Having your product become famous is a goal for most business owners, and achieving this is not as far out of reach as you might believe. There are ways to ensure your products and offerings gain the exposure they deserve — and these strategies are often inexpensive. Here are some surefire ways to make your product a well-known option in its market.
How to make your product famous at little cost
Product placement
Many entrepreneurs with a product to sell have fantasized about seeing it featured in a movie, TV show or viral social media post. Not only is it a major milestone to see your merchandise on the screen, but it can also influence consumer buying decisions.
Alexander Mendeluk, Chase Hamilton, Ashley Haber and Marley Marotta are the founders of SpiritHoods, a collection of animal-inspired funky fur headpieces. The company’s product placement efforts didn’t cost the founders much more than their time and a few freebies. Mendeluk said they leveraged the company’s Los Angeles location by reaching out to everyone they knew to try to get the product in celebrities’ hands. The strategy worked, with SpiritHoods appearing on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” and “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”
Sarah Shaw also used product placement productively. The former handbag designer’s product was featured in the movie “Legally Blonde” and was also used in the promotional poster. Before she knew it, Shaw’s purse was carried by retailers, including Nordstrom, which promoted it with a copy of the movie poster as a free gift.
Shaw, now the owner of Sarah Shaw Consulting, offered Business News Daily readers tips on how to handle product placement:
- The easiest products to get into movies or on TV are clothing, accessories and shoes. An actor wearing your product is also going to get you a bigger bang when you approach the press or stores. The second easiest is a prop or set dressing item.
- Contact the production office to find out who the costume designer, property master or set dresser (according to your needs) is, then send them your catalogs or line sheets with a note saying you’d like to show them your line and can offer them wholesale or even donate the products.
- If they choose to use your product, be sure to deliver on time; if not, you may find yourself blacklisted.
- If you do get a placement, follow up to see if you can get a photo. They won’t always be able to get you one, so ask once and then wait. When the film or TV show is released, use that moment to get PR for yourself by creating a one-sheet that features the product, the celebrity and the show. Send it to all press outlets and the stores you sell to, and watch the money roll in!
Social media contests
Pushing your products on social media is a great way to attract customers. Social media allows you to cast a wide net while also marketing your products to your target customers. Through consistent posting and engaging with your followers, you can build a loyal customer base that connects with your business and products on a more intimate level.
One great way to gain followers is by hosting social media giveaways and contests. Through these opportunities, you can create rules for contestants such as “must follow our page and tag three friends,” which naturally will increase your exposure.
With the proper social media strategy, your page will likely retain the right followers/customers.
Celebrity influencers
The founders of SpiritHoods have seen their products worn by celebs like rapper Snoop Dogg and rocker Pete Wentz. Working with influencers — even micro-influencers with smaller, more niche audiences — can help your products gain the exposure they deserve.
Typically, small businesses using social media marketing reach out to celebrity influencers for partnerships that promote their products to millions of followers. But that’s just half the battle. Celebs and influencers have to actually like the product for it to have any impact on the business. They’re also more likely to engage with brands that have a greater meaning behind the product, according to Mendeluk, who also co-founded The LightForce Center.
“The philanthropic side to a company is extremely important,” he told Business News Daily. “Celebrities are drawn to that because they are active in different causes.”
Highlight what makes your product special
Eric Fleet, founder of sustainable fashion company Threads for Thought, says that a good backstory can help land your products in front of the camera. Threads for Thought’s products, especially its graphic T-shirts, have been popular with stylists since the company’s inception.
The shirts have been featured on “90210,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Parks and Recreation” and “The Walking Dead.” Yet Threads for Thought did nothing to promote the products, Fleet said. Stylists bought them all at retail.
Fleet thinks that the stylists are inspired by the company’s story; it creates its products using sustainable business practices and helps its suppliers work toward greener and cleaner goals.
“Some of them know about the social aspect of the company,” he said. “Stylists who shop all the time like our story and want to support it.”
But Fleet knows that the story is only as good as the products. Without a great product, his company wouldn’t get noticed — no matter how great its business practices are. “You have to put the fashion first,” he told Business News Daily. “Your message alone isn’t going to sell your product.”
It’s important to have both an effective product and a story behind it to get customers engaged and willing to invest in your company.
How to create social-famous products
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok offer the space to interact with audiences of all ages and create engaging content to market your products.
Because of platform algorithms, there isn’t one particular key to going viral. However, there are strategies you can use to increase product awareness on social media and user engagement in company content.
Due to the large volume of users on each social media platform, a post can quickly go viral; this means it has spread quickly to a massive audience and gained thousands of views or more.
1. Know where to find your audience.
Do your research before attempting to promote your product on social media. Each social media platform differs in user demographics. Spend time on the platform as a user to get a feel for what content is being posted, who is interacting with it and how. Immersive research is the most effective way to ensure your product placement and content will be seen by those you want buying the product or posting about it.
2. Take advantage of each platform’s features.
Each social media platform has a set of features that allow users to engage in various ways. There are text-posting features with engaging reaction buttons and the ability to use hashtags to categorize a post or link it to a larger conversation happening online; plus, they offer photo and video sharing, as well as a “live” feature that allows users to have conversations with their followers in real time.
Posting regularly on social media is one way to increase product awareness. Posts can include a live Q&A with followers, a sneak peek at new products coming out or a giveaway post that asks users to engage to gain entries.
Before running any kind of giveaway or promotion, learn the laws on social media contests.
3. Use influencer marketing.
One of the most effective ways to increase product awareness is through influencer marketing — and influencers are more than just movie and TV actors. There are various types of influencers, ranging from a nano-influencer who has at most 10,000 followers to a mega-influencer who has a million or more followers.
Most influencers, also known as content creators, have a niche audience that can be extremely useful to brands that want to get their products out to a specific market. In exchange for some form of payment agreed upon by both parties, the influencer will create content that promotes the brand’s product, links to their social media pages or website, and gives an honest review.
Sponsored content can reach thousands of people within hours, which makes influencer marketing one of the smartest strategies for product awareness. [See related article: Measuring Success When Working With Influencers]
Maintaining a famous product
Making your product famous is, of course, a great way to attract loyal customers. Thankfully, you don’t have to break the bank to achieve this. From social media giveaways to product placements, there are many free or affordable options to help increase your product’s exposure.
However, you must maintain product quality — as well as good customer service — to reap long-term benefits. A famous product won’t guarantee continued success unless you’re willing to put in the work.
Sammi Caramela and Jeanette Mulvey contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.
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