A new product launch entails much more than simply stating “We’re open!” on social media. It requires a committed effort to get the workable product before a deadline and marketing the product appropriately across various channels. It is a project that necessitates collaboration across multiple teams and divisions within a company.
Also, customers tend to be more enthusiastic and engaged with a new product. Without adequately preparing the world for your product’s arrival, you may miss the opportunity to capture your target audience at the peak of their interest.
Uber, the ride-sharing app, has become so popular that taxis have almost become obsolete. And their success is based on their referral marketing strategy. Uber launched two separate, dual-sided referral programs simultaneously: one for drivers and one for riders. Each time a driver or rider referred a friend, they both received benefits in the form of ride discounts or credit.
Unfortunately, most product launches follow the “build it and they will come” approach, which ultimately results in a disaster.
The launch of these products lacks a crucial component: promotion and acquisition. The purpose of this article is to provide you with valuable insight on how to create an effective new product launch strategy to avoid this pitfall and create demand for your product. Before you begin designing your new product launch plan, ensure you have created a product launch strategy. By doing this, you’ll be able to plan and execute the tactical aspects of your product launch.
Product pre-launch: Getting your product off to a successful start
A product launch is a company’s planned and coordinated effort to debut a new product to the market, with the aim of making the product available for purchase. Ultimately, the marketing plan outlines how to effectively market the new product and get customers to adopt it.
A pre-launch stage aims to raise brand awareness and anticipation for the launch before the official launch of a product. During pre-launch marketing campaigns, various marketing channels are also tested, product features and marketing messages are fine-tuned based on public response.
The pre-launch stage is often the busiest and most impactful stage of a new product launch. Launches that are rushed or poorly planned are bound to fail.
Before you launch, ensure you thoroughly understand your product, the end users, and their unique needs.
You’ll be able to integrate your message approach with the product by studying it and conducting market research. The key goal is to close the gap between the prospects’ pain points and identifying what your competitors are not doing to satisfy their needs.
The pre-launch stage also includes the necessary promotion planning such as:
1. Identifying and selecting the most effective channels for your brand :
Even the best message requires the right venue. Your product marketing strategy serves as a road map for positioning, pricing, and promoting your new product in the market. It tells you where your target audience lies and how to get in touch with them. Your strategy should be aligned with the product life cycle, guiding how you advertise your product from development to growth. Build a list of the specific channels you’re going to utilize for the promotion of your product or service.
2. Increase organic visibility to boost brand awareness and demand
For B2B product launches, search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical growth driver. Organic content can take longer to get traction, publish before launching. This gives the pages ample time to be indexed, spark conversation, and rank. In addition, create high-value content to attract top-of-funnel prospects.
3. Troubleshoot website issues and improve user experience
The activities of your product launch campaign will almost certainly bring traffic to your website. Before launch, ensure that your website is ready to handle traffic spikes. Also, develop your product messaging in advance but be prepared to change it when you gather client feedback during and after the launch.
4. Test your messaging before it reaches your customers and develop shareable content to drive buzz about your product offering
Before releasing a product, use message testing tools like Wynter to learn how your customers perceive your product and marketing. Utilize feedback to modify your product messaging as needed, and then perform a second test to check the modifications. It is also important to create shareable content to get truly prepared for launch day. This will help to stimulate conversation about your new product and raise brand awareness.
Launch day: Putting your product launch plan into action
Coordination is essential on launch day. Without collaboration, your chances of reaching the correct audiences (and perhaps going viral) are reduced.
Allow your sales, marketing teams and influencers to spread the word about your new product and have a plan in place to do so.
All parties must grasp how the product works, where it adds value to your audience, and why customers of competitors should second-guess their decision. This issue has been addressed during the pre-launch. However, in this case, you are cementing the previous points.
Post-Launch
It is important that you don’t lose momentum at this stage and your focus during the post-launch phase should be on retaining your new customers and tracking your KPIs. Here some great questions to ask:
1. How can we keep the customers we attracted when we first launched? How can we turn trial users into paying customers?
2. What key performance indicators are we monitoring? How does our performance compare to expectations? What are the underlying causes of poor performance (if any), and what will be done about it ?
3. What can we glean from this experience for future product launches? What lessons have we learned that could be applied to product development in the next life cycle?
4. What strategies are we deploying to upsell and boost customer lifetime value (CLV)?
Also, your launch will reach a large number of people, but it sometimes takes multiple contacts across different touchpoints before someone is convinced to begin a trial or request a demo. Continue to move people who have indicated that they are “interested but not ready to buy” down your funnel.
This includes nurturing emails, free trials, and demos, as well as more in-depth, product-focused webinars and activities. Make use of content, such as social media posts, that you may keep for after the launch. This will provide you with new assets to share.
In addition, don’t forget to educate your sales team. It will take some time for all your salespeople to feel at ease with this new product, so ensure they have solid sales material (demo video, one-pagers, etc.). Pitching the product to your team during the initial few times will give them the confidence they need to carry the torch.
Finally, new product launches are an important component of product marketing. To execute effectively, they require rigorous collaboration and coordination of sales, marketing, product, and customer success teams.
Most of your new product launch activities will take place prior to debut, but don’t overlook the need of a post-launch analysis of your new product’s impact and ensure you make the necessary changes to your product marketing strategy based on new insights.
