Does it pay to jump the gun and advertise something that is not yet available? This question not only applies to upcoming products that may not be launching for a few more months as well as upcoming sales that may be several days away. There are certainly both pros and cons to promotion something ahead on time.
On the one hand, early promotion can bring about a great deal of hype. You can get people talking about your product, service, or sale well ahead of schedule. This can help to generate some great word of mouth, informing and exciting people who may not have otherwise heard about what you have to offer. For upcoming product launches, it also means that you can gauge the relative interest of the public through their interest in pre-orders and similar promotions.
On the other hand, early promotion can frustrate customers because they may find that they are being teased with something that is not yet available. You may have heard about “vaporware” and these are products that are seen only as concepts and not yet in real life. As the release date gets pushed further and further into the future, potential customers start to lose interest in something that is too ethereal and not real enough. While waiting for your product, they may turn to a competitor for what is available right now.
Early promotion of an upcoming sale can also backfire. If people know that a certain item is going on sale in a week, they may not be willing to come into your store to make a purchase today. They’d rather wait. Early promotion of sales also give your competitors the opportunity to match or beat your deal, potentially grabbing away customers who may have otherwise purchased the product from your company instead.
What do you think? If you run a company, do you promote everything well before it is available or do you prefer to surprise your customers with announcements on the day that the product, service, or sale is available?
Dr. Cossack
August 20, 2009 5:43 pm
I’m not a business owner, but I’m a bit wary about early promotions. I’m currently holding in my hands a brand-new computer, a new design released this year. The catch is, for every new device released, there’s at least one device that failed to reach the market due of various issues. That’s why I tend to avoid pre-orders: too often, I risk being disappointed over not getting something that I’m waiting for.
On the other hand, of course, early promotion allows a company to let know of a new product or service about to reach the market. If they are entering that market, they don’t have to compete against their own product line so it might be more interesting to do things that way.