Getting ready to launch a new health and wellness product? Build hype and amp up sales with these new product launch strategy tips.

New Health & Wellness Product Launch Strategy | Union

How to Build Out a New Product Launch Strategy in the Health and Wellness Sphere

While the American <a href="https://cms.union.co/industries/health-wellness">health and wellness industry</a> was already established as a $4.5 trillion business pre-pandemic, the year of Covid has been adding even more incentives for consumers to buy into it. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce<a href="https://www.uschamber.com/co/good-company/launch-pad/pandemic-is-changing-wellness-industry"> points out</a> that health is a top priority for consumers in their “new normal,” with brands catering to that through online fitness offerings, at-home fitness equipment such as the Peloton and Lululemon Mirror, mindfulness apps like Calm, and more. Peloton saw a 66% revenue gain during the first quarter of this year, while Calm saw a 31% jump in downloads in the spring.
It’s a prime time to push new products out into the health and wellness space. So, when you’re ready to add your own product to the mix, are you prepared to roll out a new product strategy to maximize your revenue? Here are few key considerations for your next product launch marketing plan.

For health and wellness brands, it’s ideal to work with different media channels to leverage all targeting capabilities to find and reach target audiences when launching a new product. That spans <a href="https://cms.union.co/services/performance-media/social-media">organic social</a>, <a href="https://cms.union.co/services/performance-media/paid-social-media">paid social</a>, YouTube, Google display, <a href="https://cms.union.co/services/performance-media/programmatic">programmatic display</a>, partner publications and other tactics.
As for which channel to focus on, Union Senior Paid Media Strategist Allie Robbe said, “It depends on the creative asset type you’re working with. With video you can leverage YouTube or programmatic video, while with static imagery you might need to lean on display or social tactics.”
It also depends on your target market. If you’re pushing out an anti-aging face cream to an older demographic, she said, look to Facebook. A younger audience, on the other hand, will be more easily reachable via channels like Instagram.
“For a product launch, the biggest KPI initially is awareness, regardless of platform,” Robbe said. “In the first week or two, you just want to reach as many eyes as possible. From a paid standpoint, you might consider using 50 percent of your budget in the first week to blow out the launch, then scale down to spend the remaining 50% across a longer flight with a ‘hey, we're still here’ approach.”

Activate across a variety of media channels

If you’re an established brand with a solid customer base, that doesn’t mean you should be targeting your existing customers with your exciting new sleep supplement or essential oil line.
“Don’t cannibalize your current client base with a new product,” Robbe said. “Focus on prospecting and reaching a new audience to build on product sales. That way, you create net-new revenue rather than shifting your current revenue around. Down the line, you can consider looking at your existing customer base and consider whether the new product would be better for them.” 
For instance, a vegan version of an already popular health supplement that you can eventually push out to existing customers you know are interested in a vegan alternative.

Don’t focus on targeting your existing audience

You know something big is coming to your target audience – and you want to hook them with a sense of suspense. 
But first, Robbe said, “Consider what your budget is to promote your teaser. If you have a decent budget, you could have a longer flight. But balance that with knowing that consumers have a short attention span and there’s so much in the market. You don’t want to make the flight so long that people forget before your product comes out. A week to two weeks is the prime length, so you can remain top of mind prior to launch.”
As for creative, be mindful of not giving away too much information about your product prior to launch and defeating the purpose of a teaser. That goes for your film teaser, your social posts and any emails you may be sending out.
For the film teaser that you’re integrating into your social media campaign, Union Studio Director Kevin Larson said, “The teaser is about offering a couple of glimpses of the product and some of the biggest benefits to give consumers a taste and leave them wanting more.”
“If possible, include a desired action for the user through your product launch teaser,” Robbe said. “For example, include a CTA or end card to prompt them to click through to learn more about the teased product by sending them to a pre-launch landing page. This is a good way to capitalize on CRM data by <a href="https://union.co/services/data-brand-strategy/crm-implementation">capturing potential customer emails</a>. Then, at launch, you can hit potential customers through site retargeting or emails to increase your chance of resonating with them based on their preferred media touch point.”

Tease your product prior to launch

Investing in a hero film will help inform your copy and visuals for social posts during launch and after. 
“You can refer to this hero film to help inform all of the other pieces of the campaign,” Larson said. “It’s easy to slice and dice it.”
As for what to focus on with your hero film, he said, “A one-to-two-minute hero film is all about trying to take the features and benefits of the product that matter to the most people and highlighting them in the most aspirational way. Show the product’s beauty and functional nature. It’s harder to visualize for health and wellness products, so emphasize the associated lifestyle qualities. This film is aimed toward people making the final purchase decisions, so they can start envisioning themselves using that product.”
While the film itself should address the most common denominator with personas to cover your bases, he added, on the social media side, you can change words in the voiceover, post copy and calls to action to A/B test and better target your personas.
“We can <a href="https://union.co/services/performance-media">help people work</a> through the performance marketing strategy while also functioning as a production company,” Larson said.
 Ready to build out a hero film and a digital marketing strategy for your next product launch? <a href="https://union.co/contact">Contact us</a>.

Launch your product with a hero film

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