Over time, your company looks to enhance its product and service offering with new features designed to give your customers even more value. But, how do you let your customer base know of these new features without bombarding their email with information that may be ignored? Finding a creative way to inform consumers about changes you have made to your product and service line can be a challenge. That’s why we asked 10 entrepreneurs from Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:
“How can you successfully make your customer base aware you’re launching a new feature for your product or service (aside from email blasting)?”
Tips for Introducing a New Product or Service
Here’s what YEC community members had to say:
1. Create Content Around It
“I’ve found that the best way to make a new product known is to create content around the problem your product helps solve. This allows you to use your expertise to speak on the area, as well as to do it in a way that is non-promotional. Make sure you also create a blog post on the topic and product, so you can link to it in your content and give your audience more resources.” ~ John Hall, Influence & Co.
2. Promote It in Your Email Signatures
“We recently faced this very problem, as we expanded our content into a podcast and YouTube offerings. Rather than blast our email list every other day, we have taken to adding mini-promo text to all of our members’ email signatures. We can control this text and frequently change it. Since our team sends out hundreds of emails every day, this is an effective way to reach our most engaged clients.” ~ Mark Daoust, Quiet Light Brokerage, Inc.
3. Leverage In-App Messaging If Available
“When we launched our “Share With Friends” program, we made sure to highlight this new feature with our in-app messaging. You can also set up a landing page to your site or site notifications that alert your customers to new features and services coming in the near future. ” ~ Brian David Crane, Caller Smart Inc.
4. Do a Live Stream
“Do a live stream video to show how that new feature works and how it can be used. Provide different people to talk about how they plan on using it. ” ~ Drew Hendricks, Buttercup
5. Grow and Dominate Social Media
“Having an existing social media following who can share your new product or service upon launch is the best way. While paid media and emailing help, the brilliance of the most effective, yet free form of marketing, word of mouth, trumps all. With the ability of one person to share with their entire social media following, you can spread the word fast and most importantly, inexpensively!” ~ Marc Lobliner, TigerFitness.com and MTS Nutrition
6. Reward Interaction
“E-commerce and software companies can incentivize customers to interact with new features by offering points, discounts, extended trials, etc. as a means of getting them to learn about, and try, new features. The medium of letting customers know that a new feature is available is less important than actually getting them to take the action of using it.” ~ Ross Beyeler, Growth Spark
7. Remarket Your Users Through Ads
“If they are your customers, you have their email address and they’ve probably visited your site. Create a set of banner ads for Adwords and Facebook, and use them to remarket your users to the landing page of your choice. It’s a fast and inexpensive way to get your message out there fast.” ~ Ajay Paghdal, OutreachMama
8. Put Regular Business Reviews in Place
“Regular customer check-ins are great for a multitude of reasons — namely, gathering feedback, good and bad — and they also give you an organic opportunity to share product updates with your customer base. I suggest even doing a real-time demo of new features, so your customer can immediately use your solution to its fullest extent and maximize their ROI in the long run.” ~ Stan Garber, Scout RFP
9. Create a Sticky Header on Your Website
“Create a sticky header or a slide-in pop up to politely remind your customer of the new feature launch. Whenever they come to your website, they will be reminded of the new feature and you can ask them for their cell number if they want to receive a text message the day the feature is released.” ~ Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster
10. Create a Pop-Up Shop
“Create a pop-up shop or take it to the people in unique ways, such as a kiosk or a booth at a festival. It’s about taking it to the street and interacting with the people you want to try it. ” ~ Zach Binder, Bell + Ivy
Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “10 Fascinating New Product or Service Tactics that Can Help Your Business Grow” was first published on Small Business Trends