Most entrepreneurs know that a “Shark Tank” appearance isn’t a one-and-done decision. Sitting back and hoping the exposure will do the work for you is a passive approach that leaves money and opportunity on the table.
Instead, turn up your results with a proactive marketing approach.
This guide is based on Human’s first-hand experience helping “Shark Tank” entrepreneurs through pre-air planning, post-show promotion and far beyond. These strategies are designed to create, capture and convert a huge influx of brand attention, channeling it into revenue and business growth.
Let’s get started!
Developing a smart email marketing system can help you collect contact information from all your new fans coming from “Shark Tank.” Collecting emails for later marketing will help amplify your exposure even more. But there’s a fine line between successful sales and the spam folder, so let’s break down how to do it right.
The first step in building a high-performance email database is collecting email addresses. Your capture form should be fully operational before the “Shark Tank” traffic shows up in droves.
Choosing the right email capture strategy depends on your product and preferred balance of lead quality versus quantity. For example, the best approach for impulse purchases will differ from that for high-ticket items.
Keep in mind that many of your new visitors from “Shark Tank” may only visit your website once. Getting contact information on the first visit is crucial to winning the opportunity to build a relationship.
However, a well-implemented email capture offer is a self-sustaining lead generator, perfect for capturing new “Shark Tank” traffic. This simple exchange of contact information for something in return is your first step toward building a client relationship.
While collecting email leads is a great start, it's typically not enough to close the deal. In fact, most prospects need several positive interactions with a brand before committing to a purchase.
Email campaigns, often referred to as "email automations" or "drip campaigns," are an automated yet highly personalized means of further developing the recipient’s relationship with your brand. Typically achieved through specialized platforms (like Klaviyo or Sendlane), these campaigns are a progression of consist of a series of emails sent automatically on a set schedule.
Developing a nuanced campaign that keeps your brand top-of-mind without overwhelming the reader can be tricky (like deciding how much eye contact is the “right” amount in polite conversation). When used effectively, they make nurturing leads toward sales run like clockwork.
All business models can benefit in some capacity from email campaigns, but ecommerce brands enjoy the most opportunities from these channels.
Here are just a few email workflows that are effective for converting new email sign-ups into long-term customers:
Email automation platforms also offer advanced personalization options by tracking engagement and profiling users. These features allow you to sort leads into different flows based on their email open rate, search patterns, purchasing history and more.
Appearing on “Shark Tank” delivers a ton of mileage for media attention far beyond the show’s viewers. It’s a pretty cool conversation starter; a story people want to hear! Here’s how to ride that hype train as far as possible.
Writing a press release is your opportunity to start and guide a conversation about your exciting endeavor. Press releases serve the dual purpose of keeping your existing audience informed and engaged while also introducing your brand to a broader audience.
Keep your press release short and sweet, focusing on the most interesting and important details. Make the language media-friendly by keeping it factual, professional and intriguing. News outlets are unlikely to report any parts of your release that are subjective unless they are direct quotes from a relevant party, like you!
Once your press release is ready, you can distribute it to journalists and news outlets. Focus your efforts locally to maximize your chances of getting the story picked up. Additionally, consider targeting industry-focused media and outlets with a keen interest in "Shark Tank" stories to further enhance your reach. Share the release through your own channels to increase its visibility.
Distributing a “Shark Tank” press release far and wide generates more touchpoints for people to discover your brand and start tracking your story. It’ll also build relationships with your existing customer base and new media contacts.
Content creators carry significant influence in the digital media landscape. People turn to sources like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn for ideas and information every day. Collaborating with the right influencer can help you connect with your target market or introduce your brand to a whole new audience.
Pitching an appearance or collaboration with a content creator isn’t that different from any other media pitch. If anything, it’s just a bit more fun and relaxed.
Try to appear on channels where your target audience is most likely to hang out. Honing this takes time, analytics and demographics, but start by looking for influencers who talk about topics related to your brand.
Content creators may be less “official” than traditional media outlets, but they still command authority with their followers and social media presence.
Share details on your collaborations with your audience to create more routes for curiosity and engagement. Repost your new brand partner’s feature of you to boost its reach and showcase your social proof.
Maintain influencer relationships as closely as any other in your business. Maintaining a range of partnerships opens up even more opportunities.
Paid advertising can be a powerful catalyst for building hype and awareness of your “Shark Tank” appearance. It’s also essential to ensure new fans can find your website once your episode airs. Here’s how to do it:
Before deciding on your ad strategy, it helps to know where your brand stands with searchers. Auditing search trends associated with your product titles, business name and web address can reveal trends in how people search and what they find in the results.
Tools like Google Keyword Planner and Ahrefs make it easy to access data like search volume, keyword competitiveness, potential cost per click (CPC) and more.
If you find signs of negative press while searching, address it professionally and offer a positive narrative to help manage perceptions. You can’t always prevent bad reviews, but you can choose how you respond to them.
Strategic search engine optimization (SEO) can ensure that your own content appears when users look for your brand. Ranking on page one of search results takes time and expertise but it’s a decisive way to increase reach and manage your reputation.
Make sure the information across all your web pages, social media, Google Business Profile and all other accounts is accurate and reflects your brand values.
Now that you’ve seen your branded search results and looked at the metrics, you’ll probably have some ideas for effective keywords to target. The best-performing search terms to target are typically only two to four words long.
The main difference with “Shark Tank” marketing is that you’ll need to include the show’s name in your keyword strategy. A significant portion of new traffic that finds you through the episode will search for your brand by Googling its name and “Shark Tank.”
