A Step by Step Guide for Launching Your New Product

Regardless of which niche your business belongs, you have to launch the product once in a while. 

Even if you have the bestseller product to sell, but still new products help you in growing, evolving, and staying relevant. 

According to studies, 63% of customers appreciate when the brand offers a new product. But the same study showed 69% of customers expect innovation in the brand. 

Launching a new product is no simple task. It includes lots of planning, detailing, and research. 

Rushing to launch a product should be avoided. There are 99% of the new product that fails to convert to be the best selling product. 

To Understand how to launch your products, here is a step by step guide for you. 

Step 1: How To Find & Fix Your Audience?

Identifying the audience you want to target is a base, no matter which, and for what strategy you are making, it’s the most known point to remember. 

Knowing your audience helps in understanding how your strategy will turn out. It keeps your focus on whom you are going to offer the product to and how it will help them. 

To identify your target audience, there are three important steps to follow- 

Start With Market Segmentation 

Market segmentation is a vital part which focuses on understanding the needs of your customer. 

Its focus on the specific needs and it consider these two important points 

Knowing who is going to use your product the most. 

Organizing the market by the industry 

It breaks down the particular industry for you, so you know which part is going to need your product and will use it.  

Segmenting your market also helps in aligning your marketing effort too.

Prepare For  Profiling Customers 

After you do the market segment, you are going to need to profile your customer. 

Customer profiling helps in covering the important details about your market.  The profiling should include – 

• Location – Where your customer lives? Is it rural or urban residents? It helps you in understanding the time zone for targeting them. 

• Age –  Are your products for adults? Or for kids? Do you target middle age or millennials too? Different age groups respond differently.

• Stage Of Experience – Do your customers are C-suite executives or marketers? Determining it will help in ideal prospects and narrow it down.

• Income Level –  Not every person can afford what you are selling. It’s important to decide who will be able to purchase. 

Pro Tip: There are three methods you can approach i.e consumer characteristics,  consumer typography, and psychographic. 

Create Your Buyer Persona 

The next step is to create a buyer persona. It’s a description of your ideal customers in a detailed version. 

It’s a semi-fiction based on market research and real data. For creating a buyer persona you are going to require the existing customer data.

Also, it will require to find out the pain points and challenges that your customers struggle with the most. 

It includes points like – 

• The motivation behind the purchase
• Goals they want to achieve 
• Time spent on offline and online 

You can do surveys on your existing customer. It will tell you a lot about the prospect of why your customer is buying from you and what else you can use for attracting more customers. 

Consult with the employee and keep tracking the analytic.  Once you find the details about your buyers, you can get an understanding of what can attract them to buy your product.

Step 2: How  To  Conduct The Market Research & Analysis?

The business can end up creating the world’s best product. 

But without comparing to other products in the market, knowing the gap, and how to sell it to your buyers, it’s not possible to get the results you want. 

To conduct market research and analysis,  there are three basic yet important steps to perform. 

Analysis Your Competitor 

The market is a battlefield ep when you have some really tough competitors. 

 With the help of analyzing your competitor, you can understand the position they hold and what trend they are following to approach more attention. 

It will help you in improving your strategy for marketing and targeting better. 

Here is a checklist you can follow for conducting the competitor analysis. 

• Detailing of the product on different channels and websites. 
• Seo strategy and channels they are using for traffic. 
• Different between their product and their competitors 
• The USP of products they are selling 
• The product discount and what they are missing to mention
• The reason why customers are buying and for what 
• Customers satisfied ratio and common issue 

Identify Points To Trigger 

Trigger points are helpful for your product to acquire more purchases. It also boosts your revenue and helps in getting more attention in the market. 

Finding trigger points engagement more customers who are going through some issue, providing them the solution you are not just improving the sales but also creating a loyal audience. 

Analysis Trending Products 

The consumer’s requirement keeps changing, thus it affects the trends in the market too. 

With the help of product trend analysis, you can find insight into the next shift or directions in the market trend. 

Also, you get an idea of what will affect consumer behavior and their requirements from the market.

You can improve your marketing strategy for your product launch. 

Step 3: How To Understand Positioning Statements?

Before you launch your product, posting a statement is another factor you should know about. 

It describes how your product is going to fulfill the needs and requirements that your competitors can’t do. 

