Priming audiences for your upcoming product launch is a hefty undertaking that you must approach mindfully, strategically, and gracefully. Capturing attention and driving the right actions may seem daunting, but with influencers on your team (and grid), it can happen automatically and authentically. With 50% of millennial and Gen Z consumers favoring social media for product discovery, you simply can’t afford not to promote your product through influencer collaborations. We’ve detailed the process below so you too can learn how to use influencer marketing for your product launch.
Generating Hype and Sales for Your Product Launch with Influencer Marketing
With influencer marketing as your go-to launch strategy, you can tease and release your new product authentically and effectively. Influencer marketing uses dynamic content and popular personalities to educate your audience about the value of your product and generate hype for its launch. TikTok is a particularly lucrative platform for driving sales and Brand awareness, holding the ability to reach 1.09 billion users through targeted ads. By launching strategically scheduled campaigns with pre-vetted influencers, you can plant the seed for your product launch, tease the upcoming release, and surge sales the day of its reveal.
Planning Influencer Marketing Campaigns for Your Product Launch
To power a successful launch, you must build momentum leading up to the release day. You want to hook your audience early and hold their attention by collaborating with their favorite Brand-fit influencers. Plan your influencer marketing campaigns with purpose, and choose your content types tactfully. From there, decide on the frequency and cadences of content being shared with your audience before, during, and after the product launch. Make deliberate decisions about your deliverables, and orchestrate a content plan that unfolds harmoniously.
Building Influencer Marketing Campaigns for Your Product Launch
Now that you’ve laid the groundwork for your influencer marketing campaigns, you can begin building them.
- Determine your goals for each campaign. Are you seeking to generate awareness, content, conversions, or all three?
- Identify the ideal influencers for every stage of your product launch. If they are available for hire, seal the deal with agreements.
- Schedule your deliverables and begin collaborating. Be sure to make time for reviews and revisions.
Choosing the Right Influencers for Your Product Launch
There are many factors to consider when choosing the right influencer for your product launch. Some key considerations include influencer marketing platform pricing, availability, reach, aesthetics, channels, and industry. Given that, it is important to make your selection in advance. The earlier influencers are involved in your product launch, the better your results. You must also ensure they are an authentic product-market fit. Does the influencer embody your Brand values? Are they likely or believable representatives of your Brand?
Targeting the Right Audience for Your Product Launch with Influencer Marketing
Partnering with Brand-fit influencers gives you direct access to your target audience through a credible source they’ve come to love and trust. Your ideal influencers will also represent the voice and interests of your target audience, so honor their recommendations during creative collaborations. Strategic partnerships with influencers stimulate conversions because their followers are eager to listen and take action. Influencers are integral to social commerce (or selling on social media), so the more you click with your Brand partners, the more clicks you generate for your product launch. Moreover, the social element of social commerce is what promotes customer retention. With influencers, you can cultivate a community while attracting new customers.
Keeping Influencer Collaborations Flexible during Your Product Launch
Giving influencers the creative reigns promotes authenticity and lets them engage their followers organically. The more natural their delivery and the more it aligns with their regularly scheduled content, the less it feels like an ad and the more your product blends into consumer feeds, capturing and sustaining the attention you seek. Influencers are skilled at inspiring the purchasing decisions of their followers, so be open to new styles of content. Remember, you are trying to infuse your product into the influencer’s community—not the other way around. Let them host your Brand as they know best so they can serve their followers Brand-boosting content.
Types of Influencer Content to Request for Your Product Launch
By collaborating with influencers before, during, and after the release of your product, you build anticipation. By using influencers for the seed, tease, and reveal stages of your launch, you pique curiosity, engage viewers with your product story in action, and keep their followers coming back for more. Collaborating with the same influencers from start to finish endows their followers with a sense of exclusivity and insider knowledge. It makes them feel special and in the know about your product earlier than most. If the influencer is one of the first to showcase your product, their fans will likely follow suit once it’s made available to the public. If you’re wondering what type of influencer content works best, here are some ideas for every stage:
The Seed: Plant the seed of anticipation early
- Soft launching your Brand to their followers
- Sponsored posts that introduce the influencer as a Brand-regular
- Giving influencers early access
- Cryptic copy paired with playful photography
- Instagram takeovers that kickoff the partnership
- Problem-solution content that subtly sets the stage for what’s to come
- Email marketing campaigns that incorporate influencer-generated content
- Storytimes that reinforce your Brand’s mission
- Brand ambassadorship posts
The Tease: Pique curiosity with teaser content
- Stories with branded hashtags
- Lookbooks
- Brand trips
- Giveaways that include opportunities and not just products
- Contests that generate content by making it a prerequisite to entry
- Exclusive promo codes
- Behind-the-scenes footage
- Gamified content
- Teaser-trailers
- PR boxes
- Pre-order lists
- Coordinated countdowns
- Blog posts
- Influencer meet and greets
The Reveal: Reveal your product authentically
- Unboxings
- “Day in the Life” vlogs
- Produce reviews
- Collaborative posts
- Sponsored posts
- Live Streams
- Paid ads featuring influencer-generated content
- Competitor comparisons
- Launch parties
- Pop-ups
Preparing for Product Virality
When working with macro and mega influencers, there is a strong chance your product will go viral upon its release and sell out overnight. You must prepare for the possibility of your product going viral to avoid technical difficulties and uphold your Brand’s promise. Start by creating a landing page where people can register for early access or pre-order your product. Doing so will allow you to gauge demand for your product and guarantee you have enough stock to meet it. Ensure your website is well-equipped to handle the increase in traffic and interest following your launch. Taking preemptive measures will prevent crashes and provide a seamless user experience.
