One type of virtual event that’s been less talked about is the virtual product launch. And, if you’re looking for the best product launch ideas, this post is for you!
Product launch events are a staple of many industries as an excellent way to showcase the latest product, build a buzz around it, and in many cases make some sales right on the event day. But we also live in a much more socially distanced, mediated, and remote-friendly world now, and a virtual or hybrid event aspect will make your product launch a little bit different.
As the title suggests, we are going to outline some key ideas to adopt for a successful virtual product launch!
Jump to:
- Product launch events explained
- Promoting with social media before the event
- Selecting a catchy and interesting topic for your product launch event
- Interaction and engagement are key to your event’s success
- Promoting awareness of your event through social media activity
- Planning to entertain attendees during the event
- Emphasize your product’s benefits during the event
- Create a follow-up strategy for post-event sales
- Final thoughts
Product launch events explained
A product launch event is an event geared toward the time when a company brings a new product or service to market. Many of the world’s largest companies have been holding product launch events for years–the only kicker is we now live in a world that is much more attuned and attentive to the virtual.
Successful product launches start well before an actual release date when the product is available. They’re intended to build anticipation, promote an initial rush of sales, and create momentum for the company to build on. If done well, a product launch will have positive effects that are felt long afterward. Memories and impressions will continue to carry your product and sales forward!
When launching products, companies will typically invite investors, favored customers, social media influencers, and the media in general. A product launch is intended to spread the word about the product and generate buzz.
As for the “virtual” aspect, the era we live in has made virtual event options necessary, although we’ve also made a lot of improvements to the event experience. Increasingly virtual events have a reputation for being convenient and budget friendly. At a virtual product launch event, a global audience can participate with virtually any device and learn more about your product. You can virtually showcase your product through demos and pitches or by allowing the audience to download resources. It’s also possible to engage at the audience end using webinars, chat forums, polls, and video-on-demand
Whether you feel confident enough to host a more traditional, in-person product launch event and your idea is to include hybrid options, or you think your best bet is to go completely virtual, it’s still important to keep in mind that interaction, the audience experience, and their perception of value added will be what makes a successful virtual product launch. Remember that you can completely customize and individualize the event through many virtual event platforms, both making sure the booths, workflows, and content meet your needs, and ensuring attendees feel like they had a unique experience that fits them well.
With all that said, here are some unique product launch ideas to help create a flood of interest in your new product:
1. Promoting with social media before the event
As we noted above, you want to start your product launch event well before the product is available or even before a launch-day gala.
You can start teasing your new product on social media without even releasing all details just to get the engagement going. If you are part of a recognizable brand, you’ll have an existing follower base, and the mystery itself may be an attraction for your audience.
Even without a built-in audience, social media platforms are excellent for creating feelings of anticipation and excitement, as well as reaching a larger and larger group of people. There are numerous options for driving awareness and engagement on social, including setting up event pages, leveraging hashtags for virality, sharing videos and other content with your audience, and running contests and giveaways. Engaging and shareable content relevant to your target audience’s interests is always a winner. Best of all, social media gives you the capacity to monitor the engagement and response of your audience!
2. Selecting a catchy and interesting topic for your product launch event
The topics and/or themes you select will be crucial to audience interest and engagement. Remember that having a topic (other than the product itself!) that adds value for your audience will help put an event over the top. Examples of catchy topics can include incorporating storytelling surrounding your product, advanced product techniques and “how to-s”, or industry-relevant topics (“online marketing” as the topic of a marketing software event release, etc.).
Alternatively, you could go with a themed event. Let your imagination run wild, but interesting event themes could include things like seasonal events (summer barbecues, fall carnivals), brunches or dinners, or gamified events or contests.
3. Interaction and engagement are key to your event’s success
Related to #2 above, the entire payoff of catchy topics, themes, and generally providing value for your event audience is engagement. Unlike in-person events, a virtual product launch event will require more interaction. The idea is to make the audience feel comfortable, open to conversation, and involved in a similar way to a live event.