A positioning statement is crucial for any product launch. It shows the best and important part of your product that can attract people who are not satisfied with their current purchase. 

Product’s USP 

The customers are surrounded by endless options in products. Choosing something and replacing it needs lots of reasons.

Why will anyone pick your product? What’s different you are offering that they will not get anywhere else?

For example,  Sony devices have similar features like robust cameras and better sound quality like any other brand.  But they also offer their USP in products which are dust resistant and waterproof.

Their mobile devices can be used in rain and beach. The brand encourages people to use it without fear of getting their phone damaged due to water or dust.

Solution For The Problem 

When you make a buyer persona, you will also get the idea of what kind of troubles your customers are facing.

Like Mailchimp did on their homepage. They highlighted their solution that the product can provide and solve the problem of others. 

It will help in solving the problem of the customer and also attract the attention of those who are irritated for a long time. 

Innovation 

Presenting your product in a new way is what product innovation is all about. It shows how your customers can solve their problems by using your product. 

Innovation in the product also fills the gap between the current market and addresses the differences too. 

With this, you can satisfy your customer requirements and introduce your product in a new and refreshing way. 

Step 4: Choose How To Reach Your Audience?

Before you launch a product, it’s a crucial step to understand. Determining how you can reach your customers who want to buy your product is a vital process.

With the help of content marketing, you can reach your customer. But also it can help in influencing every stage of your buyer journey. 

Also, the best part of using content writing is that even if your product is launched. It will help in nurturing and acquiring leads. 

Stage 1: The Awareness 

The awareness stage is when the customer is not familiar with or heard about your product. 

It’s the first encounter that they have with your product. The awareness stage is focused on educating your audience about your product and why they need it. 

 Here you can use content writing for publishing articles, providing answers, and improving the segment to your target audience. 

Pro Tip: Use your social media to spread more about the content and to create awareness about your product. 

Stage 2: The Consideration 

The consideration stage is when the buyer takes decisions about using the product or not. 

In this stage,  they compare the product with others and see if it fits their use. 

For example, If a customer wants to buy a laptop. They will search by typing ‘ Asus Vs HP laptops’

If the brand launched the new version of HP laptops, they are going to need content about comprehension comparison between the brands. 

Content marketing can help you in convincing your buyer that it’s your product they should buy. 

Stage 3: The Final Decision 

The final decision is the stage when the buyer is convinced to buy your product but he or she is looking for reasons to buy it. 

At this stage, the buyers look for something extra that can clear their heads about whether they should make a final purchase or not. 

For Example. Slack published the content in their decision stage. They publish content on how to use Slack and to help the trainee to know more about it. 

They create landing pages differently on sharing the review and stories shared by customers. On the page, the customers get the final delivery results. 

Stage 4: The Feedback & Review 

This stage is considered as final, most of the customers already bought it.  This is the stage when they share their reviews and feedback. 

The stage helps in boosting and encouraging to leave the reviews. 

Feedbacks are for improving the product and helps in motivating more people to try it.

Step 5: How To Create Campaign For Marketing Your Product?

The marketing campaign is responsible for how you are going to interact, attract, and engage potential customers. 

This is the step to understand even if you are selling a quality product, a marketing campaign is for acquiring more customers. 

Here are three important tactics to use for your campaign

Customer Emotions 

Customers are emotional. And that’s why driving these emotions to purchase your product is an important tactic to learn. 

Behind 95% of a purchase, the customers are influenced either by fear, frustration, FOMO, or fear. 

Emotions are useful to tie down your customer with what you are selling. 

Take Pre- Orders 

Pre-orders help in determining if your product is going to be successful and if yes then how much. 

Also, Pre-orders help you in getting funds without getting a loan or using the investor funds. 

Build Hype 

Before you launch your product, it’s important to have a customer excited and hyped about your product. 

For example, Apple is one of the ideal brands that successfully created the hype for its product even before they launch. 

They publish different photos and videos, all in high quality, host events too. 

How To Use Social Media For Creating Product‘s Hype?

Launching a product requires a lot of work. It includes working on every single aspect, from planning the marketing to creating the hype. 

In between everything, lots of businesses forget to use social media and how much it can contribute to pre-launch and creating the hype.

To create the hype using social media, here are the top tips for you. 

