Everyday countless new products and services are conceived. Most don’t see the light of day as they are not properly brought to market.
Since you don’t want that to happen, here are 7 steps to launching a new product:
1. Study your competition
Start by taking note of your competitors. What have they created? What are the strengths and weaknesses of their offerings? After you have identified your competitors, review their marketing collaterals including their brochures, ads, websites, and social media accounts. Evaluate how your product will stand and perform against what is already being offered, and which companies/conditions in the macro-environment pose maximum threat to your success.
2. Target your customers
To successfully launch your product on budget, you must focus exclusively on those prospects that are likely to purchase from you. These may be customers who are currently buying from your competition and will appreciate the additional features your product provides or segments that have not yet used the type of offering you’ve created.
3. Create a unique value proposition
You must have a clear understanding of what you’re offering in order to stand apart from the crowd. Highlight the unique value proposition to your prospective customers. The bottom line is that your product should be packaged and advertised in a way that it adds value to the lives of your target audience.
4. Define your marketing strategy
Choose your marketing channels. Generally, a multichannel marketing approach works best because today customers have the option to shop online and offline. Channels should flow directly from who you’re targeting.
5. Test your concept
It can take serious cash to bring a new product to market. Thus it’s foolhardy to rush headlong into a launch without some testing. Depending on your budget and marketing plan, you can test your marketing materials on formal focus groups, employ online research such as surveys, or distribute your product to a select group of users for beta testing. Only after testing is complete, should you proceed.
6. Last minute pre launch check
Before taking the jump, make sure your product is completely ready. A pretty obvious step, but one that must not be neglected. Once you are certain all your ducks are in a row, launch that sucker like a North Korean missile over the Sea of Japan (just kidding).
7. Monitor your campaign
Study, analyze and monitor the results from the launch over a specified period of time. Be prepared to adjust your campaign to take advantage of what’s working best.
