Whether starting a new business or bolstering your established brand, launching a product is very exciting. However, after putting a lot of time and effort into creating the product, it’s vital that you master the launch itself. While a poor launch doesn’t consign your product to the scrap heap, it will make life significantly harder. Here are 10 top tricks that will lead you to success.
#1. Know Your Target Audience
When launching your new product, you will inevitably want to reach the biggest possible audience. However, the harsh reality is that there are several groups that simply won’t be interested. Instead of wasting time on those demographics, it’s far better to focus on your target market. You can only do this by finding your place in the market.
If you have an established brand, running focus groups and other market research with your client base is ideal. If not, you can still gain valuable insights by checking what’s on the market and building a target consumer profile. Doing this will enable you to tweak the product, packaging, and marketing efforts.
Now more than ever, consumers are interested in brand stories. If you are able to implement a brand story that can resonate with your target market, you should. They will be more willing to consider purchasing your products too.
#2. Know The Product
Encouraging consumers to pay greater attention to the brand is one thing, but you also need them to love the product. Frankly, if you are not passionate about the items you’re hoping to sell, you cannot expect others to buy into it. Naturally, you know the product inside out., However, the next step is to know it from the perspective of a customer.
Understanding consumer pain points will help you determine how your product improves their lives. Generally speaking, there are three ways to have a product that will win customers. The first is to offer something brand new that isn’t available on the market. The second is to provide a cheaper solution. The third is to do it better than the competition.
The unique selling points of the product could include advanced features, the fact that it’s cruelty-free, or the links to your brand. Aside from boosting conversions, it is a move that should reduce any risk of unhappy clients.
#3. Make Images Counts
First impressions count for a lot in business, not least when trying to launch a new product. It is universally accepted that most modern consumers will conduct research when they are in the purchasing mindset. It is very likely that their first interactions with the brand and the product will actually take place online. Especially in the current climate.
Utilising visual media to its full potential is vital. Taking the perfect images for Instagram, social media, and your website product pages is vital. If you can capture a consumer’s attention through effective imagery, it will encourage them to read up more on the product itself. Once the product is in their mind, the chances of a sale are greatly increased.
It may take several touchpoints and interactions to gain the sale. So, you can add videos or animations to reveal the product in further detail. For items like clothing, this could lead to a direct sale. For bigger items or services, it may encourage further research.
#4. Arrange A Launch Day
The best companies don’t simply sell products. They sell experiences. As such, arranging a launch day for your new product is the perfect solution. For starters, it can have a massive impact on your local presence and reputation. However, photos and social media posts can help outside audiences feel included in the brand story.
Promotional days can be held at pop-up venues, or even at your store. If you have a parking lot or similar space, you can shop for a marquee to gain a practical space for demonstrations. The branded elements of the marquee or tent will capture the attention of passing foot traffic. Use games and activities to further celebrate the new product.
In addition to the promotional day, you could consider taking your product to trade shows. This enables you to reach new audiences and, hopefully, generate a spike in sales and interest. Once the blueprint is in place, organising secondary events is easy.
#5. Partner With Influencers
In-house marketing campaigns are important while promotional days can showcase the brand as well as its products. However, the fact that you know the product better than anyone doesn’t mean you’re the right one to promote it. Consumers now seek social proof by reading reviews and turning to others for inspiration. Embrace it.
Once you know who your audience is, teaming up with influencers with similar client bases is advised. When they inform their viewers about your products, it will instantly plant a seed of interest. Similarly, it can introduce the concept of FOMO (fear of missing out) for people that want to emulate their heroes. It works like celebrity endorsements, with even greater power.
The power of recommendation can be achieved through testimonials too. When clients can associate your product with quality and reliability, your sales should soar. If influencers can help achieve this goal, you must embrace it.
#6. Consider Free Trials
Consumers love to feel that they are getting value for money, and there’s nothing better than getting something for free. And once clients can see how your goods will actively improve their lives, they will probably be happy to pay for it too. So, if your product type can facilitate the concept of free trials, it could be a great option at launch.
The most obvious example is for software. You can offer a free trial that lets a user download the software or app and use it for a set period. Following the expiry, they can decide to pay or not. While some will resist it, many will sign up. This makes it one of the most cost-effective strategies available.
In addition to software and digital products, you may be able to hire out a new product for a short period to customers. Tech equipment can often fall into this category, especially when you target professionals that would use the items for work.
#7. Run Competitions
When launching a new product, you need consumers to feel excited about it. Building anticipation ahead of the launch, followed by continued momentum after it should be the aim. Competitions are an excellent method because they can also encourage the brand to go viral. People will tell their loved ones about the chance to win free goods.
Competitions can be run via social media, in-store campaigns, or surveys. One option is to give away one copy of the product for free when people register their interest. Another is to run a competition where someone that purchases the new product wins a special prize, like a holiday. Or you could run one where the person with the best photo of the product wins.
The value of competitions isn’t limited to interest in the product. You could offer users a small discount on their next purchase to generate more sales. Likewise, getting them to fill questionnaires can deliver valuable insights.
#8. Utilise Omni Channel Marketing
It is statistically and anecdotally believed that you need seven touchpoints to get a sale. So, you will need to keep your product fresh in the consumer’s mind by creating those interactions. Omni channel marketing is the perfect solution. It targets consumers across online and offline interactions.
Blog posts on your websites that can be shared on social media work well. Meanwhile, you can use a range of pre-launch videos and explainer vids. Countdowns to the launch, followed by sneak peeks and videos showing how to use a product are key. Meanwhile, a combination of traditional advertising and online PPC ads can work well.
Contacting existing clients and leads can be very useful too. This gives your sales staff a chance to explain how the product is suited to them. Conversely, when you limit yourself to one outlet, you restrict your hopes of building excitement.
#9. Reach Out For Partnerships
Your newly launched product can be sold in-store, at pop-up stores, trade show events, and your website. However, if people are unaware of your brand, they won’t be able to complete a purchase. Even if they come across the stores by luck, they won’t have trust in the business, which can harm product sales. You can leverage success from partners.
Getting your products into a retail outlet or department store can work wonders. Consumers know that they can trust the store and, therefore, your products by association. Even if they have doubts, they’ll know that return policies are in place. Likewise, they will be more confident about storing personal details and payment info.
The fact that they may offer repayment plans can help your sales too. When you cannot get your products into another store, starting an Amazon or eBay shop is ideal. People are more confident with those platforms, even when the products still come from you.
#10. Create An Online Path To Conversion
As mentioned above, only a small percentage of consumers will complete a sale during the first interaction with the brand. So, you need to take them on a journey that leads them to a converted sale. This is the path to conversion and ensures that they do not abandon the future purchase in favour of your competitors.
A marketing funnel should cover five stages. They are Awareness, Consideration, Conversion, Loyalty, and Advocacy. You can purchase templated email marketing streams to aid the process. Simply input the content and the beautifully designed emails will be sent when certain triggers are met.
Using follow-up calls from your sales team is another positive step to take. Once someone is genuinely considering the purchase, it would be a huge shame to lose the sale. Keep them on the road to sales, and you see good sales volumes for your new product.