@zestyagency How top content creators sell products 👀 #zestyagency #contentcoach #contentstrategist #mentor #marketing #businesscoach #contentcreator #influencermarketing ♬ original sound – Zesty | TikTok Coaching
Examples of Influencer-Led Product Launches
Steven Bartlett’s Gamified Book Release
@itsisobelperl The most creative PR for a new product launch I’ve ever seen! Well done @Steven Bartlett & team 🩷 #marketing #pr #influencer #influencers #influencergiftings #prpackage #prunboxing #marketingtips #marketingdigital ♬ adore u – Fred again.. & Obongjayar
Amika’s Beauty Pop-Up
@drnatashahenry Replying to @drnatashahenry Had a blast today celebrating the launch of @amika new haircare products ! #amika #haircareproduct #haircare #curlyhairproducts #influencerevent #drnatashahenry #dayinmylife #adayinmylife #losangeles #lainfluencer ♬ original sound – Skincare|Dr. Natasha Henry
Lemme’s Lemmeland
@lemme Welcome to 🌀Lemmeland🌀 by @Kourtney Kardashian Barker ♬ All I Want Is You – Disco Lines
Murad Skincare’s Launch Party
@emmanacewicz Thanks @muradskincare for a great night! #influencerlaunch #nycinfluencerlife #skincaretiktok ♬ original sound – Emma Nacewicz
Swiffer’s Brand Trip
@swiffer Had the best time at our FIRST EVER Swiffer influencer event 🙌🙌 #cleantok #speedmop #swiffer #mopsmarter #newproduct #productlaunch #swifferpartner ♬ Blue Moon – Muspace Lofi
Inkey List’s Launch Dinner
@somethingstupidandfun last night at the @Inkey List 🙈 launch party #vlog #party #dayinthelife #makeup #skincare #girls #influencer #fyp #fypシ #paratii ♬ Deep house – TOKYO Lonesome Blue
The Allure of Influencer Marketing for Product Launches
From increased Brand awareness to widespread visibility, influencer marketing is an effective way to reach and connect with your target audience directly. Beyond connecting with your audience, working with influencers can dramatically increase your Brand magnetism and cultivate desirability for your slated product release. Many psychological factors contribute to the allure of influencers and their ability to influence their followers. Here’s how these psychological phenomena can amplify the impact of your product launch:
The Halo Effect
The halo effect is a cognitive phenomenon in which people with attractive attributes positively sway the opinions of others. Influencers can appeal to their followers in relatable and aspirational ways, creating a halo effect around their content.
Social Proof
Social proof, or third-party validation through word-of-mouth marketing, is a natural component of influencer marketing. With 69% of people trusting the recommendation of influencers above Brands, using influencer marketing to launch your product is a surefire way to foster credibility in advance.
Parasocial Relationships
Parasocial relationships are imaginary bonds with a public figure, character, or celebrity. Because followers of an influencer tend to have parasocial relationships with them, they are deeply connected to their every move.
Engaged Fanbase
Influencers come with a built-in audience and an already engaged fanbase, so your Brand will not have to do any crowd-warming. Because influencer marketing enables you to bypass the beginning stages of your sales funnel, you can generate conversions faster.
Product Placement
Embedding products in influencer content provides the same benefits to Brands as product placements in film or television. It allows you to tap into the viewer’s subconscious and infuse your product with the aura of the influencer with whom they identify.
Measuring the Impact of Influencer Marketing Campaigns on Your Product Launch
There are several key performance indicators you can use to measure the impact of your influencer marketing campaign. Some of these metrics include engagement, impressions, shares, and signups. You can also track sales from each campaign by providing influencers with unique links and promotional codes. For optimal results, we suggest using an influencer marketing platform like Glewee that tracks real-time performance metrics through an interactive dashboard. Glewee Creators helped Rev Gum achieve 100,000 impressions for its latest launch, proving influencer marketing is a powerful way to make a great first impression.
Launch Your Influencer Marketing Campaigns with Glewee
Whether you’re new to influencer marketing or a seasoned influencer marketer, Glewee holds your key to influencer marketing success. From identifying pre-vetted Creators to launching measurable influencer marketing campaigns, Glewee’s all-in-one platform for Brands and Agencies is all you need to launch influencer marketing campaigns that strategically launch your product across social media.
