Why Is Social Proof Such An Important Part Of Your Product Launch Strategy
When making a choice we are hard wired to look for the approval of our peer group
In Product Launch Marketing this fundamental human need for approval from our peers should be put to work on your launch blog.
By offering help to others and clearing the hurdles at the same time it is natural for these people to feel a kinship towards you and owe you a debt of gratitude.
Nonetheless, you should realise that these people take on different roles, as proven by research carried out by Gartner last year. There are...
- Connectors - who simply connect products or people to each other
- Mavens - who are information brokers or knowledge exchangers
- Salesmen - whose list of contacts is super extended
Whatever the type it would be well worth joining in their discussions. Completing your market research is the first step in accomplishing that. You have to understand their hopes and fears; what it is that challenges them and keeps them awake at night.
Then the product can be created to meet those challenges. Next comes your launch story which should push all their hot buttons. Only then will your core market engage with you and deliver the necessary social proof if your new product launch is to produce results.
Gartner found that social proof plays a significant part in people's buying decisions. In reality, the social salesmen, connectors and mavens are the main influencers in 74 per cent of those choices.
Don't presume these people mainly congregate on social media networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and Foursquare although these are the sites they are more easily recognised. Also you can see them at work on forums, having discussions on other blogs and on video sharing sites.
That is why a crucial part of your marketing strategy is based on shrewd online advance networking. By answering questions posed by sites such as Yahoo Answers, Aaedvark - owned by Google-, Foursquare - local marketing- and, before long, Facebook's 'Questions' tool now being Beta tested you will soon establish a presence for yourself.
Then when your new product launch is imminent you won't be seen as a spammer on these sites when youn casually mention your new product in the relevant context.
Therefore the moral of this story is: You have to give before you can expect to receive. You must be prepared to give excellent material for free before people switch off their 'scam-meters' and they begin to accept you as a 'friend', be that on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare or on your own launch blog.
As a product publisher, you may knot aw that you're not a product launch expert. So you are searching for assistance on your new launch. Discover more about the new product development process not aw. In fact product positioning can have a strong influence on your business.
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