Build a Thriving Audience for a Successful Sales Launch

A successful sales launch begins well in advance. Use thought leadership activities, construction or beta testing updates, trade shows, and vendor contacts to build an audience for your brand even before you formally open for business. That way, at launch you have a core group of potential customers who are already familiar with and interested in your offering.

Email is everywhere, and so should be offers to subscribe to brand updates. Every address you collect represents a golden opportunity to reach a potential customer at launch. Offering a sneak peek or priority access to your product or service once you launch can be a great incentive to sign up.

Cultivating a social media following is also key. To keep costs in line, research usage habits specific to your audience. If you’re marketing a product targeted at “Generation Z,” you may want to skip straight to Instagram, while those catering to Baby Boomers can safely stick with Facebook.

Whichever channels you use, connect them to your thought leadership activities so that you continually build an audience and a reputation for industry expertise. The more your insights are shared and forwarded, the larger your house file of contacts becomes – and the bigger your potential pool of sales prospects at launch.

Whether or not you opt to have a beta testing phase or a “soft launch,” you can win your first paying customers with rewards and incentives. Pricing discounts in exchange for participating in your business’ trial period can incentivize participation; asking for guidance and input on how to improve the offering gives these initial customers a sense of ownership in the brand, and – if you follow through on their suggestions – boosts the likelihood that they’ll become advocates for your business. Demonstrating you have paying customers will help convince other potential buyers to come on board; you’ll gain further momentum if you can generate positive word-of-mouth within the community and your industry. The key is to get the ball rolling, even if you aren’t profiting on every transaction.