This is always an exciting time of year here at Marketing Matters. Our team is amping up for CEDIA Expo 2010, the industry’s largest custom electronics trade show. Catalogs, booth design, email blasts, promo goods, ads, shipping and receiving, press releases, etc.—you name it, we’re doing it. (Special props to Kyle Glass, our Public Relations/Marketing Manager a.k.a our Marketing Leatherman, for keeping A LOT of these projects on track).

One thing I’m pretty fired up about for this year’s show is new product launches from quite a few of our clients. If you are all familiar with the custom electronics industry, you know there are a ton of “me too” products out there, so I’m always jazzed whenever we get to help a client introduce something that’s never been seen or done—which is certainly the case for our clients this year.

But as I mentioned, there are a lot of folks making the same widget out and with all things equal, what makes some more successful than others. I would argue that it’s the way they launched their product. We see so many companies spend the time and resources to develop their new, revolutionary, innovative, state-of-the-art, ground-breaking, unique (did I get them all?) widget, and then just expect their customers to just run and snatch them up. After pouring their heart and soul into a project, these companies often feel their product is the best the industry has to offer—and it may be—but if not properly marketed, their customers will never see the benefit.

To help you successfully launch that widget, I’ve put together a few ideas as part of a coordinated marketing/communications strategy.

Website/Microsite

OK, so this isn’t really “marketing insight” here, but we all know the importance the web plays in influencing a customer’s buying decision—and if you don’t, then you probably shouldn’t be handling your companies marketing strategies. Make sure your new product has its own unique landing page on your company’s website (e.g. www.marketingmatters.net/awesomeproduct). Do your SEO research and figure out how your customers search for a product such as yours and incorporate that HEAVILY into your product’s page.

Advertise

A great strategy for building pre-launch buzz about your new widget is a well-coordinated teaser campaign. Develop a simple, yet intriguing, ad campaign to spark your customer’s curiosity. Be sure to communicate a launch date so folks know when its coming.

Remember that advertising isn’t a one-and-done tactic. After your initial launch, continue to push your ads (now, obviously, featuring your new widget).

Be sure to include the unique landing page for your new product on all of your ads. By driving everything back to that page, you’ll get a great understanding of 1) how your customer’s find you and 2) what drives them to purchase your product.

Public Relations

Arguably one of the most valuable and most cost-effective ways of getting the word out about your product is through public relations.

While many may argue that the press release is dead, there is still value in a well-written press release that describes your product and what it provides your customers. First of all, when posted to your website, it gives you yet another source of SEO, and we all love SEO.

For additional SEO bang, you can also post your press release to many of the free press release hosting sites or even utilize one of the wire services which will distribute your release to thousands of press outlets.

To get the best results from your public relations efforts, you need to do your research. Find out what media outlets your customers turn to for information and then find out which person at that outlet covers news about products such as yours. Then develop a custom “pitch” for your product, being sure to communicate why its important to readers/viewers/listeners of that specific outlet to know that your widget is now available. DO NOT, and I can’t stress that enough, send your pitch to everyone on the staff of said media outlet and DO NOT send a pitch that isn’t relevant to that outlet (i.e. if you designed a new loudspeaker, the folks at weonlycovertvs.com don’t care…at all). Want to get your company blacklisted from a media outlet? Ignore that last sentence.

Product Reviews

Following up the members of the press who have expressed interest in your widget, ask them if they would like to demo or review the product. Nothing will give your product better credibility better than a third-party endorsement from a trusted source. You may also want to consider offering a few of your customers products to review. I would recommend keeping your list of solicited reviews to a minimum. If you’ve got a great product, chances are you’ll get a great review. However, with more reviews comes more chances for someone to find something terribly wrong with your product.

Launching a new product is both an exciting and nerve-racking experience. You invested so much into the research and design your widget so you owe it to you and your company to follow through when it comes to marketing it properly.

If you need some tips or advice on a new product launch, please feel free to shoot me an email at scott@marketingmatters.net or find me on Twitter at @cscottmoody.

