When you’re launching a new product, you want as much help as possible. The more eyes on your launch, the more likely it is that the product will get positive feedback and go on to become a success. To that end, even the most seasoned entrepreneurs will launch an event to give their product/service a test run.
Even if you’re only thinking of launching a single product, you should still consider holding an event. While some events will work best with a team around, others are better suited to being the center of attention. To get ready for your launch event, you can use these tips to plan the perfect event.
Apple’s product launch events have become a high-profile mainstay of the tech sector’s yearly calendar, generating the kind of pre-event hype and excitement often reserved for the run-up to the release of a much-anticipated new album or film.
Still, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown something of a wrench into the works – and the event Apple held on March 8, 2022, was an all-digital affair. Though the pandemic is less of a worry than it once was, no journalists were invited to attend the event in person, as Pocket-lint notes.
What happened at Apple’s spring 2022 event?
At the event, which was live-streamed from the Steve Jobs Theater at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, Apple unveiled a string of new products. Those included a new iPad Air, a new, 5G-ready iPhone SE, and a new Mac computer with a new Apple Silicon processor under the hood.
Of course, you probably knew all of this – because, yes, Apple drums up a lot of buzz for its events well before they take place. It’s a playbook that Apple evidently adopted back in the Steve Jobs era when the then-Apple CEO leveraged various tactics to get people talking positively about Apple.
One simple reason for the especially favorable publicity Apple received under Jobs’ stewardship was, naturally, the high quality of the brand’s products. However, marketing expert Neil Patel insists that virtually any company can succeed by following many of Jobs’ promotional strategies.
Research What’s Working For Customers In The Current Market
Before you launch your product, you’ll want to do market research to find out what customers are currently using and what they want. You can do this by asking customers via social media, your website, and your sales rep. When you’re done, you’ll want to create a shortlist of features and benefits that people want from your product/service and then work from there to create your launch plan.
Find the technology you need for live-streaming your event
Another reason why many Apple events – in both the Jobs era and that of his successor as Apple CEO, Tim Cook – have garnered so much publicity is that many people around the world have been able to enjoy watching these events from the comfort of their own homes.
While online events can be delivered in various forms, Apple events like the above-mentioned spring one would count as webcasts. TechFunnel explains: “Webcasts are primarily based on the video to user models, just like a television show.”
However, as there has remained a strong live component to Apple’s product launch strategy even in the COVID age, you should prioritize finding a live webcast platform through which to deliver your own event.
Reach out to the press long before the event happens
For months before an Apple event is even formally announced, journalists feverishly speculate about when the next Apple event might be held and what is likely to appear at it.
Even if your firm lacks a track record of regularly releasing genuinely great products, you can still start working with the media to familiarize them with your brand before it does announce an event.
If you’re planning an event to launch a new product, it’s important to reach out to the press long before the event to schedule interviews and give them a heads-up. You may want to schedule interviews with local news outlets and websites in your area.
Make sure to include a press release that you send out with the interviews and a note that you’d love to do a follow-up interview should the opportunity arise.
Make your product launch feel like a genuine event
When Apple holds a product launch, the company’s own CEO is at the center of it all, personally manning the stage and, as the event is about to end, reeling off a list of what has been announced during the course of it. You should plan a similar vibe for your own product launch.
The most important thing you can do as the CEO of a startup is to make your product launch feel like a genuine event. If you’re launching a new product, it’s likely that you’re doing so in order to fulfill a need that your target audience has. This event, therefore, should reflect that.
