5 Essential Steps for Launching a New Product

Launching a product or releasing a new version is a milestone activity that requires meticulous preparation in advance of the launch date. It includes a series of activities that need to be planned and executed to successfully coordinate the product launch. These activities can be categorized into 5 essential steps for product launch. Let’s look at each of the 5 steps in detail.

Market Research & Positioning

Understanding the customer segment is the first activity in launching a product. Through market research, businesses should find out the customer pain points that can be translated to developing and marketing a solution that’s in tune with the customer’s needs. This can be done by having meaningful conversations with buyers and asking questions about issues that need immediate attention. It also helps to develop a buyer persona for the sales team to focus their sales efforts. To position the product better in the market, you must consider questions such as:

• Who is the product designed for?
• What are its various features and benefits?
• What are its key differentiators and USPs (Unique Selling Points)?
• What brand name and category will your product have?
• How it stands out from its competitors?
• Which segment of the target audience is most likely to buy the product?
• Is there hard evidence or proof of how your product is different?

An important activity to carry out at this first step is to pitch the product positioning to the internal stakeholders. If the internal team gives a positive reply, then it’s a good sign to go ahead with the positioning strategy.

Go-To-Market Strategy

The Go-To-Market strategy, aka GTM, is the process through which a company brings the product to the market. It is focused on the entire product lifecycle, including activities like drafting a demand creation plan, implementation plan, and more. Businesses may choose to use the funnel strategy or the flywheel approach. Sales is a critical component of any GTM strategy, so a sales strategy for each stage – awareness, consideration, and purchase – should be charted out to attract the prospect’s attention. In a nutshell, the GTM strategy is the roadmap for your product to target customers and achieve success with a greater competitive edge.

Content Creation

Every stage of the GTM needs quality content to engage with the prospects in different ways. Some important types of content that are imperative for product launches are blog posts, demos and tutorials, and landing pages. Quality content will align with promotional efforts and can prove useful in nurturing prospects.

Internal Communication

Internal communication is vital to a successful product launch. All key stakeholders need to be provided with the launch plan well in advance, so they are prepared for all activities leading up to the launch date, and as well as post-launch activities. This can be done through presentations at group meetings, and via regular email updates that keep everyone in the loop.

Product Launch

Once all the previous steps have been completed, it’s blast-off time with the product launch. After the product launch, it is imperative to track how your GTM strategy is performing. This tracking will provide insight into what’s working and what isn’t. These insights enable you to adjust your plan and marketing and sales efforts, in case they are not working as expected.

Each step leading to the final product launch is highly critical and cannot be overlooked. Each step is time-intensive and requires sales and marketing to work in tandem, in order to smoothly execute the launch. Customer feedback should also be tracked and if found useful, it should be implemented in order to garner a loyal following.

An equally important activity after the physical product or service is launched, is the launch of a mobile app. Launching a mobile app is an enormous opportunity to connect directly with end users, and taps into the lucrative and steadily growing m-commerce space. If you’re looking to set up a mobile app store for your newly launched product, Vajro can be of assistance. Vajro is an industry-leading, instant mobile app factory, catering to businesses that require a smart mobile app to delight their customers and drive business growth. Drop us a line and our team will get back to you.