Launching a product isn't the same as just releasing one. Anyone can put something new on the market and send out a press release. But a real product launch? That's where you build excitement, get people talking, and create that buzz that translates into actual sales. This isn't just for big internet marketing companies either - if you've got customers you want to reach, especially if you're running a startup, a proper launch can change everything.
Why Product Launches Actually Matter
Generate Serious Cash Flow
A cash windfall means exactly what it sounds like - a sudden spike in revenue from one specific event. Think about when Apple drops a new iPhone. People literally camp out at stores worldwide just to be among the first to get their hands on the latest model. Apple sees their sales explode in those first few days because they've mastered the art of creating anticipation. When people get caught up in that excitement and buy within hours of release, that's a cash windfall in action. Get your launch right, and you'll see the same thing happen.
Make Your Mark
Sure, making money is why we're all here, but you also want people to remember you. A well-executed product launch does exactly that. Let's say you're selling bamboo products - after a successful launch, you become known as "that startup with the sustainable bamboo stuff." People remember you, not just your products.
Carve Out Your Space
The market's crowded no matter what you're selling. Bamboo products? There are dozens of companies doing that already. So how do you make sure you're not just another face in the crowd? Your launch is where you stake your claim. This is when you position yourself as the "most affordable," the "most sustainable," or whatever makes you different. Use superlatives that actually mean something to your customers.
Expand Your Customer Base
Without a proper launch, your customer base stays pretty small - family, friends, maybe their friends. But launch correctly, and suddenly people who have zero connection to you are hearing about your products. More awareness means more potential sales. It's that simple.
Build Industry Authority
Companies that do proper product launches get seen as industry leaders. It's all about visibility - the more people see you, the more influence you have. A successful launch puts you on the map and keeps you there.
Create New Opportunities
Launches don't just reach customers. Other startup founders, influencers, manufacturers, and industry players hear about you too. These connections can open doors you didn't even know existed and help you get ahead in your field.
How to Actually Pull Off a Successful Launch
Use Facebook Ads Strategically
Amazon sellers who know what they're doing use Facebook ads to boost their Amazon rankings while building a loyal customer base. It's one of the most cost-effective ways to drive traffic from outside your main selling platform. With over 2 billion active Facebook users monthly, you're tapping into a massive audience of people who are already interested in products like yours.
Here's the critical part most sellers mess up: don't send Facebook traffic straight to your Amazon listing. People scrolling Facebook aren't in buying mode yet. Plus, if you send them directly to Amazon, you can't capture their contact information. If they don't buy immediately, you've lost them forever.
Create a landing page instead. The customer journey should look like this:
Facebook → Landing Page (capture email, offer discount code) → Amazon (make sale)
Split testing is essential when you're running Facebook ads. Create different versions based on who you're targeting. Selling clothes? A mom is going to respond to different images and copy than a single woman. The mom wants practical and wholesome, while the single woman might prefer fun and trendy. I cover this in much more detail in my book "Facebook Advertising – Your Step by Step Guide To Generating Quality Leads For Your Business At a Very Affordable Cost."
Build a Facebook Community
If you use Facebook regularly, you're probably in at least one group already. These are pages focused on specific topics where people with similar interests gather and interact. There are groups for everything - crochet enthusiasts, Ariana Grande fans, you name it. Creating one for your business lets you network, find brand ambassadors, build customer relationships, provide support, and develop a real community around what you're selling.
Run Amazon Ads
Setting up Amazon ads starts with creating a campaign. Pick the product you want to promote, set your daily budget, and choose how long you want the campaign to run. For example, you might set a $10 daily budget with no end date so your ads show up whenever people search. You can choose automatic targeting (great for beginners) or manual targeting where you pick specific keywords. Once you're set up, your sponsored products go live immediately and appear when customers search for your products or related items.
Build Your Email List
This is fundamental to modern marketing. An email list is simply a collection of email addresses from visitors and customers that you can use for marketing purposes. You can send promotions, news, and business updates directly to people who are already interested in what you're doing.
You can't just randomly ask for email addresses - that looks sketchy. You need strategies that make people want to give you their contact information. Create personalized calls-to-action on your landing pages, blog posts, or any content about your business. Maybe it's "Click here to take a free quiz" and then they enter their email to see results.
Product launches are perfect for collecting emails. Have people register to participate, or sign up on your website to learn more. Contests, raffles, and giveaways on social media or during your launch also work great for building your list.
Get Customer Reviews
Getting people to know about your product and review it is a major reason to launch in the first place. Reviews, especially positive ones, make other people more confident about buying from you. People trust products with lots of good reviews.
Having great products is obviously the foundation for getting positive feedback. The challenge is getting people to actually write reviews. Send emails to your list requesting reviews and feedback. Ask your Facebook community to write reviews and rate your products after using them.
Amazon offers an Early Reviewer Program for new sellers since they know how tough it is to get those first reviews. For $60 per SKU, Amazon emails people who've already bought your product and offers them up to $3 to write a review. You need to be a registered US seller, your product must cost at least $15, and you can't have more than five reviews already.
Choose the Right Photographer
High-quality photos can make or break your launch and your business overall. Your pictures need to be clear, accurate, and honest. You might have a good camera, but if you're not a professional photographer, your images probably won't measure up to what people expect online. It's worth paying for professional product photography.
When choosing a photographer, consider these factors:
Portfolio: Look at their previous work with different clients. Make sure their style matches what you need. Photographers who've worked with online sellers before understand the requirements.
Experience: Aim for someone with at least three years of professional photography experience. Hiring someone brand new might save money but it's risky when you don't know what kind of work they'll deliver.
