So you’ve got a great new product that you’re sure is going to change the world (and make you a pretty penny in the process) – if only anyone knew about it!
So what is the best way to get your great new idea out there into the market place? After carefully considering a) your product and b) your target audience, here are some marketing channels you may not have thought to use.
A picture paints a thousand words
Why bother to craft a carefully penned-essay describing your new restaurant when a beautiful photo will tell the story so much better? Social media channels such as Instagram are now well established in their use as marketing tools, and these days it is easy to take great quality photographs on a mobile phone. If you are less-than confident, use an app such as Camera Awesome to help you compose great shots.
If you’re already all over Facebook and Instagram, make sure you’re also utilising channels such as Pinterest (great for How-to tutorials, design ideas and recipes) and Snapchat as well. When posting, make sure you take advantage of trending #hashtags, cross-promote your business partners to increase reach, and use a customised shortened link back to your website content (bit.ly or similar) so that you can monitor the results of your posts!
And a video writes you a whole book!
If you’ve already mastered photographs as marketing tools, don’t forget to spice up your life with video as well. The average internet user spends 88% more time on a website with video than without. 64% of consumers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it.
Instagram has a nifty editing tool, and interspersing photos and videos on your feed will really take you to the next marketing level. Videos should be sharp and snappy, and capture attention even with the sound off. Consider the title and description carefully for SEO-optimisation, and add subtitles for accessibility. Remember there are different maximum video lengths available for different channels, from 10 seconds for Snapchat to 120 minutes for Facebook.
If you haven’t tried it yet – try live streaming through Facebook live, Periscope or Blab. One study found that viewers spend 3x more time watching live videos than videos that aren’t broadcasting in real time!
Two birds with one stone
Now that Instagram are owned by Facebook, it is super-easy to set up paid advertising on both channels through one account. Multi-channel promotion made easy! Paid ads can be an inexpensive way to boost a post of particular importance, so don’t rule it out too early. They’re great for important events such as a product launch, a seasonal sale, competition or special announcement.
Don’t forget the old fashioned approach
Social media is great, but only if your target audience are engaged with it. Do your homework (there are a million articles on the internet to keep you up-to-date with demographics for different social media channels, such as this one) and target accordingly. Word of mouth marketing and printed leaflets still have their place.
