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Businesses rely on Facebook to increase brand awareness, build community and strengthen customer service (for starters).But how can companies effectively leverage Facebook to amplify new product launches? We spoke with some companies — large and small — that used Facebook to effectively introduce products to the marketplace and generate new sales.
1. Build a Targeted Audience
To ensure that time spent online is time well spent, businesses must focus on building and cultivating a targeted audience. Start by defining your audience and developing a strategy to attract that demographic to the Facebook Page. A content strategy, social giveaways and Facebook ads can help companies reach the right people.
As sneakpeeq CEO Henry Kim says, “We learned that if you get the right audience to share your product in the beginning — and getting this audience excited about your company is a giant step — you can do this with little money. Be creative. Where else can you get an instant audience for your company?”
A growing Facebook community is also an evolving community. Sheri Wallace, who works with Dandelion, seller of eco-friendly baby products, notes: “The community at 10,000 fans is not the same as it was at 2,000.” She adds that keeping in touch with the parents has been crucial to increased growth and to the success of newly launched products.
2. Reward Existing Community Members
As Nike Golf launched a new golf ball during the Master’s Tournament, it offered a select number of limited edition green swoosh 20XI balls to Facebook fans in three time-based giveaways in the days leading up to the tournament. The giveaway occurred several weeks before the 20XI balls were available in retail stores, so the public did not yet have access to the product.
In addition to giving away a small number of golf balls, Nike Golf also offered a free shipping promotional code as a “consolation prize.” According to Brian Carter, digital marketing manager for Nike Golf, the launch doubled interaction rates and led to a significant increase in impressions. Most notably, the revenue generated from the campaign’s promotional code was six times the cost to run the campaign.
3. Create Clear Landing Pages & Calls to Action
In some cases, Facebook can function like a traditional website landing page. Transparent Corp, a software company that exclusively sells its products online, has used Facebook Page tabs to create “condensed and easily sharable versions of the landing pages for new software products,” according to Aaron Smyk, the company’s director of social media and marketing.
Smyk offers the following tips to create effective landing pages within Facebook:
- Account for design restrictions. The section of a Facebook page that you can control and design is a fixed width of 520 pixels. Additionally, if the design extends beyond 800 pixels in height, a horizontal scroll bar will be automatically inserted into the design, which can take away from the overall aesthetic and functionality. For a cleaner, smoother integration, plan on a height of 800 pixels or less.
- Keep navigation options extremely simple or rely on the existing left menu to navigate between pages. During the design process, remember that the custom part will be surrounded by Facebook’s existing navigational options.
- Include clear calls to action. What do you want the user to do when they land on your page? Make sure that’s abundantly clear for a user. Smyk suggested, “Include clear links on the landing page for your new product that allow users to move forward in learning more about your product, or purchasing it. You don’t want these pages to be dead ends. All the typical ‘call to action’ rules still apply here.”
4. Solicit Feedback to Fine-Tune the Product
If a business has effectively built a Facebook following that resembles the target market, this network can be a major research and development asset. Ask for feedback, design input and functionality requests. If you’re launching a product with a beta testing period, ask the Facebook community for volunteers.
5. Leverage Geotargeting Features
If the product announcement includes a soft launch targeting specific cities, take advantage of Facebook’s geotargeting tools, including ads and customized status updates.
Facebook ads can be targeted by state, city or zip code. But, don’t stop there. Dig deeper to create a more targeted, cost-efficient, effective campaign. For example, if your product appeals to people who work in a specific industry, research the major players in that space and target the ad to people who work at those companies and live in the city you’re trying to dig into.
But, sneaqpeeq co-founder Henry Kim warns, “Be smart about spending money on Facebook. Do a lot of testing and find out what works. Start small and when you find something that works, keep doing it and on a broader scale.”
In addition to geotargeting ads, posts can be directed toward certain locations. Just click the button underneath the status box to customize who can see the update. The default setting is “public,” but page admins can select a country and then specify states or cities.
6. Make a Splash with Creative Giveaways
In 2009, Little Debbie used the launch of the new Little Debbie Chocolate Cupcakes as a centerpiece of the brand’s entrance into Facebook. The product launch included:
- Share-A-Thon Giveaway. Fans could enter to win a new two-seater Smart Car (as featured in the Little Debbie TV ads) and other weekly and monthly prizes.
- Million Cupcake Giveaway. To celebrate National Cupcake Day, Little Debbie gave away 125,000 boxes of the new cupcakes — totaling 1 million cupcakes — to randomly selected fans who had entered the Share-A-Thon Giveaway.
- “Cupcake Cars” were driven across the United States, distributing samples and posting photo galleries to Facebook and Flickr.
According to David Griner, director of digital content for Luckie & Co., the agency that helped Little Debbie develop and implement these campaigns, Facebook continues to be a major components of their product launch strategy. “With each launch, we feature the new products on Facebook, solicit fan feedback and offer occasional giveaways to encourage sampling. Since the cupcake launch, we’ve doubled the Facebook audience to more than 1 million Likes, thanks largely to giveaways and other promotions that help fans feel engaged with the brand.”
Companies want to get creative with giveaways, but as Kim notes, it’s important to stay true to the brand and use giveaways as a learning opportunity. “Everything we gave away was something we were already selling or planning to sell on sneakpeeq in terms of product/brands. We also used the launch on Facebook to educate consumers about what sneakpeeq is — a social shopping site with a twist.”
What advice can you offer to companies who want to incorporate Facebook into their product launch? Let us know in the comments below.
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