References: Ask to speak with past clients about the photographer's work ethic, honesty, professionalism, and output quality.
Pricing: Get clear pricing information upfront to avoid surprises later. You can pay per image or get package deals depending on how many photos you need.
Communication: Make sure they're easy to reach. You'll have specific styles in mind and product details you want highlighted, so good communication is essential.
Free Trial: Ask if you can do a test shoot before committing. This gives you a feel for their creative style and how they work.
Optimize Your Product Listings for Better Sales
If you want your Amazon listing to rank higher and become more visible to users (which increases sales), you need to understand product optimization. It's one of the most impactful things you can do for your business.
Focus on Keywords
This works exactly like you'd expect. Good keywords are crucial to online business success. Put yourself in your customer's shoes. If someone wants Disney bed sheets, they'll search for "Disney bed sheets." As a seller, that should be your primary keyword. But you can also use related keywords like "Aladdin bed sheets" (or whatever character you have), "Disney bedding," "Disney bed linen," etc.
If you just use "bed sheet" without "Disney," your item won't show up when someone specifically searches for Disney products. Here's what you need to know about listing creation:
- Include your top five keywords in your product title
- Add generic (backend) keywords beyond your main ones, staying under 249 bytes
- Use keywords naturally in your product description and bullet points
- Include gender-specific keywords (men/women) when relevant to reach your target buyers
Optimize Your Content
Keyword optimization gets your product into search results when customers type relevant terms. Content optimization makes them actually click on your listing. Focus on these three areas:
Product Information: Include all the details buyers need - dimensions, weight, materials, features, and benefits. Be comprehensive but organized.
Product Text: Present all that information in a way that's easy to read and understand. Use bullet points where appropriate and be straightforward and concise.
Images: These are the first thing customers see in search results. Post one main image and several additional ones. The main image should clearly show your core product against a white background, taking up 85% of the image frame. Additional images can show accessories, packaging, important features, usage scenarios, etc.
Avoid Duplicate Content
Don't make the mistake of using identical content across all your selling platforms. Search engines flag duplicate content as copying, even when you wrote it all yourself. Create different descriptions for your Amazon listings, your website, and other platforms.
How to Structure Your Product Listing
Product Title
Amazon gives you 250 characters (about 50 words) for your title. Make every word count by ensuring they're all important. Remember, you're writing for humans, not algorithms. Amazon's algorithms are based on human search patterns and behavior. Include at least one key benefit that sets your product apart from competitors - keywords like "biodegradable" or "eco-friendly" work well.
Title keywords carry more weight than description keywords in Amazon's algorithm, so choose carefully. Make sure your title keywords are genuinely relevant to your product.
Product Photos
Amazon allows up to 9 photos and you should use all of them. When people scan search results, they look at the image first, then the title. They'll only click if both catch their attention. Your main image needs a white background and should fill 85% of the frame. Use the remaining photos to show different angles, close-ups of important details, packaging, usage scenarios, etc.
Important Features
You have about 240 words or 1000 characters for this section. Use bulleted lists since nobody wants to read dense paragraphs. Include at least five bullets with the most important features at the top.
Description
This is where you can write in full sentences, but keep paragraphs short. Elaborate on the features from your bullet list and add more important product details. The limit is 2000 characters including spaces (roughly 300 words).
Amazon Advertising Strategy
Amazon Advertising (formerly Amazon Marketing Services) is a set of tools that help drive traffic to your listings. There are two main types: automatic and manual. Manual targeting requires you to research and define target keywords yourself. Automatic targeting is simpler - you set it up and let Amazon handle the rest.
Both approaches offer the same benefits: improved visibility through better keyword rankings, increased sales velocity (which makes Amazon more willing to promote your products), and faster growth overall.
Use Search Reports to Your Advantage
You can download data showing how your keywords performed in actual searches. This gives you valuable insights into what's working and what isn't. Pull account-level data for any date range within the past 90 days.
If you see a sales spike in the last two weeks, examine the data from that period to see which keywords drove customers to your listings. You can also identify keywords that aren't performing and eliminate them from future campaigns.
Test Different Price Points
Pricing isn't just about adding a markup to your costs. Many other factors come into play, starting with demand. Look at hotel rates and airfare - prices fluctuate based on demand, not just costs.
Price also affects perceived value. A $1 pen seems ordinary, but a $100 pen must be special somehow - maybe it's gold-plated or designer-made. You can't just raise prices without justification, but the right price gives people expectations about quality that your product needs to meet.
Start with competitor analysis. Research what others charge for similar products and whether people are buying at those prices. This is especially important when many vendors sell identical items, since buyers will choose the cheaper option if everything else is equal.
You can either sell something unique (letting you set market pricing) or add value to make your product stand out. Simple changes like different pictures or product names can help differentiate you.
If your research shows similar products ranging from $5 to $10, consider pricing yours at $7. People often avoid the cheapest option (assuming there's a catch or poor quality) and the most expensive (when cheaper alternatives exist). They'll gravitate toward the middle option that meets their needs.
Try split testing on Amazon by changing parts of your listing to see what drives the most sales. Test product titles, bullet points, images, and prices. For example, price your pen at $1 for a few months, then $1.50 for the next few months. Compare which period generated more sales.
Be patient with split testing since it needs significant data to be meaningful. If you only have one or two sales, you don't have enough information to draw conclusions. Also avoid running multiple tests simultaneously since you won't be able to tell what's causing changes in performance.
Remember that price is one of the biggest factors in consumer decision-making, so choosing the right price point for your products is crucial to your success.
