Your company’s put a ton of energy into coming up with new product ideas. New products are what keep your brand engaging and alive. So the last thing you want to do is have those items flop once you bring them to market. To ensure product launch success, your team needs a plan that covers all the bases — from positioning to distribution.
While you likely have a general idea of the steps you’ll need to include, you don’t want to miss anything. Luckily, we’ve outlined four of the critical actions your team will need to take. Here’s how to help ensure your next product launch will be a success.
1. Create a Master Document
Some teams call their master document a launch plan template. It includes an overview of the product strategy with product descriptions, positioning statements, and key performance indicators. The master document contains all the pertinent information team members need to know along the way.
Your master document outlines critical deadlines and the external vendors various groups may need to engage. Take the marketing department as an example. The product launch plan could include working with an outside provider of technical writing services to produce how-to guides. Your in-house content development team can then work with the marketing department to focus on creating supporting website copy and ad campaigns.
Other parts of the launch plan template could provide an overview of the product’s brand strategy and measurable goals. Perhaps you’re introducing the item in hopes of gaining ground in a previously unpenetrated market. The template should include how you’ll measure this goal by specific timelines and what you’ll do to course-correct if necessary. A master document is a way to keep everyone in sync as the launch progresses.
2. Determine Your Positioning Statement
It would be great if you could simply launch a product and your audience would instantly adopt it. But most launches don’t usually work that way. You need to convince your target market they need your offering. It’s a process that usually begins with determining who will most likely use the product. You also want to convey what the product does and how it’s different from the competition.
At a minimum, a product positioning statement will include these three components. You might choose to flesh out your statement with more in-depth details. Say you’re not simply expanding an existing product line. You’re delving into new territory by adding an item you’ve never sold. You believe that while the product represents a departure for your company, it’s a natural fit with a segment of your target market.
Your positioning statement can identify which segment of your audience is most likely to use the product. What need will it fulfill for them? And how will your version of the product stand out from potential substitutes? Answers to the last question can include evidence of how your product better addresses the audience’s pain points.
3. Run Sufficient Tests
The first version of your product probably won’t be its last. And there’s a chance the team’s initial ideas won’t pan out. However, you don’t want to find out there’s a glitch post-launch. Thorough testing and quality assurance processes help prevent this from happening.
Sufficient testing begins once the team has an idea and continues after launch. Before you develop a prototype, get feedback from a smaller segment of your target audience. See what they think of the emerging ideas and what they wish products would do to solve their most pressing problems. Is there an overlap between the two? And are there gaps that refinements of the team’s product ideas can fill?
Once you have a prototype, keep the testing process going with focus groups. If you’ve got more than one viable product version, try split testing to see which one’s more popular. After determining you’ve got a promising prototype, run quality assurance tests before a full launch. Find the bugs and make improvements based on feedback from beta users. Upon launch, have a way for customers to continue providing feedback so you can make tweaks as necessary.
4. Design a Distribution Strategy
Forecasting demand for a new product can be tricky. You usually don’t have much historical data to rely on, if any. While you might have some inkling of how well your product will sell, you won’t really know until after launch. Ensuring you have enough but not too much product on hand may be a case of trial and error.
Still, you do need to figure out your supply chain before launch day. You should know what channels the company will use to distribute the item, whether that’s your e-commerce site, mass retailers, or some other approach. You must also predetermine the steps you’ll need to take behind the scenes to fulfill demand through each channel.
For example, will the business need to invest in additional technology to make website orders more convenient for customers? Perhaps there are other vendors your company needs to partner with to smooth out behind-the-scenes processes. You could need more suppliers to keep costs and delivery timelines within expectations. It’s all about optimizing your inventory while ensuring you meet customer expectations.
Launching New Products With Confidence
There’s always a little bit of trepidation when you embark on something new. Launching a product a target market hasn’t seen before is something businesses regularly do, but it requires good planning. When your team has done its homework, it can be more confident about the results. You’ll leave less room for error and be able to anticipate how to respond to what could lie ahead.