Anticipation is Making Me Wait

The advertising campaign theme song used by Heinz Ketchup has been coming back to me in my office commute over the last couple of weeks.  On the side of the highway I noticed a small construction project.  Because of the location it struck me a little odd, and I had a number of thoughts about what it could be.

The little structure seemed to get a bit bigger each day and on day three I realized that it was a new “Welcome to West Kelowna” sign.  I must admit – as I pass each day I look to see if the sign has been revealed yet.  I am curious as to what this will look like.  It seems like other people are also interested.  Three times now I have seen cars stopped by the side of the road and people heading up the embankment to see what is under the blue tarp covering the sign.  This is where the anticipation comes in and a good example of how it can be an effective marketing tool for your business.

Steve Jobs at Apple uses anticipation to build excitement about new products months before they are ever released.  Anticipation builds as new bits of information are made public.  When done correctly, anticipation does three things:

Anticipation builds buzz and conversation as people start to talk about you and you new release.

Anticipation builds traffic as customers and prospects go to your web site to find out the latest information on what you are doing.

Anticipation builds sales as customers and prospects decide that this is a product/service they must have.  The wait adds to the feeling that you must get the product or services as soon as it is released.  It builds demand.

So next time you are going to release a website, product or service, tease the release to your audience.  Offer sneak peaks and just portions of the features in advance to whet the appetite of your audience.

Two warnings before you try this at home:
Release on time.  Late release could turn all that buzz into negativity in a big hurry.
Don’t over promise or over hype the product.  Save some of the features and benefits as a surprise.  We will cover surprise in a later post… Stay tuned…