Create Cool & Creative Hashtag 

Creating a hashtag that not just looks cool but also creative enough to attract people is helpful for creating a buzz about your product on social media. 

Different brands create their hashtag so the people can follow them on Instagram and other channels to know more about the product and stay updated with everything.

It’s an interesting and ideal option for creating hype for your soon to be launched product. 

Also, the hashtag is a clever approach that can excite your audience and engage more people to use it and share it on their accounts. 

Tell The Behind Story 

Start with making a narration that can connect with you people. It’s a powerful way to get more customer engagement and make your product hit before you launch it. 

For example, No6 Coffee Co used their social media for sharing how they started and came up with the idea.

They showcased their blends and highlighted the relationship of their coffee with the customers. It was an innovative and interesting approach connecting more with a new audience. 

Sneak Peek Of What’s Coming 

Sneak Peek can be interesting and intriguing for people.  It can give an idea about what is coming by exposing everything to the audience. 

Everlane was the first who became the apparel brand that excelled on Snapchat. 

They get a boost up in their ephemeral content format.

With their stories, they give authentic and behind the scenes information about their company as well as their brand.

They also use the sneak peek for giving a detailed idea about upcoming future products. 

They include everything from the concept of the product to its production. They use social media for creating the hype by using their transparency as a core value.

Team Up With Locals 

Teaming up with your local artist gives authenticity to the product. It also boosts the confidence of others who are new to your product. 

Also using other channels to create hype about your product is effective. You get more attention and people look forward to such collaborations too. 

Offer Giveaway 

Giveaways are also one of the trending ways for hyping up your product. However, it sounds too early but it’s an igneous option that will help.

For example, Strange Light did a giveaway before they introduced the titles. The book was new and launched by Penguin house Canada.

To enter the giveaway, they asked their fans to follow their accounts i.e. Strange light and Penguin Random House on Instagram. 

By random selection, the winners received tote bags and strange light buttons. Also, they added two advance copies of their first book. 

It created the buzz about the book before they even started. It was helpful and also boosted the work. 

Video Teaser Of Product 

Video teasers are fast to catch attention. It can trend on social media, creating the hype you want for your product.

Teasers of your upcoming product with something fun and interesting can hook your customers. 

It’s a creative and innovative trend that can work effectively. 

How To Be Ready For The D’ Day?

To be ready for the launch day,  you must remember not just to focus on marketing but also on closing deals. 

It’s crucial to choose the channels which can help you in targeting the audience. 

When you have created the buyer persona,  you have already listed the ideal channel where customers spend their time the most. 

On the day of your product launch, make sure you provide detailed information about your product to the sales team. 

It will help in answering the queries of your customers and eliminating anything at the last minute. 

Also, to remember the important activities on D’ Day, here is the checklist for you – 

• Request the influencers,  leaders, and public figures to talk about the product 
• Distribute flyers but add the website address, email, contact information, etc to connect with you. 
• Offer customized products like T-shirts & one -to- one access to your product. 
• Ask major news outlets for more information about your product launch.
• Get your marketing and sales team. Align them together to make the best out of it.

Pro Tip: Include feedback form and booking system to reach more customers. 

Successful & Inspiring Examples Of Product Launch To Know 

A brand launching its new product in the market is not an easy job to do. It’s risky, contains too much work, and with a huge chance of not working like you want to be. 

According to Harvard Business Professor Clayton Christensen, there are more than 30,000 new products for consumers launched every year. 

And surprisingly  80% of product launches fail.

It shows the risk every new product carries but here are some examples you can consider who mastered their product launch like a pro. 

1. KPOP Foods 

KPOP food started with help by raising funds and it was directly for the consumers. 

The brand started by an MBA student for popularizing Korean food in the USA. 

The first product they launched was KPOP sauce. It was based on The Hanna’s grandmother received and it was basically a chili sauce.

To create awareness, Mike Kim and co-founder of KPOP foods make the container in the shape of a piglet. It was cute and adorable to look at. 

They started to hand the product to everyone they met. Sooner the community was ready for using the KPOP sauce. 

With the help of Kickstarter, They used ‘dialed for dollars’ for existing users, fans, and people who liked the product. 

They shared it online, using every channel they could get and to boost the pre-commitments. 

Within 8 hours, they got their targeted goal of $10,000.

Takeaway: If you are considering crowdfunding, it’s not important to wait for selling the product and promoting it before it gets launched.

