It doesn’t matter what type of product you’re launching, whether it’s a new toy or a new car: whenever you release something new, you need a strong product launch marketing campaign to generate interest among customers.
Your campaign is far more likely to yield sales if you take the time to plan it thoroughly beforehand. While this involves many steps, a key one is to simply choose what type of content you want your campaign to focus on. For a product launch, you can typically choose either one-off or evergreen content.
For example, maybe your nonprofit is releasing an app. Understanding the best way to build your nonprofit marketing strategy is key. However, neither option is inherently “better” than the other. To understand which is right for your goals, you first need to understand the differences between the two.
One-Off Content
As the name implies, one-off content doesn’t stay relevant for long. That’s because it involves leveraging current trends, news stories, upcoming holidays, seasonal themes, and other temporary interests in order to generate initial buzz for a product. One-off content can be very effective in this regard.
For example, perhaps you’re designing a product launch marketing campaign for a new app which allows users to create virtual outfits they can “try on” using augmented or virtual reality. Your marketing content might take the form of articles or videos focusing on the season’s current fashion trends.
On the one hand, that type of content is absolutely relevant to your target customers at that time. It can certainly help to get them interested in your app. However, once fashion trends shift, the content will no longer be valuable.
Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is somewhat less effective at generating initial enthusiasm for a product. However, it maintains its relevance for much longer. Using the example above, if you were to focus your campaign on evergreen content, your blogs and videos might cover topics like “how to match colors in an outfit.” This is a more timeless subject matter that will always be as valuable to a customer as it was the day it was first published.
Factors to Consider
Again, neither one of these options is stronger than the other. Each has its pros and cons. To choose the right type of content for your campaign, it’s important to keep these factors in mind:
Workload
Consider the size and bandwidth of your marketing department when choosing a type of content to base your campaign around. Creating one-off content requires a lot of effort over a short period of time. Your team needs to work fast to make sure you create and release content while it’s still relevant. However, once the campaign is over, the workload will drop substantially. You might want to hire a strong team of reliable freelancers to avoid depriving your employees of work after finishing a campaign.
Creating evergreen content, on the other hand, doesn’t require as much effort at one time, but it does require sustaining your efforts over a longer period of time. It’s easier to generate this content when you have a dedicated marketing team.
Financial Patterns
Different types of content yield different sales patterns. One-off content typically yields high sales after a product is released, with sales dropping off after a few months. Evergreen content doesn’t yield as many initial sales, but it does result in more consistent sales over the course of a few years. You can also boost the number of sales evergreen content delivers by building a conversion or sales funnel with your content.
You may want to honestly consider what type of product you’re releasing when choosing the kind of content to focus on. For example, many consumer electronics become obsolete fairly soon after being released when upgraded products take their place. If you can’t truly expect your product to retain its value or appeal for a long period of time, one-off content may be the better choice.
Urgency
One-off content is useful for creating a sense of urgency in customers, which also helps to drive more sales. Evergreen content doesn’t naturally have that effect. However, it’s still possible to modify pieces of evergreen content to generate urgency. For example, you could share a relevant blog article with customers via email, while including a countdown clock in the email letting readers know a promotion is going to end soon.
Keep these points in mind when planning your product launch campaign. Using content to generate interest in a new product is a smart strategy. You just need to choose the right type of content.
