7 Steps to a Successful Product Launch

Planning and executing the perfect product launch is a tightrope walk that allows no room for error. In an already competitive business landscape, one poorly timed announcement or oversight can spell disaster before that big launch has even begun to gain momentum.

Many businesses make the mistake of leaping too early into a launch. The reasons for this can vary, from wanting to beat a competitor to rushing a launch to coincide with a calendar event. Either way, that initial eagerness can come at the expense of long-term success.

There’s no coming back from a fumbled launch. With so much at stake, and so much potential within your grasp, a good product launch needs to get it right, first time, every time.

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Below are 7 vital steps for ensuring your launch is successful.

1. Make the Ultimate Gameplan

Establish where you are before the launch, and where you expect to be within a certain timeframe. Use this as a blueprint for pinpointing smaller, quantifiable goals within it. This allows you to easily measure progress, or spot potential issues before they hinder your launch.

For some extra insurance, be sure to discuss and log a worst-case scenario plan as well. Nobody sets out to fail, but sometimes having a plan B can be the difference between changing a strategy to avoid problems and clinging to your original ideas as the ship goes down.

2. Test Thoroughly

A business can sometimes exist in a vacuum. While there may be excitement internally about your new product, it’s vital to make sure that there’s an appetite for it outside of your business as well.

Sometimes an audience isn’t quite ready for a good product. Other times there’s simply too much out there to compete with at that specific time. Regardless of the reasons, you’re going to need tangible proof that there’s an interest in what you’re offering.

No one expects perfection, but no one expects miracles, either. Leave room for improvements, while making sure there’ll be buyers waiting to benefit from them.

3. Don’t Waste Time and Money on the Wrong People

If your brand is fully realized, you should have a crystal clear idea of who your ideal customer is. If you don’t, now is the time to discover who they are.

It doesn’t matter how innovative or useful your product or service is, if you’re targeting the wrong kind of customers, you’re destined to fail at the first hurdle.

This means meticulous research and attention to your perfect buyer persona. It means months of questions and what if scenarios before you even think about spending a dime on your marketing.

4. Prepare for the Potential Increase in Business

While there are no guarantees in business, you cannot leave anything to chance. The last thing you want after a successful product launch is for swarms of new business to arrive, only to find you completely unprepared to deal with their demands.

This means putting aside time to train staff on any new procedures and processes, in addition to preparing them for this outcome. One of the biggest oversights a company can make is in not training their staff on the features of a new product.

If a customer doesn’t feel like your employees fully understand the product itself, you’re in danger of losing a lot of future revenue.

5. Remain True to Your Core Business Ethics and Practices

Products may come and go, but at the center of your business should be a very clear and unshakable set of values and standard practices. It’s imperative that these not be sacrificed for the sake of a single product launch.

It’s detrimental to your business to immediately shake off previous products or practices that have sustained your brand. Not only are you alienating your regular customers, but you’re also going to come across as reactionary.

Part of your preparations should include this important message across all levels of your business. There’s a balancing act to implement here, and it needs to be pitch-perfect if you want to entice new customers and appease existing ones.

6. Are You Thinking Globally?

One of the biggest mistakes a business can make during a new product launch is to lose sight of its global marketing plan. Whether you’re hoping it expands across the globe, or implementing some marketing tactics to penetrate specific regional markets, keeping your content clear is essential.

How do you keep your content clear across the globe? Through using the services of a global translation company.

One country alone can contain a multitude of different languages, regional dialects, and cultural sensitivities. The ‘one translation fits all’ approach isn’t going to cut it anymore.

Through content analysis, website localization, and cultural consulting, your business will be prepared to launch globally in one fell swoop.

7. Get a Post-launch Analysis of the Event Itself

After your launch, actively search for feedback, both positive and negative, and be sure to take that feedback to heart. There’s a huge resource awaiting your analysis after that launch, so use it wisely. Collect emails, post on social media, and openly ask people in person.

Looking at this post-launch feedback lets you further analyze what worked and what didn’t quite hit the mark. If you’re open to constructive criticism and apply it accordingly, you may just find something unexpected has captured the attention of your clients.

We learn much more from what didn’t work than what did work. And a product launch is no place for stubbornness when something has clearly failed. Be open to feedback, and with these other steps to making a successful product launch, you’ll soon be making your mark at the exact right time and in front of the right people.