A large part of your effort should be focused on boosting the number of pre-orders and creating more awareness. 

2. Robinhood 

Robinhood provides stock traditional services at $0 commission for the customers. 

It has the gold standard for creating their waiting list.  When they were launching their service, they invited people to get invitations. 

It was available  for private beta only and to offer the first time use 

They offer the opt-in option to get into the invitation list. Once a visitor clicks on it, the thank you page gets on the display along with other options to ask their friends to join in. 

It soon became a game and people started to join and recommend people. They made one million op ins. 

Takeaway: Creating a waiting list and in return, people get incentives or special privileges. It can help in boosting the growth Also allows you to get an activity database of your interested users. 

3. Under Armour 

The time when most of the advertising videos were featuring the right kind of models to promote the brand. 

Droga5 started a series of videos on social media, focusing on female athletes, and capturing the way they all are. 

The project was titled ‘ Unlike Any’.

The video featured stuntwoman Jessie Graff, ballerina Ms. Copeland, Actress Zoe Zhang and blacklist in taekwondo. 

Instead of using pop music in the background, they used poetry. It was made by Saul Williams, Dominique Christina, Aja Monet, Kojey Radical, and Aristophanes.

Takeaway: Connecting emotions can work without using the product or talking about the benefits of using the product.  It can ethous the launch onwards but you can engage more people with your brand. 

4. Harry’s 

Harry’s selling point was to offer the custom made razor. But it was affordable at price and much cheaper as compared to other options. 

However, the low price doesn’t attract the audience and sounds not that convincing either. 

They chose to offer trails and features on their website, ads, social media, etc. It helped in driving traffic. 

By this, they get $200 million in revenue in 2017. 

With the arctic, Harry’s turned into an online retailing company within three months, recurring more customers and boosting their sales. 

Takeaway: Trial offers are the best way to convince your audience about your product. It gives confidence, fast results, and assurance to get their money safe. 

It gives more control to the users. They get the ‘ ball in their court’ as if they didn’t like, they can simply return back without wasting the money. 

It boosts the call to action and customer engagement on the website. Wisley using it can help in driving more traffic and turning into sales for the brand.

 

Common Pitfalls To Avoid Before  Product Launch

 Launching your new product can have its loopholes. Some of the most common pitfalls that most of the product launch has faced are – 

Focusing On Wrong People 

Unless you know who you are going to target, there is no point in creating a strategy for product launching. Because it will not have any direction. 

Defining your target audience will help you in understanding the personalized marketing plans and referral base. 

Not Doing Soft Launch 

A soft launch is important before you do the final launch. It’s basically a beta version that is available for selected customers only. 

Beta versions are good to find any major issues or bugs.  It helps in identifying the problems and solving them before the final launch. 

It reduces the chances of unsatisfied customers and bad experiences. 

The soft launch also helps in creating buzz and interest in your users. It boosts the word of mouth marketing as well. 

When you ignore launch, you also increase the chance of getting negative feedback. 

Also with a soft launch, you get one more chance to check your final products. 

For example, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 didn’t get its soft launch which turned out as one of the biggest failed products of the company. 

The hybrid combination of smartphones and tablets had two batteries which were flawed in design.  It leads the product to catch fire. 

Within its two weeks after the launched date, Samsung had to bring back its 2.5 million Note 7s. 

Not Taking Customer Feedbacks 

When you do a soft launch or focus group,  there are different kinds of reviews you will get. 

Some people liked your product but some people didn’t.  Feedbacks are important. It’s a common and huge mistake that you can make. 

Getting feedback is a good sign. Positive feedback can help you in understanding what’s good and deserve to highlight. Whereas negative feedback can help you in targeting the serious issue.

There are chances to identify gaps in transition or customer education. You can fill the gap by giving a much credible product. 

Not Preparing For Marketing 

Creating a product is not the end. You are going to need a buzz for the product so people can start buying as soon as you launch. 

The marketing strategy is crucial to include all the essential points along with creating the hype.  Make sure to add these points too –

• Your product USP 
• Benefits & Features 
• Techniques that can nurture a customer base
• Product expansion strategy 
• Content marketing suitable for different stage 
• Plan for boosting repeat sales, cross-selling & up-selling 

Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs) about Launching your own products

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