To grow a business, you need to create things people want to buy. Whether it is a widget or some service that makes our lives easier, they are created because there’s a demand for them or a need. Incidentally, if your business is small and thrives from selling what others make, this post is still important.
Before we dive into the three simple steps to successfully launch something, marketing, advertising and public relations play critical roles as you bring products or services to market. Think of marketing as the caretaker of the widget or service you want people to use and advertising is the big flirt that gets attention, followed by public relations that builds and sustains a relationship between products or services, the company that made them, and the people who consume them.
But when something new is about to emerge from organizations, the launch is probably the single most important, strategic exercise your company can perform. Here is what you need to know.
Three Simple Steps to Launch Anything
- Write a unique selling proposition.
- Build hunger for your widget without giving away the farm.
- Deliver what you promise.
What is a unique selling proposition? This is a statement that distinguishes your widget or service from all other similar widgets and services in your market.
How do you build anticipation? You need to understand why people want to buy from you, then work that into the launch.
Here are some strategies that can help:
- Information gap: When you make your product a mystery, only “leaking” small amounts of information, people thirst for more, so they stay engaged.
- Social proof: Put your widget in the hands of someone people know. The theory explains that people do things that they see other people are doing. That includes using your widget.
- Liking: People are easily persuaded by other people that they like. When you couple the liking theory with social proof, then you are creating a powerful strategy because friends by from people who sell to friends.
Finally, how do you deliver a promise and sustain the momentum of a launch? It’s simple, really. Apply the Law of Scarcity. This law simply states that perceived scarcity will generate demand, which is the emotional cue that hooks people to what they want but cannot immediately possess.
Now let me get to those that sell things others make. You can still use this strategy to grow your business. Simply take whatever you’re selling and teach people ways to use it. Package the content into a blog post, podcast, video, white paper, webinar, or any other form of delivery system and launch it to your customers. (If the content is really good, monetize it and create a new revenue stream.) That, in itself, grows your business, creates demand, and provides a tool to create community — information gap, social proof and liking theory in action.