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If your company is exhibiting at CEDIA Expo 2010, I’m sure by now your team has had discussions that begin with the question, “what are we going to do to get people to our booth?” By now, I’m pretty sure you’ve come up with some awesome ideas ranging from product or cash giveaways (SWAG), special promos on your products or services, booth “babes”, beer (always a crowd pleaser!) and food, etc.

All of these are great ideas and I’m sure we’ll see some even more creative ideas at this year’s show, but maximizing your efforts goes beyond simply ordering promo goods. What are you doing to make sure attendees to the show know about them in advance and make sure they make time to visit your booth?

Here are a couple of ideas for promoting your CEDIA Expo 2010 activities:

Public Relations – Reach out to the industry trade media outlets and give them a brief overview of what your company has in store for the show. This can be done with a nice press release, but in lots of cases, a simple well-written paragraph or two will also work. (Tip: Act now on this one as most of the print publications are wrapping up their pre-show coverage now.)

List Rentals – Most of the leading industry trade publications offer email and/or mail lists that you can rent to send out your message to a larger audience. These lists can be pretty extensive and include a large number of CEDIA Expo attendees so you can ensure you’re hitting the right markets.

Social Media – If your company is engaged in social media (personal note: by now the question should be “if” your company is engaged, but rather “how is” your company engaged), make sure you’re spreading the word about your booth, specials, giveaways via networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.

SEO your Website – Make sure your company website has a single dedicated page that will serve as the “info center” for attendees who may be interested in visiting your booth. Incorporate elements of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)—such as keyword integration with phrases like “CEDIA Expo 2010”—to ensure that your company ranks high when potential visitors to your booth are searching Google for the best booths to visit at the show.

CEDIA Follow Me App – This year, attendees to CEDIA Expo can download an app for their smartphones that will provide them with instant access to interactive maps, the show directory, press releases and other exhibitor information. Contact CEDIA to get your login information and make sure you have your company profile up-to-date.

By using some of these tactics, you can help drive traffic to your booth and maximize your investment in exhibiting at CEDIA Expo 2010.

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Whenever I get the opportunity to play a part, albeit small sometimes, in helping to make a bad situation good, it always makes the day a little better. Recently, a writer had some not-so-favorable things to say about one of our clients. They weren’t overly negative—well, he did compare the company to the sinking Titanic—but it certainly warranted an immediate discussion with our client and a few recommendations of courses of action.

When you find a client in the middle of negative press coverage, there are a couple of approaches you can recommend:

The ostrich with its head in the sand*: This is when you try to pretend the situation doesn’t exist. NEVER, EVER a good idea. Whether you like it or not, the negative press coverage is there and in today’s interactive media, it can spread quickly and escalate into an even bigger mess if not addressed properly.

I know you are, but what am I: This is when you go on the defensive and try to dispute every single claim made against you. Unless the facts presented in the piece are just out-right incorrect, then this isn’t typically a good idea. Often times, the opinion the journalist is presenting is close to the public perception of the company/product. Your job is to help change that perception, not tell people they are wrong.

Taking your medicine: One of the best things you can do to build customer loyalty is to admit when your company isn’t performing at its best. By saying, “yes, we’ve made some mistakes. We’ve heard what you would like for us to do better and this how we are working towards that,” you’ll demonstrate your company’s commitment to customer service.

We presented our client with a recommendation on what an appropriate reaction would be to this particular blog post—after all, that’s what we do.

Led by an individual whose sales and marketing acumen often makes me jealous, our client took the ball and ran. The result? Check it out for yourself here:

http://johnsciacca.webs.com/apps/blog/show/3991233-well-played-mike-well-played-

*Fun Fact: According to Wikipedia (its always right, right?), “Contrary to popular belief, Ostriches do not bury their heads in sand. This myth likely began with Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79), who wrote that Ostriches ‘imagine, when they have thrust their head and neck into a bush, that the whole of their body is concealed.’”

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