Whilst all start-ups need product awareness, the way this is done depends on how you are launching your business, and what type of business it is. With any product or service launch, it is important to get the right message to prospective customers. You should convey to your target market that you have a proposition that meets some need or want that is currently unmet, or is better than ones currently owned.
The more interesting the product or service, the more likely you are to gain genuine public interest. Existing companies can use PR as an in when introducing a new product to a new market. Big enough deals will attract news on their own, meaning the PR has a natural advantage. However, relying on just PR is not recommended. The public deciding how much the product awareness is spread out and in what spotlight can be intimidating, as the public can be unpredictable and inaccurate. For example, Apple make sure they control what the media is told when a new product is about to be released, and then host their own reveal event, of course using Apple as an example is extreme given their huge name.
Some businesses get lucky and have a celebrity launch their product, or similarly the product blows up on social media, attracting millions of views. You can endorse and persuade a celeb or influencer to promote your product, but remember any PR issues will affect both parties involved, and the price will always be high. If cost is an issue, check out some newspapers. Many run regular small business pages and journalists look for inspirational stories to fill in their pages. Following this, creating a name for your product through social media is very cost effective, and has an incredible power of spreading awareness if items go viral etc. Your business should have social media set up as a basis anyways, so this shouldn’t be too hard to configure into your schedule.
The steadiest, risk-free way to spread awareness is to tell your target market segment about your product/service, note the benefits for them as customers – why to purchase it, and where they can buy it. Create sufficient curiosity with honesty, that’s the best recipe for success.