According to Harvard Business School, studies show that 95% of 30,000 retail products fail each year. This is typical for many small business owners who attempt to make a new product launch.
The biggest problem with launching new products is the lack of preparation. Many companies are focusing too much on designing and manufacturing a product. As a result, this delays the work of getting ready for the actual launch until it’s too late.
To ensure you achieve product launch success, you’ll need a step-by-step strategy so your product can quickly take off.
1. Meet Customers’ Needs
When it comes to a good product launch, you should always place your consumers’ needs first. It’s important to research so you can learn what drives your customers. When researching, start by identifying their goals, motivations, and problems you can solve to create a marketable solution.
A sufficient way to do this is by surveying your market, asking questions, and finding out why someone would buy your product. Understanding how your product solves a problem improves your customers’ quality of life.
Many people will buy things for very different reasons. Still, it’s essential to understand the value that your product can provide. You can create an exceptional promotion strategy when you know your customers’ needs.
2. Understand Your Competition
Think of what sets your product and company apart from similar brands. Why should they choose your product over your competitors? Is it because they identify with your brand? Or are the prices more enticing?
If you can identify your company’s unique advantages, you can grab your users’ attention. You want your product to satisfy a desire that other companies cannot fulfill. That is how you will gain the trust of your potential customers and a competitive advantage.
Even something as simple as the name of your product can help you stand out. Creating a compelling product name can make your brand memorable months after a product launch.
3. Test Your Product With a Prototype
Before investing in a product, it’s essential to test a prototype prior to hitting the market. Essentially, this strategy will help you avoid expensive costs if selling a defective product.
Even if your product is not defective, you can still evade undesirable customer reviews with this strategy. Negative feedback can be costly for your company and can ruin the credibility of your business.
4. Make Reconfigurations
Once you test your product and have gained feedback, you should make new adjustments accordingly. Finding out anything you can do to eliminate the kinks can make a massive difference for your customer experience and business.
Gaining feedback about your product is necessary. Some people may point out a feature that you haven’t considered before. Others may point out something that isn’t quite right with your product.
Overall, the product should be something customers not only need but will want, too.
5. Plan a Pre-launch Marketing Strategy
Before working on a successful product launch, you must build up anticipation before the initial launch date. The key to launching a product is to build awareness. Building awareness around your product can set you up for driving more sales on launch day.
To initiate a product promo, consider a few of these tips and tricks:
● Figure out which type of content you’ll create to attract prospective customers during the awareness, consideration, and purchase decision phase.
● Set your budget and advertise on the appropriate channels to generate interest and traffic.
● Reach out to PR reps that can handle a press release. This is so all media outlets will be spreading the word about your product by the time it launches.
● Get in touch with influencers to help create content that will instill excitement.
● Create a landing page so people can learn more about your product and anticipate it before it’s on the market.
6. Establish an Operable Supply Chain
Business owners should take note of their inventory and ensure they have enough to meet demand. To build a manageable supply chain, talk with your vendors. Find out their max capacity for how many units they can provide at once.
Then, work with them on scaling your production if your product launch generates more demand than supply.
7. Spread the Word About Your Product
Once you’ve set a launch date, try and stick to it. However, if you find your product isn’t fully ready for the launch date, you can always set it up for a later time. Here’s why.
Remember when Microsoft launched Windows Vista in 2007? Many people had high expectations for the software. When the product reached its actual launch date, the software itself had many performance issues. As a result, Microsoft received tons of backlash and lost
$500 million to marketing. This is the reason you should always test your product before launching it.
When the time does come for launch day, start promoting your product. Incorporate social media and email campaigns. Do all that you can to get the public’s attention.
Launch day doesn’t have to be for one day. If you need more attention, keep posting reminders and share content in the days after launching.
8. Assess Your Results
After launching your product, you must track your marketing efforts. Analyze your marketing strategy’s performance and examine the results. You’ll likely have to make adjustments if your plan isn’t going smoothly.
Additionally, you want to brace yourself for customer reviews. It can be detrimental to your launch’s success when you receive negative feedback. If you get a negative review, be sure to respond with a pleasant greeting and offer a short-term solution to the customer’s concerns. You’ll also want to devise a long-term solution to ensure future customers won’t encounter the same issues.
Addressing feedback will show you care about your customers’ happiness. As a result, you’ll gain consumer loyalty and long-term prosperity for your business.
Ensure Your New Product Launch Reaches Success
Launching may not be easy, but it sure can be exciting and rewarding for both you and your customers. With preparation and a proper strategy on hand, you can increase your chances of product launch success. The bottom line is to have a deep understanding of your product’s performance, keep testing, and learn how to take new approaches.
Eleanor Hecks is the editor-in-chief of Designerly Magazine.