creators can use as inspiration, too.
IZEA offers tools that can help: AI Briefs and AI Storyboards in Flex, our influencer marketing platform, and various AI features in FormAI.
Craft a compelling offer
Your new product is the campaign’s star, but how will you entice customers to buy it? One of the most common options is giving influencers individual promotional codes to share with followers. The code is unique to each influencer, so you can track influencer marketing ROI while giving a customer a small discount, like 10% off. Pair the code with a tracking link, which Flex users can also associate with Shopify or Google Analytics to further determine their ROI.
Ask an influencer to endorse your product
With a campaign drawn up, you can search for social media influencers. If your brand is short on time or resources to find influencers, consider using an influence marketing platform or team to help. You can also use this Influencer Outreach Template to get the conversation started.
Create teaser posts
Ask your influencer to create teaser posts to generate a buzz before the product is released. An influencer could tell his or her audience about a big announcement coming up or show the product covered or wrapped up. Use an intriguing hook hinting at a must-have new product to keep viewers interested.
Make a plan to reveal the product
How do you want influencers to reveal the new product? You have a lot of choices here. Options could include:
- Extravagant reveals
- Unboxings
- In-person demos
- Tutorials
- BTS (behind the scenes)
- Reactions
If your influencer outreach includes working with multiple creators, you could assign a different type of reveal to each.
During launch
Sponsored social media posts
Influencers use the content brief to guide them. The platform, content type and brand messaging are all listed in the brief, which means the content should be on point. However, many brands ask to approve the content first.
Once it’s live, your brand should share it, too.
The influencer and the brand should monitor the post’s comments to ensure quick and accurate responses.
Launch events
When you launch a new product, you can send it to influencers or give it to them at a product launch party, complete with drinks, swag, and Instagram-worthy photo ops. Make it an event to remember rather than just a place to pick up the new product.
Need inspiration, check out our campaign with TECNO to promote their smartphone. We created an immersive in-person experience at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, connecting TECNO’s smartphone to the profound meaning of Mondrian’s art.
Live events
You can also add live events to your product launch plan. You could set up pop-up stores or give the product away at an industry conference. Think of other in-person events that you can organize to promote your new product further.
Post-launch
Gather testimonials
After the campaign wraps up, ask influencers — or new customers — to give you a testimonial. You can use the testimonial in future marketing material or add it to the product page on your website. You can also add incentives such as free products or discounts.
Consider paid media
Capitalize on the excitement you’ve built by running paid ads. You can run ads through the influencer’s social channels or your own.
Repurpose the content
Get more mileage out of the IGC (influencer-generated content) by repurposing it. You can share it on your social channels, add it to your next newsletter, use it in out-of-home ads, or use pictures in other marketing materials.
If you garnered UGC (user-generated content) during the campaign, repurpose that too.
Create a brand ambassador program
If your influencer campaign went well, ask influencers to become ambassadors. By doing so, you’ll continue to work with them throughout the year to promote your brand and its products.
Adding influencers to your product launch can be a real game changer. You’ll need time to find the right influencers and set up a campaign, but with proper planning, your new product can attract new customers and boost sales.
Influencers:
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Marketers:
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