Launching your product is an exciting time, but there is an art to planning and executing a successful product launch. Here’s what to do before anything else.
The purpose of a product launch is to drive traffic and sales to your online business, so that it can grow and thrive. Launching a new product is a great way to attract new customers, but it takes time to plan and execute.
Many entrepreneurs feel the need to promote their products right away, and end up rushing the process. The result can be disastrous. In the words of David Ramsey, “People are in such a hurry to launch their product that they seldom look at marketing from a bird's eye view and they don't create a systematic plan.”
A successful product launch starts with a great strategy, and I'm here to walk you through it. Are you ready to learn the step-by-step process for launching your product? Here's what to do before anything else.
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This is the process that I suggest you go through for launching your product. Here’s what to do before anything else:
1. Pre Pre-Launch
The first stage is called a pre pre-launch. The purpose of this launch is to prepare as much as possible for the actual launch of your product. Here are the steps that I go through during this phase:
Coming Soon Page
Once I know the name and logo for my product, I set up a coming soon page. This is a one-page landing or lead page that says, “This product is coming soon. To get notified of when its going to be available, please put in your name and email address.”
A coming soon page allows you to plant a seed in people's minds, which incites in them a sense of excitement and anticipation. You will then build your launch list through this page.
Keep in mind that the people that give you their names and emails are individuals that are interested in your product. Once you launch your product, you will then have a list of people who are interested in buying your product when it becomes available.
The great thing is that you can create a coming soon page before you have even designed your product. Once I have my launch list available, I email them and say, “Hey, I'm creating this product right now. What are your biggest challenges or problems that I can help you solve through my product?”
By getting their feedback along the way, it allows me to add more value to my audience and satisfy their needs, versus guessing and try to figure it out on my own.
A lot of people do their marketing once their product has been launched, but I like to do mine several weeks or months in advance, before my product is even available.
Brand Building
A strong brand building process is what allows entrepreneurs to define what it is that makes their product more unique and desirable from their competition.
According to Nielson’s Global New Product Innovation Survey, 59% of consumers prefer to buy new products from brands that are familiar to them.
Brand building consists of everything to do with your website, your blog, and your social media presence.
You want to have all of this set up in advance, so that you have a strong online presence once you launch your product. The branding is what what will help you promote and sell your product.
Branding also makes you look a lot more professional, which elevates your trustworthiness and likability. When a consumer trusts a brand, it makes them more loyal, which in turn, makes them want to buy more from you.
Content Creation
You want to create content that starts attracting people to your product as soon as possible. This can be content in the form of videos, blog posts, and social media posts.
You want to attract people to you, so that you can funnel them into your launch list and build a relationship with them.
The more people that you have a relationship with, the easier it is going to be to tell them about your product when it's available.
MDG Advertising found that 70% of consumers would rather learn about products through content rather than traditional advertising.
A lot of people create their product and then start marketing it. However, by that point, it's too late. I am a firm believer that you need to create content as early as possible.
Press Releases
A press release is a great way to spread the word to customers about your new product. Within a press release you would announce your new product that is coming to the market, what the product is, the benefits and features of it, and the date that it will be available for purchase.
This can be done fairly inexpensively, by going to Fiverr or Upwork and getting someone else to create the press release for you.
Once you have the press release ready, you want to submit it to press release directories. PRweb.com is one of the biggest ones. It does cost a bit of money, but it will ensure that your press release gets the most amount of exposure.
Bonuses
Creating bonuses that compliment your product is a great way to add more value to your customers.
Whenever I'm creating a product I'm always thinking to myself, “What are some other resources that I can include that will inspire my audience to buy and help them in the achievement of their goals?” This could be in the form of an audio, video series, checklist, resource list, eBook, webinar, or Q&A.
I like to use bonuses during the first week of a product launch because it allows me to drive a lot more sales to my product, given that I'm only making the bonus available for a limited time.
Marketing Strategy
During this phase you want to start thinking of a killer marketing strategy that you are going to utilize once you launch the product, and afterwards.
According to the Marketing Research Association, only 40% of developed products make it to market. Of those 40%, only 60% will generate any revenue at all.
Successful product launches usually harness the power of multiple marketing channels, in the form of social media campaigns, event marketing, video, and brand partnerships. This is a great way to create a lot of hype around your product.
Testimonials
Get testimonials for your product as early as possible, as it will help you during the launch of your product.
When I'm in the process of creating my product, I find people that may benefit from the initial version of it, and I give it to them for free or at a discounted price, in exchange for a testimonial. This is a great way to receive feedback from people on your product.
Plan One Time Offer (OTO)
The launch of your product provides a great opportunity to create a one time offer (OTO) to people, which will incentivize them to buy from you.
One of my favourite ways of doing this is by making an offer around some sort of sale or discount that I can provide, especially for people that are already on my launch list.
This is my way of rewarding them for their patience or contribution towards helping make my product possible. When I launch my product, I may say, “During the first week, there is an early bird discount or a limited time sale, but then after this time, the price will go up.”
This creates a sense of urgency for people to buy the product during that launch week.
I recommend that you utilize this step-by-step process for launching your product. If you commit to successfully accomplishing each step, I guarantee that you will execute a winning product launch.
In the words of Rob Kalin, Founder of Etsy – “The last 10% it takes to launch something takes as much energy as the first 90%.” Launching a product can be challenging, but if done correctly, a successful product launch can grow your business on an exponential level.
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