Product Launch Plan: 14 Tips to Ensure a Seamless Launch

In some types of businesses where new products are launched every so often, seamless product launches are a crucial part of success. A successful product launch plan can help you generate buzz and get your product seen by more potential customers, while an unsuccessful one will leave you with wasted resources and disappointed customers.

Launches can be tricky to plan, but with the right thought process and planning in place, you should be able to keep things running smoothly.

In this article, we’ll look at 14 tips that will help you launch your new products successfully each and every time. Let’s get started.

A Seamless Launch: What You Need To Factor In

The following list is in no particular order and it doesn’t matter what the product and industry are; these tips can be applied to any online launch.

Image Credit: http://dcvelocity.com

1. Find A Suitable Launch Window

This might seem like a strange tip, but you need to make sure that you’ve given yourself enough time to fix any problems that arise before your product release. For example, if your website needs some work, there’s no point in launching quickly only to realize that people can’t buy.

Give yourself at least two weeks after quality assurance testing has been completed so that you have enough time to fix any bugs or other issues before launching.

In addition to giving you enough time to fix any issues, a suitable launch window will give you enough time to prepare a marketing campaign to easily be able to publicize your launch (more on this later).

2. Make Your New Product Easily Accessible

When looking for a suitable launch window, also take into account how quickly customers will be able to access your new product. If it’s going to be available at only one retailer, make sure that they have access to enough inventory before trying to launch. You don’t want people struggling to find or buy your product because of technical problems at a retailer’s end.

If possible, try to offer several different purchase options from various retailers as soon as possible after the launch date – this increases the chance of higher sales figures and makes it easier for customers who struggle to find a retailer with your product available.

3. Make Your Launch Exclusive

A major part of any launch is to generate as much hype as possible. 

You can do this by making your new product available from only a few online retailers for the first few weeks, which creates an ‘exclusive’ feel and encourages customers to buy quickly before the product runs out. This also increases traffic at that particular retailer’s website and helps them sell other items too.

Moreover, scarcity can have a big psychological effect on customers. They are more likely to buy quickly if they feel that the product is going to run out or be discontinued – if there is a valid reason for it.

If you are selling a product on your website, having a counter showing how many products are left can also help boost sales. If you can combine this tip with the referral tip (down below), you’ll be able to increase your sales as well.

4. Consider What Type of Traffic You’re Going For

Whether your main source of traffic will be organic or whether it’s paid will make a big difference to how your run your launch. Paid search is generally very fast, but you have to spend money to get results. Organic search tends to be slower, but it’s free traffic that builds over time.

When you’re planning your launch, consider what type of marketing strategy you want to use and how long you can afford to wait before the marketing starts working. Understanding the pros and cons of each marketing method will help you plan your launch the right way.

Image Credit: http://unity-digital.com

In addition, having a traffic backup plan is also important. For example, if your main source of traffic doesn’t materialize on launch day you can have a paid search campaign ready to go, or some other type of marketing that will help keep the hype going.

5. Track everything: sales, performance, and traffic

As with any business venture, you need to monitor the progress of your launch. This means keeping an eye on sales figures, returning customers, and where each customer is coming from (whether that’s organic or paid search).

The right KPI software will help you keep track of everything and identify any trends so that you can adjust your marketing strategy as needed for the current and future product launches.

6. Reach your Target Market

It can be difficult to market your product effectively if you don’t understand who your target audience is and what they’re most likely to do when they discover your site. Reaching your target marketing on the platform they’re at is now more important than ever. 

For example, does your target audience spend most of their time on social media or search engines? Which websites do they use the most and which devices do they prefer to browse with?

If your target market is always on their phone, SMS marketing can be used to reach them quickly and easily. If they spend a lot of time on social media, then consider advertising on relevant Facebook groups or using influencer marketing to encourage brand awareness.

7. Use Referral Marketing When Possible

Referral marketing is one of the best ways to increase your exposure online for free. Customers who have already bought from you are far more likely to buy again in the future, so encouraging them to share their experience with friends increases your exposure exponentially if done correctly. 

Ask customers who buy from you how they found out about you and what prompted their purchase – this will help you understand which marketing methods were most successful at attracting new customers. Then use that information going forward to keep engaging with your target market in a way that is most likely to work for them.

8. Make Sure the Site Works on Mobile

More than 50% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices, so making sure your website is easy to use on mobiles is essential if you want to attract new customers. This means focusing on designing a user-centered interface that looks good and functions well on any device.

The last thing you want is for someone to click through to your product pages but get stuck because they’re using an older browser or phone that doesn’t display things correctly (or at all).

Image Credit: http://developers.google.com

Understanding what makes people click off your website is as important as understanding what makes people stay on your site. 

Decreasing your bounce rate will substantially increase the time people spend on your website. If you can encourage them to stay longer (by giving them reasons to do so), they are more likely to buy.

The first step is asking simple questions like “is my website displaying correctly?” or “is it easy for potential customers to find what they are looking for?”. The more accurately you can answer these questions, the easier it will be to work out what’s not working and why. You can then use that data to change things around until that bounce rate decreases dramatically.

9. Understand Current Trends in the Industry

It’s important to understand what’s working for others in your market so that you can be more competitive. Some questions related to trends that you might want to consider are:

• What platforms are they using? 
• What is their marketing strategy? 
• What types of products are they constantly selling?

You don’t want to become more and more similar to other companies online – it will reduce your sense of individuality and could even harm sales if people begin thinking of you as “just another company”. 

