Using Social Media Channels to Promote New Products

One of every nine people on earth log on to social media channels every day – and spend 700 billion minutes a day sharing content on social media.

A new product launch needs a social media component, or may potentially lose the attention of over 750 million social media users. Here are five fun ways to promote your new product on social media channels.

Facebook Offers

Facebook recently rolled out the new Facebook Offers for fan pages, which is a free service for Facebook page admins. The Facebook Offers feature is as easy as posting a status update, and is an easy, fun way to promote a new product or service.

Facebook admins first create a catchy, strong headline – remember, the offer will be competing with lots of other status updates, photos and links in your fans’ news feeds. Next, add an image that is recognizable in thumbnail form and represents your offer at a glance. As a final step, add fine print or terms and conditions to avoid misconceptions your customers might have. That’s it!

Fans redeem Facebook Offers via their smartphone or from an email that’s mailed to them after they get the offer.

Pin it to Win it

One of the hottest new social media channels over the past twelve months is Pinterest, a social bookmarking site that acts as a virtual pin board, visually saving and sharing recipes, favorite products, stunning images, beauty tips and much more.

Companies are taking full advantage of the excitement surrounding Pinterst by creating “Pin it to Win it” contests. These contests encourage users to pin products from company websites to their own personal pin boards – the more pins or “repins” the product receives, the better chance the customers have to win. This is a great way to drum up excitement for a new product or collection. The more visually striking your product, the more successful your Pinterest contest will be.

Reviews on Blogs

There are more than 164 million blogs on the internet and more than 133 million blog readers. If you search long enough, you’ll find well-written, popular blogs covering almost any topic under the sun.

Many bloggers are interested in reviewing products and working with brands, especially when free products are involved. Giving a blogger with a loyal following a sample or complimentary product is a great way to get exposure for a new product launch. Readers trust their favorite bloggers’ opinions on products, and a great product review can go a long way. Consider offering a second product or exclusive discount for the blogger to give away to their readers. Not only will you receive great exposure for your new product, you’ll get the benefit of search engine traffic. Blogger reviews promoting your new product will give you lots of exposure with minimal cost.

Product Demo on YouTube

Don’t have the budget for an “As Seen on TV” infomercial? YouTube was made for a new product launch like yours. Promoting a new product on YouTube is as easy to setting up a webcam on your computer and pressing record. For more video-production savvy business owners ready to promote their new product on social media, it’s easy to edit video using programs like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie. YouTube allows you to upload up to 15 minutes of high-definition video, and digitizes it into a format that’s easily accessible.

After you upload a product demo of your new product, you can tag and categorize your YouTube video and let your product sell its self to millions of new customers.

Twitter Party

From Coke-a-Cola to Clorox, thousands of companies are taking to Twitter to promote their brands and new product launches. Besides connecting with customers, answering questions and addressing complaints, companies can bring some fun to their Twitter followers by hosting a Twitter party.

Start planning your Twitter party by setting a date and time; creating a hash tag; and developing a list of questions to ask your participants. Promote your Twitter party by offering a discount or giveaway for Twitter users who participate. During the party, ask your pre-planned questions and encourage users to answer and share.