To reach any kind of scale in a brief period of time, a launch needs a way to spread. It spreads through replication. To replicate broadly, a launch requires:
- Access to a broad, influential network
- A receptive audience, and
- A simple message that’s easy to repeat with high fidelity.
There are many kinds of networks available to us. In fact, Wikipedia tells us this about an emerging discipline known as network science:
Network science is a relatively new and emerging scientific discipline that examines the interconnections among diverse physical or engineered networks, information networks, biological networks, cognitive and semantic networks, and social networks.
The Internet is an information network, capable of creating millions of connections between people located anywhere in the world. But just because we have the potential to connect worldwide to an enormous audience, doesn’t mean that those connections will actually take place.
To scale up a launch, we must tap into both online and offline social networks – the networks of people who have both influence over and connections to other people (and other networks) who also have influence, so our “launch virus” spreads.
There are many kinds of social networks available to leverage in our launches, including:
- Bloggers
- Customers
- Partners, Alliances, Affiliates and Resellers
- Press
- Analysts
- Subscribers
- Employees
- Associations
- Friends
- Facebook friends
- Twitter followers
Effective launch campaigns deliberately and effectively target which networks are used. The messages are carefully crafted so they are easy to convey and repeat and resonate with the buyer personas in the target market. For best results, specific buyers are targeted using buyer language instead of product language.
The level of success achieved with a launch campaign is proportional to:
1. The size of the buyer network you can reach
2. How receptive your audience is to the message
3. How easy your message is to convey and repeat, and
4. How much influence you can continue to exert throughout the launch.
This last point is critically important – the ability to sustain your influence, especially with your “Launch List” (the community of potential buyers who are most likely to buy during the launch).
Buyer language usually resonates better and is more likely to be passed on than product language, so it is important to stay on target with your messaging to the audience and steer clear of “product language” and instead focus on buyer interests and needs.
A case in point, during a Harry Potter theme park launch, seven (7) carefully chosen bloggers reached and influenced more than 350 million people – quickly and inexpensively. The important take away from this example isn’t just the enormous leverage involved – it’s the fact that choosing the right influencers who have the right network connections and influence is the key to getting your message out. It also helps to have Harry Potter, or some other celebrity or authority figure, on your team!
You probably don’t need to reach 350 million people to have a successful launch. You may only need to reach 10,000. The key is figuring out who has the influence that you need to reach those 10,000, and what message will resonate with everyone throughout that network. Having the proper network strategy will make the difference between your launch being a huge success… or just another morsel for Googlebot to file and forget.
The most important networks of all are the social networks that connect people together; not just anyone, but the people who want to buy your products or whatever you’re launching. These networks make it possible for an idea or news to spread quickly from one person to another in a variety of ways.
Email and word of mouth used to be primary ways word of something new would spread. They are still extremely important, but today there are many more available networking avenues.
Of course, word of mouth spreads anywhere people meet and talk; e.g., on the golf course, at lunch and dinner, in meetings, on the phone, via instant messages and text messaging, at church, at a bar, on an airplane, etc.
Today, there are numerous well-organized, Internet-based social networking avenues used on a daily basis by people, including the familiar ones like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, forums, along with other less well-known, niche social networking places.
There are millions of bloggers covering every imaginable niche, market and topic, who can reach large, targeted audiences quickly. And unlike many of the other venues, bloggers often serve as authorities with their readerships – and are looked upon as “trusted advisors”, who are expected to provide the latest news, best practices and tips for their audience.
Choosing the best messages and then seeding the appropriate social networks can provide your launch with the scale and reach to catapult you into rapid success – assuming you actually have something worthy of a given social network audience’s attention in the first place.
The level of network influence you are able to exert and sustain for your launch is key to how successful it will be and how many sales you will make as a result. If you do everything else right but fail to push the right network influence buttons, your launch will suffer. So pay close attention to your network influence strategy and have a great launch!
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To reach any kind of scale in a brief period of time, a launch needs a way to spread. It s… http://reduce.li/z9n2wc #influence
How To Apply Social Networking Influence in Marketing and Launch Campaigns http://bit.ly/dvq7k0
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