Holding an event in “physical reality” will also require engaging the audience, but there isn’t the extra mile to dissolve the perceived separation of technology. In virtual events, interaction can be achieved through Q&A, polls and quizzes, gamification, and other activities that require an audience member to assert control. Likewise, engagement in a virtual space turns into something far more measurable.
4. Promoting awareness of your event through social media activity
Another great way to incorporate social media to build anticipation is to create a countdown to the product launch and/or product launch event on all of your social media channels and create a sense of excitement.
And WHILE the event is happening, social media is still your best friend and ally! Let influencers share promotional posts or videos, continue sharing product and event-related content on your channels to catch attention, and get people talking to leverage viral attention as well.
You can also incorporate a “social wall” into the actual presentation, surrounding your speaker with live tweets, brand identity, and user-generated content. Just remember–you don’t want to over-promote the actual product, the best buzz is going to be the activity around the actual product. Clubbing the audience over the head (figuratively) with direct promotion can seem like you’re trying too hard. But excitement around the product shows that people are interested without you forcing anything!
5. Planning to entertain attendees during the event
While your first goal is to have an informative and innovative product launch, including an element of entertainment will make it more memorable. Especially where interaction is concerned, there should nearly always be a “fun” element to the activities.
Since virtual product launch event ideas may eliminate the opportunity to have some fun with a physical venue space or invite in-person entertainment, work within the bounds of a virtual event platform. Some platforms can offer a more game-like experience to encourage a sense of fun during the event such as a virtual world that attendees can navigate. Others can be more conducive to effectively incorporating performances or other entertainment. Still, others might offer built-in video conferencing opportunities that could be adapted into a virtual party or happy hour.
If you know your audience, you can also more effectively determine what kind of entertainment they’ll enjoy. Even just thinking outside the box with the way your product is presented can give you a more clever or witty brand that your potential customers want to engage with.
6. Emphasize your product’s benefits during the event
Make sure that you give complete detail about your great new product! Remember, a virtual product launch event is not simply branded entertainment, it should also be an informative and educational experience that puts your product front and center. You want your core audience to understand how this product is going to work, and how it will work as an improvement for them specifically. This is where we can tie back to virtual event-friendly techniques such as launch videos and interactive discussions.
7. Create a follow-up strategy for post-event sales
Now that you’ve got engagement and attention –in a word, “buzz”– going from your virtual product launch event, don’t let your good ideas go to waste, and make sure you’ll be able to keep benefitting from the good impression! After the event is over the overall hype will die down but the day directly after the event still provides you a window of opportunity to ride on the buzz and/or capitalize on FOMO to reach customers. You want to ensure your event has marked the beginning of a steady sales flow. If your product is not yet available, definitely start your pre-orders directly after the launch event.
The best product launch events also follow up, using similar strategies to the ones they used as promotion: active social media, continuing use of an event hashtag, emails, and newsletters. You can even send out some physical swag or make some commemorative posts to keep the memory of how exciting the event was fresh in people’s minds. If things taper off too sharply you can also offer incentives like a discount, trial offer, or other giveaways. What you’re aiming for is to keep people talking about your event and product for weeks (or longer!) after both the launch event and release date!
Final thoughts
Make sure your products get the launch they deserve! Put a strategy in place for your product launch virtual event, pay attention to what your virtual event platform can offer, and take note of the innovative product launch ideas we’ve laid out here.
First of all, people need to know about your product for you to have clients or customers! But second, if you want your product to reach its full potential, plan and execute a spectacular product launch–it will have a huge impact on your product’s overall success, and pay off all your hard work during the product development process.
Lastly, remember that the level of competition in branded virtual events has set a higher bar than ever. Be sure that the virtual event you plan is creative, interactive, and generally attractive enough to bring in an audience and keep them engaged through the end of the event.
