Starting a company means days, weeks, months and months of behind the scenes toil to make sure every teeny tiny little detail is perfect – or as close to it as possible. Business plans, product designs, prototypes, locations, employees, branding, website, creative content, blog posts, funding, everything. But once all this in place and you can finally start thinking about your launch, that’s when you suddenly get halted by the dazzling white unicorn that is “the buzz”.
It’s that idea of creating excitement around your business, creating a tidal wave of anticipation the likes of which only happens when another generation of iPhone is released. Ask any business owner and they will tell you that this elusive buzz is the secret weapon of success. Get it right and you can thrive from the get-go, but miss the mark and you’re left surviving for way longer than you hoped you would. It’s the dream-maker-cum-soul-crusher.
Now, let it be said, there is no surefire way to get people nattering about your business or product. There is no avenue of guarantees that will see word of mouth lift you into the next edition of Forbes Magazine. For that, your best bet is to have something truly incredible and then some next-level customer service skills. That’s the trick.
But let’s say you already have these must-haves in place, what else can you do to boost the buzz without breaking the bank? Well, read on and you’ll find out…
- A Tagline That Changes Lives
Every product needs a unique selling point in order to succeed, so you need to think outside the box, figure out what yours is and then put it into words. Let people know what you do, how your idea alters the status quo and how it will change the user’s life for the better, and then use these to develop a marketing hook. It doesn’t need to be the next Nike slogan, but it does need to catch people’s attention, be memorable and have people talking. That’s the aim of the game here.
- Exclusivity Through Invites
Think about this one for a moment or two; what are you more likely to attend, an open exhibition at an art gallery showcasing an artist you have never heard of, or an private exhibition at an art gallery that you have been personally invited too? Exactly. That is the power exclusivity has. It feeds into people’s sense of importance, while also capitalising on both anticipation and scarcity, which are all great for building a buzz. This is how some of the biggest names out there began, brands like Ello and Spotify. It was that idea that you are special. Never underestimate that.
- Giveaways Generate Interest
One of the more engaging and fun ways to boost that buzz and grow your exposure is to hold contests and stage giveaways well in advance of your launch. Not only will this see your name start to bounce around people’s lips and see names start to fill up on your sign-up form, you will find you start to get in front of your target audience too. In terms of what prizes you go with, you want things that will connect with everyone in that demographic you are chasing while also ushering people toward your website. It could be giving away your very own lanyards and branded t-shirts, it could be tickets to the opening night of your bar or restaurant, or a meal with that celebrity friend of yours that you managed to rope into helping you out, or a two-night stay in a yurt. It could be anything that you want, so long as it is unique, memorable and meaningful.
- Sneak Peaks On Social
Another way to start having whispers fly around the campfire before anything has been properly announced is to provide little sneak peaks like this one, teaser shots and behind the scenes footage on your social media pages. So long as you have plenty of content in the pipeline and branded pages ready for people to gawp at, you will find people’s interest get’s piqued and they are left wanting to find out more. They start Googling your brand name, they start scrolling through Facebook to find out more and they start talking to their friends and colleagues to see if they have any more of a scoop. To nail this tactic and really heap on the anticipation, you want to leave as much as you can to the imagination while simultaneously hinting at what is to come. Drop clues of what the future holds a week or two before the future arrives and slowly leak bits of information that will ensure they rush to your store when the big day comes.
- Influencers Do The Talking
One of the hardest parts of building a buzz around anything is reaching your target audience on a level that completely engages them and makes them want to know more about you. You want to get instant credibility, and that is where influencers enter the frame. These people have built up a following of disciples that almost subconsciously follow their every photo. Now, getting your product onto Insta-famous person’s feed takes money. But that isn’t the only way to piggyback their credibility. Share and retweet their content, reach out to them through direct messages, comment under their images and start building an affiliation with them. Trust us, you have no idea what this can lead on to, what connections you could make and the amount of traffic it could send your way.
- A Wicked Good Web Page
While you are getting the rest of your website absolutely perfect, don’t lose out on any online interest or traffic by having yourself a landing page; one that grabs people by the imagination and encourages them to “sign up on the form below”. Think of it as a pre-launch web page that is designed to help you gauge customer interest early on while also allowing you to capitalise on any early birds into leads. The trick is to make this page as light, quick and user-friendly as possible. Anything too heavy or time consuming and you will lose their interest. Instead, think of this in the same light as you would your social media sneak peaks.