Are you ready to take your new business or a new product to the next level? A product launch could be exactly what you need to gain the traction for your business.
Making a product launch successful is all in the planning, and getting it right first time could mean you’re seeing new customers and conversions within a short amount of time, but do a product launch or business launch wrong and you could waste hundreds of hours, and maybe thousands of dollars, in potentially lost revenue and marketing costs.
Why A Good Launch Is Important
The most important thing to consider when thinking about a product launch is to plan out your success from the very beginning. Set goals and deadlines to keep to and to keep you on track to win.
You want your product launch or business launch to be remembered by your customers and clients for the right reasons, and you don’t want to be that business that people remember for the disastrous launch.
Beat The Competition
The consumer marketplace is a competitive area, it seems that every day another company is doing the same products and trying to launch them in the same way. This is particularly true for software and technology, where innovations can take years, but every year a consumer expects a new product.
Technology and software companies particularly can find it difficult to decide when the product is “done”, it seems like there is always room to make product improvements, and deciding when a product is really ready for launch is a hard task.
Launch Effectively
Here are five steps to ensure that your product or business launch is effective and brings you the return you were after:
Step One: Testing, Testing, 123
This first tip seems almost too simple to be true, but you’d be surprised how many companies don’t fully test their products before letting them go out on sale, leading to many sad product recalls that can cause an incredible amount of embarrassment as well as financial loss to a company.
Testing is more than just giving your products out to colleagues, it’s about getting the right people to test your product and trying to make it fail.
Some of the best product testers are product reviewers on YouTube, these guys will put a product through the wringer and really try to pull it apart. It can be hard to see your baby being destroyed by a reviewer, but if you know it’s robust when it needs to be, the reviewer should be honest and compare it like for like with similar products to see how it stacks up.
The bonus with this option is that it’s also a good chance for some advertising for you!
If you’re launching a new business, try to do a few small steps first. For example, if your business is in catering, offer to do the catering for a very small event. If your business is in graphic design, work with some very small (and probably not very well paying) clients to begin with.
When launching a new business, just be wary of those taking advantage. Working for ‘exposure’ is exactly the same as working for free. Don’t fall into that habit.
Step 2: External Marketing Opportunities
Remember those reviewers we spoke about in step one? This step is all about fostering those relationships even further.
If you’ve contacted reviewers before then you’ll be well versed in influencer marketing, but if not it’s a good idea to get to know the influencers in your industry and see if they would be willing to help you out by discussing your product or business.
Be wary of this one though, it’s important that you allow influencers the creative freedom to discuss your product and promote it in their own way, otherwise you risk becoming one of those horribly scripted ads that no one believes.
Step Three: The Excitement Build!
Sometimes your best advocates are your team, your colleagues, your friends, and your family. If you are getting ready to launch a new business especially, now is the time to get everyone excited about it.
James Matthews, a UK based film editor, explained in one of his videos that he knew he would need contacts when he returned home from film school, so he let every single one of his university friends know that he was a film editor. It so happened that some of them went to work for big firms in London, and recommended James as a video editor, landing him some pretty big clients.
Some people won’t be excited about your business or product, but the ones who are, it’s important to foster that!
Step Four: Plan Your Wins
This is a bit of an odd step, but there is good evidence for visualization being an incredible tool when it comes to success.
With that in mind, it’s time to plan your wins, really visualize where you will be in six months, even six days. Plan it out in great detail, and from there you can work on your goals of how you’re going to get there.
Do you want to have sold 1000 products in six months? If so, how are you going to sell your first 100? Having answers to these questions will help you stay on track and create a roadmap for success.
Step 5: Time To Market
Congratulations! You’re almost there! Now is the time to really begin to market your product or your business.
If you’re marketing a business, it’s all about meeting people and showing how you can HELP not just sell. Grab yourself some business cards, build an awesome website, and start talking to your new clients today.
Marketing a product? Make sure everything is ready to go, the packaging, the images, video, copy, everything needs to be on point and on-brand. Now is the time to invest in your PPC advertising and Social Media advertising to push your product out to people who will want it.
You got this, good luck!