Human’s “Shark Tank” partners have used terms like “Thompson Tee shark tank” or “shark tank Kwik-Hang” with great success long after their air dates.
Make sure to account for viewers who forget your brand name by using broad terms related to your product. Using the same examples from above, keywords like “shark tank tee shirt” or “curtain hanger shark tank” can attract a lot of traffic.
Set up retargeting before your paid ads go live to get more mileage from both. Retargeting works by implementing a pixel on your website that will cookie visitors so your ads can appear on other websites they visit. Even if you're not running many or any paid campaigns initially during the airing, setting up retargeting is super important. This ensures you can effectively reach out to those visitors later, maximizing your future marketing opportunities.
Combining retargeting with traditional paid advertising is a powerful synergy for quickly engaging new leads.
Social media platforms are fantastic for engaging more personally with your fan base and potential followers. Attracting and interacting with your target audience is one of the most effective methods of building organic web traffic. Here’s how you can leverage these platforms to your advantage before, during and after your air date.
Many social media platforms have built-in countdown functions designed to drum up hype over time. These features are perfect for keeping your audience in suspense for your episode air date. Remember that you cannot share the results or decisions from the show until after the episode airs.
By turning your announcement into an ongoing event, you create more opportunities to engage with followers and promote your air date naturally. Share your “Shark Tank” countdown far and wide to get everyone saving the date.
Don’t just set it and forget it; keep the hype going with update posts and teasers to stay top-of-mind during the lead-up. Consider scheduling a sale, giveaway or other promotion to coincide with your countdown.
If your press release, content collaborations or other media channels pick up traction, link these successes back to your countdown timer. Remember to leverage interactive features like commenting and polls to increase engagement and humanize your brand.
If this approach sounds intense, it’s meant to be. You’ll only have about two weeks to promote your episode, so make every day count.
With a pile of potential social media posts to schedule, it can be easy to lose sight of the core value these platforms provide. There are lots of places for one-sided promotion, but far fewer that facilitate two-way conversation.
Through all your posting, remember to listen to your audience. Beyond analytics (which you’ll find described below), try to gauge their sentiments. Understanding your followers' feelings, thoughts and online behaviors is crucial for building an empathetic and tailored brand experience.
There’s also enormous value in free feedback. What others pay to hear from focus groups and paid surveys, you can get for free just by engaging and listening. Especially with the advent of simple live-streaming, it’s easier than ever to converse naturally with followers, answer questions and respond to concerns.
A tried and true strategy for boosting engagement on every post is interacting with others before and after a post goes live. Every like and comment you leave is like a free lead magnet, creating another avenue for users to discover your content. As always, where you choose to engage should be highly targeted.
Lastly, make your followers feel included in every step of your journey. Sharing your successes and attributing them to customer support strengthens community bonds. People love to feel included and congratulated, so spread the love!
With all engines firing at max capacity, you’ll want to collect as much data as possible. Sales and revenue are important measures, but they don’t provide much information on their own. Understanding how your customers get to their purchases offers clues to what channels and messaging they resonate with most.
Tracking the performance of each marketing channel separately is essential for evaluating their success and effectiveness.
Social media and marketing platforms offer a wealth of integrated data analytics. However, tracking each one on its own platform can be time-consuming.
Various providers, like HubSpot, Funnel.io, and Northbeam, offer software that centralizes tracking analytics across channels in one place. Though platforms like these are typically paid subscriptions, the convenient insights they provide often outweigh the costs.
You’ll probably find that some platforms perform notably better than others. Many factors determine each channel’s success, and evaluating them can offer additional clues for how to improve your strategy.
For example, let’s say you ran the same ads with the same budget on TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn. If your ads on Instagram performed the best, it could mean a few different things. Maybe your target market spends more time on that platform. Maybe your ad was a better match for what users on Instagram wanted to see.
Discovering the answers requires detailed investigation but unlocks meaningful insights into your audience.
Hypothesizing, testing and measuring results is the foundation of the scientific method (and smart marketing practices). Every audience is unique, and learning their specific preferences is key to long-term marketing success.
A/B testing is the holy grail of quick and insightful data. This technique involves developing two versions of the same content to see which performs better. Ideally, there should only be one significant difference between the two versions so you know which factor moved the needle.
The beauty of A/B testing is that you can implement it almost anywhere, including:
A/B testing is a simple but effective method of learning more about what engages your audience, bit by bit. Short of reviews and surveys, testing variations is one of the most impactful forms of feedback.
These tests can apply to every step of your sales funnel, revealing what works best at each stage. Implementing tests is especially impactful before a rush of new traffic due to the volume of data you’ll get. However, connecting with your audience is an ongoing endeavor that takes a “lifelong learner” mindset.
This guide is dense with information, so here’s a quick-reference version of everything described in more detail above.
Step 1: Optimize Your Email Marketing
Step 2: Leverage PR and Media Outreach
Step 3: Implement Paid Search and Advertising Campaigns
Step 4: Build Up Social Media Buzz
Step 5: Set Up Tracking and Conversion Metrics
The “Shark Tank” experience is a wild ride and potential game-changer for entrepreneurs, with or without cutting a deal. Prepare as much as you can in advance because there’s no stopping the countdown once it begins.
Learn more about preparing for “Shark Tank” or see how Human helps entrepreneurs make the most of their appearance with tailored marketing consultation and execution.