Are you getting ready to launch a new product? Want the launch to go off as positively as possible? If so, there are a few things you’re going to want to do beforehand.
Curious as to what these things are? Then read on. Here are 6 things to do before launching a new product.
1. Analyze Its Need
First and foremost, before you even start manufacturing your product, you need to analyze its potential need. This way, you can determine whether it’s truly worth manufacturing in the first place. If there isn’t a large group of people that can benefit from your product, you’re going to lose money on its rollout.
Now, how do you analyze need? well, there are a number of ways. One option is to send out surveys; another option is to arrange focus groups; there are likely studies available that can help solidify your decisions as well.
In any case, you need to think long and hard about whether this product is eventually going to provide you with a monetary return. It’s not enough to break even. You want to generate a fairly substantial profit.
2. Choose a Launch Date
You shouldn’t just launch a product at any old time. You need to choose your launch date carefully so as to find as many initial buyers as possible. If your product gets off to a slow start, it could lose all momentum and fail to sell entirely.
Consider what your product is and then come up with a time of year in which it would thrive the most.
Is it a water-related sporting good? If so, you should try to launch it at the beginning of spring.
Is it an expensive technological device or gaming console? If so, you might consider launching it a few months before Christmas.
What you don’t want to do is launch, say, snowshoes in July. No one is going to be in the mood for snowshoeing when it’s 90 degrees outside. As such, your product won’t attract attention and, ultimately, won’t sell.
Think reasonably and find a good ballpark date for launching. Then, you can use your chosen date to establish the rest of your pre-launch schedule.
3. Advertise
A product launch should be surrounded by excitement. There needs to be a buildup. You can’t just release a product discreetly and expect customers to flock.
Instead, you have to advertise. When advertising, show consumers how they can benefit from your product. Highlight its special features and demonstrate how it can serve needs in a functional capacity.
You should be advertising on a number of platforms. Social media might just be the most important at this point. However, you’ll also want to advertise through more traditional platforms like TV and radio.
It’s generally a good idea to put out a press release for a new product as well. This way, should the media feel like doing a story on your product, they’ll have all of the information necessary to do so. For help on writing a press release, take a look at this press release sample.
4. Test Your Product
A decent way to predict the success of your product is to test it amongst would-be customers. You can facilitate this in a number of ways.
You could hold a focus group and have the customers test the product in person. You could also send the products out to past and random customers.
In either case, you want to be sure to get feedback. This feedback is vital in that it shows what the consumer likes and doesn’t like about your product. As such, it enables you to make informed alterations to your product, thus increasing its overall functionality and marketability.
5. Train Customer Service Employees
It’s not just you that has to understand how your product works. Your employees need to understand it as well, and, in particular, your customer service employees. After all, someone has to answer your customers when things go wrong with your products.
For this reason, in the weeks leading up to the product release, you need to ensure that your customer service employees are being trained in its use and functionality.
Make sure that these employees can answer potential questions about your product and make sure that they possess at least a cursory understanding of its components.
6. Establish an Avenue for Customer Feedback
There’s very little chance that your product is perfect. And even if it is, there’s very little chance that all of your customers will think so. Customers are bound to have complaints and you’re highly advised to listen to them.
For this reason, prior to the launch of your product, you should establish an avenue through which customers can easily pass feedback. This will help those customers to feel heard and will also ensure that you’re getting the information you need in order to improve your product in the future.
Now, what exactly should you use as an avenue for customer feedback? There are a few options, and, truthfully, you should use a few of them.
One option is to create a landing page on your website that asks for reviews of your product. Another is to send emails to those who purchased your product asking for their thoughts and concerns. You might even consider calling customers who have purchased your product (though some customers can be turned off by this).
In any case, you need to get in touch with the consumers. Doing so can have a large positive impact on the success of your business.
Launching a New Product Can Be Complex
As you can see, there’s much more to launching a new product than just releasing it in stores. There are a variety of things you need to handle before facilitating the launch. Follow the above-reviewed tips and your launch is sure to go off without a hitch.
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