Are you getting ready to launch a new business product? You may have came up with the next best thing for your customers or the world, but the world is a cluttered marketplace. Your product launch is going to have a very bumpy road ahead.
We want your product launch to be smooth sailing. So here are 11 tips on how to launch a new product with a marketing mind.
1. Understand your buyer persona.
Building a buyer persona is like removing your ice skate guards before you step on the ice to skate: If you don't do it before you step on the ice, you will slip and fall and be a complete mess! Back to marketing- Find every way you can to understand your ideal buyers for this new product. See who they are on social media, interview current customers, watch competitor's customers.
2. Vision your buyer's journey.
What are the steps that your ideal buyer will take from not knowing anything about your brand, to becoming a buyer of the new product and essentially a customer. As a product marketer, you need to understand that path! A path may look like: Google search (specific keywords), finding a blog (hey, like you found this one!), and reviewing sites. Gear your product launch content around tactics so there is a better chance that your ideal buyers will come across your product.
3. Don't expect a ton of generate leads.
It's a new product right? Most people will not care about your product launch, they may not have a need for it, or they just won't come across your product launch. Focus on influencing people who you have already attracted to your business and who are in your marketing funnel. These people become your promoters by word-of-mouth, social media, and more!
4. Utilize social media for some research.
Don't be the typical product marketer and skip product research. Some marketers can be lazy and don't want to go through the complicated task. You will want to reach out to your customers via Twitter or LinkedIn and invite them to a webinar or maybe your send them a video on the new product. The goal is to listen to their feedback. Actual feedback is much better than believing that you have the best product out there.
5. Create the positioning of the launch.
Any successful product launch needs to have a clear message that is consistent with your company. Make sure everyone sees eye-to-eye with the launch. Write out the actual positioning so the marketing messaging stays consistent.
The written up positioning document should include: buyer persona, the benefits to the customers, what is the competition, and how is your product different. Get your team on board for a much sharper product launch.
6. Create web based content around your product.
SEO. CONTENT. SEO. CONTENT. We live in a Google world and Google loves great content! Therefore this is a VERY CRITICAL step. Being found on the first page of Google is important. Okay you get it. Buyers will want to learn about your product before they talk to your company about the product. This means you will need videos, web pages, infographics, and social media to explain your product to people researching.
7. Have meetings with Marketing.
Remember we talked about consistency in Tip #5? If you're going to have a marketing company handle the marketing (which is a great idea!) be sure that the coordination and communication is all on point. All issues need to be solved for the perfect launch.
8. Plan for launch day!
Don’t leave the day of the launch to chance. Create a document that lists everything that needs to happen, and the directly responsible individual for each item. Details and timing are critical to the success of your launch day, so it’s critical to spell them all out.
9. Make sure your launch is customer focused.
A lot of marketers focus exclusively on prospects. Don’t do that. In many cases your launch will have as much impact on new revenue from existing customers as it will on revenue from new customers. Loop members of your services team into the launch planning. And ask yourself: Will the positioning make sense to customers?
10. Use case studies in your launch.
Don’t make your launch all about features or potential benefits; show the benefits by showing a customer already using the new product. This is complicated, and requires trusting, beta-tolerant customers, but it will catapult your launch into a new level. Also keep all data during the first few months of the launch to remake the case study.
11. Empower your evangelists.
Allow evangelists to collect resources that make it easier for them to tell the story of the product launch. Your “resources” could be anything -- pre-written blog posts, images, videos, quotes, data -- whatever you think will help your evangelists tell the story. Let them help out!
A product launch can be HUGE for your business. Don't step onto the ice with skate guards still on. At Blue Frog Marketing in Des Moines, we want to be there every step of the way with your business for a flawless product launch. We're ready to take on the task or simply help with social media, email marketing, graphic design, printing, direct mail and more! Call us at 515-221-2214 to talk strategy and we will set up a time to meet with you.