Product Launch Do's and Don'ts

How you launch your new product as a company is critical as it determines the success of the product. There is no point of producing a ground breaking and overly useful product if no one will hear of its existence. In the current sphere, every customer is bombarded continually with new information about dozens of products available, making it difficult to grab their attention. This is why product launch is essential in making an impact and getting people to start talking about your new product.

Note that whereas a well-executed product launch event will undoubtedly scale customer awareness, it should not be the entirety of the new launch strategy. Ideally, it should form part of the launch strategy aimed at growing interests that is carried out before the event and after, often to create and maintain the momentum. That said, below are some crucial product launch do’s and don’ts.

Do define your target market

Just like the physical products, it is imperative to identify and understand your target audience. This is crucial as it will influence your choice of channel, language and information used during the product launch. Note that how you communicate may appeal to a section of your audience and may not be effective to another. Defining your audience clearly provides some direction in the marketing formula, facilitates more consistency and makes it easy to authentically connect with customers.

Do study your competition

Most marketing lessons advice entrepreneurs to perform a SWOT analysis – to check their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. You should take a serious look at who your competitors are and make a list of products and services they offer similar to yours. Even if your products are completely unique with little or no competition, place yourself in your clients position, and think of what convincing message they need to make a purchase. Before launch, evaluate your competitor’s marketing materials including websites, brochures and ads, and evaluate how your products and service will stand against what they offer.

Do have a unique value proposition

Having studied your competition, you should have identified a clear understanding of how your products differ from your competitor’s products and how you will take advantage of the difference. Ask yourself several questions before the launch including. Why your customers would want to buy from you? What benefits does your services offer? are just but a few to mention. The main point is, your product and service should be different and meet the client’s needs.

Do maximize social media to build hype

Maximizing the use of social media to build hype helps in increasing anticipation for the event. With this, most of your invited attendees consequently respond by sharing your product launch post before, during and even after the event in their social media handles. Besides, instead of focussing on growing your social media following, target and engage with influencers who should be among your audience. This ensures that your launch hype gets to many people who will likely buy your products. To minimize time spent on social media, you can automate Twitter marketing and do the same for other platforms.

Do secure your online identity

In the current world, technological advancements has made it easy for people to launch cyberattacks, trying to take advantage of your client base ready to witness your product launch. This is especially true for those who haven’t secured their domain name, social media accounts, trademark and more. It is very important to secure all these before launching.

Don’t neglect Launch timing

You should identify what other activities are likely to take place in your sphere before choosing your product launch date. For sure, if your product launch event coincides with other occasions related to your industry, be sure of little participation. Generally, summer periods are not a good time to run launch events as most people are out enjoying their holidays.

For several industries, the period building up to festivities are a good time to run a product launch. This is because it gives maximum exposure since most people are searching online for presents and gifts for their families. It also makes a lot of sense to launch a seasonal product just before the season it is on high demand. Always consider postponing your product launch date if your products aren’t ready unless you are ready to be torn apart by media and potential customers.

Don’t have unrealistic expectations

There is nothing like an overnight success. Similarly, you cannot achieve your online success if you are still holding on to a part time job you have. To meet your expectations, you should give a complete and undivided attention to building your online business. Interact with your customers and entrepreneurs asking what it took for them to achieve their online success. With their feedback, evaluate your plan, checking if you have what it takes. This will also help you estimate the period following your launch to expect success.

Don’t procrastinate the launch

You definitely have some set targets before launching your product. For instance, you might have decided that you need approximately 500 sign-ups before launching your product. Setting high targets places you on a tricky spot, and the sooner you realize this, the better. When planning to launch and establish your brand, take full risks and get out of your comfort zone. Develop the product, create some buzz, set realistic targets and launch once the appropriate time sets in. don’t procrastinate as it may cost you the momentum you had gained.

Don’t forget to follow up

As mentioned before, the product launch event should be part of a continuous process. It is just one step in your marketing journey. Therefore, it is important that you follow up any expressions of interest to keep your product at the minds of your launch audience. A successful launch should ignite the momentum for your product. However, it may degenerate swiftly if you don’t follow up.

Conclusion

Bearing in mind that between 80% – 85% of new product launched fail, you should take great caution when organizing for your product launch. Having developed your product to the final stage, don’t let the time, money and other resources invested in its development drawn by organizing a poor launch.

Begin by proper planning and task management, pick a realistic launch date when the product development process will be over and plan to scale up. Note that you should be developing a marketing strategy alongside the product. Through this, you will have already developed some hype around the product even before the launch date. Nonetheless, watch out for the above-mentioned do’s and don’ts.

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