Product launch is one of the most important parts of any business, whether it’s the first ever product or the hundredth the same time and thought the process needs to go into making it a success. A poor product launch frankly means less potential sales, frustrated or confused customers and negative feedback. Vice versa, a successful launch means the complete opposite.
Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels
Every product is, of course, going to be different in its own right and so the way it’s launched is always going to have slight differences, however, there are some key points to consider to make sure your product is ready for launch.
The Right Opportunity
Having a product idea is definitely starting point, but you should also be thinking about the market potential for your product. There are many key considerations when researching your market potential before you even think about developing a product, have a look at these to get you started:
- Target Audience: Realistically, any product that is released should be because there is a demand for it. Often the success of a product purely lies on the fact that people need it and it will be used. You will need to be able to identify your target audience and clearly aim your marketing strategies towards them in order to fulfil the opportunities available. Try to focus on providing a solution to a need.
- Your Competitors: You should always complete research about your competitors and make sure that you pay attention. Even if they’re not successful you can still learn from them. A market can be extremely hard to enter if there is already a large range of options available so learning from your competitor’s successes and failures could be your leg up on being able to better them. Think hard about other businesses and identify any gaps that you could potentially fill. You also want to try and create a way to block other people from being able to do the same to you. You need to aim to be the best.
- Finances: Think about the financial risks and contributions of any new product and try to relate it to the market you’re dealing with. Think about development costs and the upfront costs that are going to be needed. The more capital that is invested means there is a higher risk overall for your business if the product was to fail. If this is your first product it becomes even more essential to make sure you are looking closely at your costs.
Different Tests
There are different ways to test a product before it is launched and different things that you should be considering. One of the best ways to know if a product will be successful in the market is to test it with some existing or potential customers. You could decide to form an official beta program, a detailed survey, simple comparison testing to competitors or form a quick focus group these are all proven successful ways to test a product’s compatibility with its potential consumers. You can also think about provide it to influencers on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as these are some of the most honest people when it comes to product testing.
Additionally, you should also be thinking about any safety measures that should be in place for your products. Brands have many a time being caught out by safety protocol where they haven’t used tools such as RF Amplifiers to test electrical equipment and then they’ve had to recall it at a later date. It can be an embarrassment to a company ad it could spell disaster for a newer business who are launching a brand as well as a product.
Staff Training
Now, this doesn’t just mean training your own staff to know everything about a product, if your product is going to be on display in stores then it’s a good idea to provide some sort of training guide or tool for the stores that are going to be selling it. It makes for much better practices if a store member can advise a potential customer on your product because you have provided top of the range training. It’s not only a key to success it’s providing an excellent customer experience. Offering training to teams before a product is launched will also get them talking about it before it’s even available, hello free marketing and excitement being built up for the release! You want the people selling your product to be fluent and confident with the product on launch day not two weeks later. It’s all about creating a buzz and easy sale before it’s even here.
Listen To Feedback
Listening to and providing feedback are both important factors when it comes to a product launch. Even if you have sent out and received multiple surveys and reports about your product it’s important to still consider new ones. However, you should remember that it’s never going to be possible to please everyone and you should stick to your main focus and the majority. At the end of the day, your customers are your key for feedback and listening to them is going to help you to be successful, you also give them a sense of empowerment and customers love to have their voice heard. It will help to create a good strong brand following and could lead to higher sales. Try adding the capability to be able to review products to a website or have a platform where they can talk about and leave comments about the products. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are popular for this. You will need to consider dedicating a team to look after any comments you may receive as leaving any bad comments or reviews unmonitored could lead to losing customers. You should never hide negative feedback just show a proactive approach to solving problems.
Do you have any other things that should be considered before a product is ready to launch? Please share them in the comments section below.
This post has been written by an outside source – Please see disclosure policy
