As a general rule of thumb, I like to create buzz for something before it is available.  However, it is not the same kind of buzz before release and many people trying to do their own buzz marketing need to understand the difference.

For example, I started seeing movie trailers for Flicka a long time ago (more than 6 months, I believe) and my daughter has been asking to go.  I honestly thought we somehow missed it and it should be coming out on DVD soon.  The initial excitement (for my daughter, don’t worry…) is long gone.  I do not think it was a huge mistake, but it did create a sense of a let down instead of excited anticipation.

So what should you do before a product is released?

1. Keep some secrets.  Tell people enough to get them excited but not enough to make an I’m not interested decision before it is available.
2. Build relationships - Blogging or newsletters where you can capture an audience of people that are interested in your topic, and you know will be interested in your product when it is released.
3. Build online advocacy - Get people to interview you, link to you, talk about you… but do not leave them with nothing in the end.  If you are talking about your upcoming product and it is not available for 6 months, you would have been better just talking about the general topic your product addresses and getting people to subscribe to your rss or sign up for more information.
4. Remind your audience - In the case Flicka, imagine if they’d sent a poster to my daughter with the release date on it. She would have looked at it every day and the energy level would have grown instead of shrunk.
5. Don’t put all your energy up front - Selling almost anything is a long haul.  Don’t put so much energy up front that you are exhausted once you can really start selling it. 
6. Save your big budget for after people can buy. - Create lots of free buzz before your product is available.  Use your marketing dollars after people can really buy.  - The exception to this rule is in products like movies that have a short life span.
7. Recruit Advocates - Recognize the people that are truly excited about your product and help them be better advocates.  Give them insider tidbits.  Keep their energy level high. Publicly recognize them.
8. Make it a cause - Create a cause around your product.  Sell the cause before the product is available. I could book all my travel online, but I use Coleman Travel because they have a cause.  All profits go to helping people with mental illness. 100%!
9. Have a focus group - The closer you get to release, the bigger your focus group should get.  Have them review and assess your product.  Give them permission to talk about it, but ask them to keep some things secret until the release date.  (No one can keep a secret, don’t worry.)
10. Train every person you can - Do not wait for your marketing or sales team to start building buzz.  Get the designers, writers, programmers and anyone else in the development process excited and give them permission to start buzzing.  If you are not sure how to do that, get my book, Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing.

I see so many people get all excited and create so much buzz for a product before it is avalalbe and then, when it is not an immediate hit, they give up.  Dreams of best sellers are gone.  The reality is that the pre-buzz is just the start.  If you are not familiar with the Long Tail, read that, pace yourself and set realistic expectations.