How do you launch products on Instagram? Launching and selling your offers doesn’t have to be hard. But you do need a plan! Which is why we’re breaking down a three-phase process for warming up your audience and teaching you exactly how to launch products on Instagram. We’ll also share some helpful tips to help you prepare so your launch won’t be (so) stressful!
First, let’s break down the three main phases of your live launch. And this is specifically either selling something that is a campaign. So there is a start or ending date or launching something completely new, like a new product, business or service.
Phase #1: Pre-Launch
So the three main phases are pre-launch, launch and post-launch. And for that first phase this is going to be the longest part of your timeline. We usually like to recommend giving yourself at least an entire month to warm up your audience. This is essentially your goal with the pre-launch phase, really creating excitement around what is coming. But also educating them on what is the problem that they have, and what is the solution that you are going to be offering.
So a few content ideas that you can use during your pre-launch are educating your audience and positioning yourself as an expert with whatever that topic is. And then the next part of this is actually going to be talking about what it is that you’re going to be offering. So hinting that a new product is coming, maybe sharing the product’s name and giving them next steps on when the launch day would be and how they can join.
Pre-Launch Stories Ideas
Instagram stories are a really great way to do this. This is also great for kind of taking the audience behind the scenes, showing the process of creating whatever it is that you’re going to launch. And it’s also a really great way to start asking questions and giving some really great insights on why you’re an expert at whatever it is that you’re launching.
A bonus tip for the Instagram stories that you’re taking during this time that are really offering value – make sure that you’re saving them on a highlight! We don’t just want them to disappear after 24 hours. So make a campaign specific highlight for this launch so people can reference it. If they’re starting to see your content and want to know the full picture of what’s going on.
Pre-Launch Live Ideas
Another way to do this is by doing Instagram Lives. So whether you’re collaborating with other people or you’re doing little mini trainings and Q&As, this is a great way to clearly create energy in your pre-launch and start showing up for your audience. Another piece of content that you might be creating are also things that are going to be on your feed. This is where you want to incorporate reels, IGTVs and your feed posts. And you kind of want to think of these as a series and add in a little call to action at the end of your content.
For example, we love good old P.S. Like P.S. Did you find this content really helpful? I have something really exciting coming or here’s the launch date! Here’s the call to action to join my newsletter. Those are really simple ways to make sure that you’re really serving your audience well and warming them up. So when they do take that action they’re really primed and ready to go when you launch. During this time, you also want to update your Instagram bio. So add a call to action that is taking them off of Instagram and to a place where they can be a part of your launch. An email list is the perfect place to do this!
Phase #2: Launch
And this leads us to the next stage which is your actual launch. And this is typically a shorter period of time.This really big push period is going to be one to two weeks long, because there will be a lot of content and energy that you’re pouring into your Instagram during this time. And you want to be sure that you’re giving it your best!
So while your Instagram content is typically following an 80-20 rule (80% of your content is highly valuable and 20% of is sales and promotion). This is actually going to swap around. So 80% of your content is going to be selling and pushing your offer. And the other 20% is really going to be nurturing them because not everyone’s going to take part in your launch. So you want to be sure that you’re still serving your community well. Here’s a formula that you can use during your launch.
Launch Sales Formula
So the first part of this sales formula is going to be adding some intrigue. So why should they be interested? And what is the problem that you know that they are struggling with? And then the next stage is going to be giving them a few ideas of what a transformation could look like and what the solution could provide for them.
And then you’re going to give a very clear call to action. Here’s how to take action. Where to buy and what are the next steps. And you also want to be sure in this sales formula that you’re adding some timeliness to it, whether you’re having a coupon or whether there’s a time the cart closes. You want to give people incentive so they can really take action and don’t wait till the last minute.
Launch Live Ideas
Next, let’s go over a few sales content ideas that you can utilise. The first being utilising Instagram Live. Going live is a great idea when actually announcing the launch, and going Live the day of is a really great opportunity to answer all of those frequently asked questions. And also, really start to engage people and give them a face to face interaction!
Launch Feed Ideas
As for your feed strategy, you want to focus on a few types of content. The first being, how can you share real reviews of the transformation that people can see or will see with your product? Another one is sharing the why behind what you created and the story of actually creating it.
And the other one is breaking down what it actually is that you’re launching. People love to know all the features and benefits that they can really gain from purchasing whatever it is that you’re selling.
Reels
Instagram reels are a really great way to visually demonstrate what a product would look like. And this is really great for product businesses that are wanting to show what a product really feels like looks like and how it can kind of transform their space. Carousel style feed posts
great too not only for the algorithm because people are spending more time scrolling through the content and engaging with it. But it’s really great for adding even more value into just one post. So you can really give the features. What are the benefits? What is the transformation? And what is the solution that you have, whether it’s a digital product that you’re offering or maybe a service.
IGTV
Like we mentioned, you really want to be sure that you’re still nurturing your community and your audience. And that’s where an IGTV series can come in handy. You can use an educational series to continue to add value to your audience, but you can still add in those call to actions at the end of your videos or in the captions. And IGTV in particular is a really great place to add a clickable link. So you can add your call to action links for your sales page right in your IGTV videos!
During your launch, you might feel like you’re selling too much, but chances are your ideal customers might not even be seeing your content. So you can definitely double the amount of content you’re creating on Instagram to make sure that you’re really getting in front of your audience.
Phase 3: Post-Launch
Now let’s touch on the final stage of your launch, which is post-launch. We often see that this is the most neglected part. Because all this energy goes into having a really great launch and pre-launch, but there’s no or little preparation for post-launch to ensure that content is still flowing and nurturing your community even after the launch date has passed. So be sure to pencil the time to plan and schedule some content!
Post-Launch Content Ideas
For example, some people might have wanted to be a part of your launch. But instead they decided to go for the next time around. So you want to give them your next launch or restock date, so they can really be prepared for the next launch. This is also the perfect opportunity to start sharing the user generated content that you’re starting to get from your launch! And if you want some more content creation tips on how to create really great reels, IGTV videos, stories, make sure to check out our blog posts on Instagram marketing.
