As businesses come and go – naturally, new products are created, marketed, and sold. I’m oftentimes asked how to go about a marketing strategy for new products in terms of online promotion. I’ve put together this guide with steps that should be followed in order to effectively develop a new product marketing strategy for bloggers.
1. Develop & Perfect the Product
The first obvious step is to develop a product and perfect the e-commerce platform associated with that product. The products shopping cart must be in full working order, smooth, and efficient. It would be a complete waste to spend time promoting a product – only to find that the buying experience is faulty.
Building a successful & attractive shopping cart experience for buyers is a subject all in itself – so we won’t go into further detail on that topic here.
2. Develop Product Press Releases for Blog Distribution
As bloggers – many of us decide to develop products which are specific to the area and readers we write for. Bloggers who write about gardening might sell pots – while sport bloggers might sell nutritional supplements. The important thing to notice here is that it’s crucial to use your own medium and audience to market your product. You’ll find that much success comes from becoming a valued, trusted writer – and then bringing a product to your committed audience. When marketing your product – be sure to develop press releases and sufficient advertising on your own blog in order to increase product visibility.
It might also be beneficial to send custom, friendly emails to bloggers writing about topics associated with your product. They might find it a positive product for their audience – and blog about it!
3. Spread Links via Twitter & Other Social Networks
Along with developing a blog audience – many bloggers maintain an audience on social networks such as Twitter, Plurk, and FriendFeed. Be sure to use these services to spread the word about your new product – but always in a discreet, non-spam manner. An occasional Tweet regarding your product offers is perfectly acceptable.
Also make sure that your product information pages are Dugg via Digg and other social bookmarking networks. You’ll be surprised at how many backlinks you’ll be able to produce – and increased search traffic you’ll begin receiving.
4. Promote the Product Through Email & Message Forum Signatures
If you feel it appropriate with your email – I’d recommend attaching a new product announcement in the signature of your emails. This is a great way to unobtrusively let family, friends & collegaues know about your product. Many times your correspondences will lead to increased sales and promotion. The same goes for message forum signatures.
Although I recommend experimenting with these practices – I always suggest that you produce promotion without the spam.
5. Develop Competitions & Giveaways Involving the Product
Word of mouth travels like wild fire.
Everyone likes free stuff – and a great way to increase visibility towards your new product line is to give some of it away free. I know it might sound odd to freely give your products when trying your best to sell them – but this is a great way to get that product in the hands of prospective customers. Word of mouth also travels like wild fire – so if your product is good – the people who have your products will begin spreading the word to family & friends.
There are many ways to go about developing contests and giveaways regarding your product. Give a unit to the first ten people that Tweet your product press release, send the product to ten random Twitter followers, etc.
6. Process Orders – and Repeat
By this time in your new product marketing adventure – hopefully your orders are piling high – and a new stock of products is needed. Well – that’s the goal at least!
After you’ve spent some time going through the process of marketing your new product – wait a while to see a response in purchases and discussion. As you experiment in online marketing you’ll notice where more of your time and efforts reap the largest rewards – and what approach works best for your blog audience.
Share with us how you market new products to your blog community!
