How to prepare a product launch with Social Media in 250 hours

Here’s a simple process for a product launch that will dramatically increase your marketing results within eight weeks of the launch. Approximately 250 hours are required from start to finish, including the time for video production, message creation, and media interaction. Any company can do this.

Develop a Main Message(s) – Identify the target audience groups and develop a set of message points for each target audience, once you've done that you need to prioritise the communication channels. For example, to reach a potential buyer of an inexpensive consumer product, you could focus on Facebook and YouTube.

Write a Press Release – Write a traditional press release and send it to the wire on the same day of the product launch. A social media press release format will not automatically get you more online coverage and may be less appealing to traditional media reporters. My advice is to focus on the basics of writing a good press release. Keep it accurate, easy to understand, and make sure it contains your main message points.

Compile a Media and Analyst List – Create a traditional media list that includes print and online reporters, bloggers, industry analysts, and other influencers.

Produce a Video – Produce a single three-minute video of the top two executives explaining the vision behind the product. Create a script for the video ahead of time using the main message(s) to cover the major message points. The simplest and quickest way to create a script for the video is to focus on three to five key questions. It will take two to four hours to shoot a three-minute video and an equivalent amount of time to edit the video. You must also budget additional time to write the script, distribute and promote the video.

Product Screencast Videos – Produce multiple videos of the product that vary between 15 seconds and five minutes. The simplest video shows the product manager or an executive providing a demonstration of key product features. The features should match up with the main message(s).

Promote Videos – The simplest technique is to release all the videos to the public on the day of the launch and to promote the links to the video. You should rely heavily on blogs, Twitter, YouTube, web site, press release, and direct email to the existing customer base and e-newsletter list for promotion.

Corporate Blog – Produce two different blog posts for the corporate blog that go live on the day of the launch. One blog post should focus on technical details and the other blog should focus on the vision of the product. The two bloggers could be the CTO and the CEO in smaller companies or the lead engineer and the product manager in larger organizations. Cross-promote the blogs in the standard areas – web site, direct email newsletter, Twitter. Monitor the blogosphere on the day of the launch and encourage your corporate bloggers to engage in public online discussion in online hotspots you identify.

Twitter Management – Build up the Twitter following prior to the launch day by defining a voice for the Twitter feed in your internal planning document, assigning a single person to manage the feed, and engaging in interactive discussion on Twitter. Prior to the launch push out valuable content that other people will want to re-tweet. Remember that if you’re not getting any re-tweets, then what you have to say on Twitter does not interest your target audience. Reserve 15 hours per month to build up the Twitter feed prior to the launch. Plan for more than six hours of combined Twitter, blogger and media interaction on the day of the launch, not including media interviews.

Direct Email – Time direct email campaigns with the press release. Include all relevant links to social media content and channels. If you are using an opt-in list of your customers, i suggest you provide them with unique information or privileges such as access to special videos before the general public.

Other Programs – Standard launch campaigns generally include updates to Facebook, LinkedIn and may include monitoring of message boards, Forums and Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

The key to getting results is to use all the components together, linking to each other, and using a common set of messages.