5 Steps to a Successful Product Launch
If you’re in the business of creating new products or services, then this blog is for you! Creating a thoughtful go-to-market strategy can be the key to launching a successful new product for any business. Ensuring due-diligence has been performed and key targets have been identified before the product is marketed are necessary and important steps to maintaining efficient spending and effective outcomes.
At B2E, we’ve launched several new products into the marketplace, so we understand how important it is to have a go-to-market strategy in place. If you’re preparing for a new product launch yourself, here are five steps worth the time investment to ensure a successful product launch.
Identify the target audience While this seems like a no-brainer, surprisingly, this step can sometimes be a challenge. Before you can effectively market a new product or service, you must first identify who will by buying. Also, will the buyers be influenced by others in their organization or require approval from a higher level employee? Discuss what problem the buyer is trying to solve when they are in the market for your product, and be sure you understand their motivation to effectively market to them.
Create a value proposition and messaging Now that you’ve identified who you will be selling to, you need to deep dive into what messaging will be relevant and interesting to this target market. Create a list of your product’s features and benefits, pulling out items that are unique to the marketplace, as well as benefits that solve problems the targets may be facing. Your value proposition should identify the most common problems your product is addressing, as well as the benefits provided by your unique product features.
Decide how to market What marketing channel will gain you the most visibility with your target audience? Assess all of your available channels and where your targets will most likely be looking for your product or service. If possible, plan to test a variety of messages in these channels until you find the one that resonates with your target audience the most.
Turn heads with great content Consider generating content to promote your expertise and the availability of this product or service. Options for content could include: press release, blog posts, whitepaper, editorials, landing pages or social content. Use keywords to drive traffic to your content through search websites.
Analyze outcomes and stay nimble The only way to truly know if you’re on the right track with your product launch is to stay in touch with your campaign analytics. If your audience isn’t responding to the value proposition or key messages, be prepared to alter them. Also, monitor the activity of your target audience. If you are not resonating with them at all, you may want to investigate a new audience for your product or service. The key is to stay nimble and continue learning as your new product gains visibility and feedback becomes available.\
If you need assistance planning your go-to-market strategy for a new product or service, contact us at B2E. We’d love to help identify your target market and use our data tools to put your messages in the right place.