However, there are trends that are crucial to understand and implement. Understanding these things means you’ll be able to see what’s working and make it better by offering something that your competitors aren’t doing. 

At the end of the day, the trend is your friend and you can use this to your advantage. You may not be able to implement everything that’s popular, but if you do it right, you’ll stand out from the crowd and might even gain a loyal following who will buy anything you produce.

10. Be Consistent with Branding

The first time someone lands on your website it should be clear exactly who they’re dealing with – this means having a brand identity that is clear, easy-to-understand, and instantly recognizable for all audiences. 

The more personable your company image is, the more likely customers are to identify with it and become emotionally attached to it for the long-term future. If you are revamping and rebranding an existing business ahead of a product launch, you need to be particularly careful that things line up and match the image customers are used to. 

To maintain your brand consistency, you can use Crello to create unique and modern designs and visuals for your company. It’s also simple to work together with your team on designs, organize projects, and approve changes.

It’s important to note that branding is not just about having a logo slapped on every page of your website. What’s more important is that you understand who you are and what makes your business unique in the marketplace. You may think this is common sense but there are still scores of websites out there with generic layouts that deliver the exact same service as everyone else. 

This can put customers off because it suggests you’re not worth their time – why would you want people to feel like this about your business? Instead – use this opportunity to impress them by utilizing custom-made graphics, whiteboard and explainer videos. 

Another key here is consistency – if someone lands on one of your web pages, then another and another after that, they should know immediately they haven’t left the website and are still on the same site dealing with the same people. This will reassure them of your reliability, trustworthiness, and dependability which is exactly what you want to portray.

11. Have email marketing automation set up before you launch

Email marketing can be tricky, especially if you’re just starting. Constantly sending people messages they don’t want to see can damage your brand and drive customers away, so it’s important to not send too many emails or bombard everyone with an overload of content.

Creating email marketing automation so they’re ready before you launch will ensure that you have a solid plan in place when your product is live and it’s time to start sending out promotional material. Automation means setting up sequences of pre-written emails that are sent to different groups at specific times (for example, first-time visitors could receive one message while returning customers get another).

You need this kind of organization ahead of time because there are all sorts of factors that come into play. Failure to plan could mean that someone receives the wrong message or no message at all when it’s go time – both of which are far from ideal. 

Putting this into a specific example, if someone is on your mailing list but hasn’t opened an email in three months you probably won’t want to send them other emails telling me to buy now – there’s no point in that. You might want to add value and build a relationship of sorts before you sell them.

However, if someone has just signed up for your service or bought one of your products then it might be relevant for them to receive a welcome message with an incentive to buy more.

12. If Possible, Get Influencers Involved Before You Launch

Influencer marketing can bring massive benefits when it comes to promoting a product. There are certain influencers out there who enjoy high profiles and can make a massive difference to your business if they offer their support.

For instance, getting an influencer involved who has an existing following of loyal fans is always better than sending out messages that are ignored or lost in the vastness of the internet.

Marketing yourself this way also comes with certain rewards because these influencers are well known within their field. This means they carry a certain level of trustworthiness and expertise which can carry over to your launch. If people already know, like, and trust an influencer that recommends your brand, people are more likely to buy whatever you are offering.

Identifying the right influencers before you launch will allow you to onboard influencers who might be interested in what you have to say and it could give your brand name the exposure it needs at the beginning stages.

13. Don’t Be Disheartened If things Don’t Go as Planned

Launching a new business is always going to come with some problems, especially when there’s something like a product launch involved. With so many variables involved, things can change in an instant.

Whether such a change comes from outside forces or simply something that wasn’t thought through properly (such as posting the wrong information online), you need to keep calm and carry on because nothing will ever run perfectly all of the time and everyone makes mistakes once in a while. 

Things do take time; the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day” is appropriate here because no one expects everything to fall into place the first time around.

There will always be obstacles you need to overcome but if you do this with a positive attitude and willingness to learn from both the good and the bad, then it will make all the difference. Fixing problems quickly is part of being an entrepreneur and something most people are faced with – they can either crumble under the pressure or they can use it as fuel to keep pushing on.

14. Get Feedback From Those Who Matter

Finally, try to establish some kind of feedback system that you can use regularly. Whether that’s asking for customer reviews or simply using your email list to send out surveys, you must have access to the opinions of those who matter most – paying customers. This will give you some ideas about how your business is being perceived by actual customers. There is always something to learn from your customers, and there are many benefits from gathering their feedback, if you manage to ask the right question to the right person.

The words of others are more powerful than anything else so make sure you listen carefully and encourage people to be completely honest with their responses because if they don’t feel comfortable saying what they think, then you won’t have the right data to work with.

Metrics are all well and good but nothing beats genuine feedback so find ways to incorporate this into your strategy as soon as possible. Don’t forget there is always help available when it comes to business growth so never be afraid to ask for assistance if you need it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are certainly a lot of things to think about when it comes to launching a new product or service and having a seamless product launch. 

From finding the right influencers online to keeping track of anything that could go wrong, you need to be completely prepared before you take this big step – there’s nothing more embarrassing than realizing you didn’t properly plan things out beforehand (which is why it’s important not rush into any major decisions).

However, if you use the product launch tips provided above, you should find it much easier to navigate your way through this process and come out on top. 

There are plenty of other things that could be added to the list but these are some of the most important points worth keeping in mind.