Tips for Masterminding Your New Product Launch

Ritika Puri

Your product can’t launch in a vacuum.

The “if you build it, they will come” mentality is long obsolete. Now more than ever before, the digital media space is overflowing with content, products, and services. Companies want to actively seek out their customers and deliver a clear and compelling value proposition. This is especially true when launching a new product.

If you’re just getting started, however, you may feel overwhelmed. With a rolodex of marketing options, a limited budget, and short runway in terms of time and bandwidth, you need to make sure that your approach is impactful. How do you generate as much value as possible from your new product launch? Here are some tips to guide you:

Build a Focused Yet Balanced Acquisition Strategy

Ideally, you should have this process defined ahead of your product launch date. You need to identify your target buyers and the most efficient channels for reaching them. If you’re aiming to reach an audience of college students, for instance, you may want to reach out to on-campus student groups or professors.

You’ll want to diversify your acquisition strategy as early on in your process as possible. You never know what in your marketing plan might change, all of a sudden: for instance, Facebook might release a change to the platform’s terms and conditions within noticed. Not to mention, your marketing experiments may not perform as planned—you don’t want your customer acquisition eggs in one basket.

Know your growth strategy, diversify your marketing options, and run continuous experiments. By the time that you launch, you’ll have a viable and profitable distribution model in place.

Create Amazing Messaging

Simply put: your value proposition should be nothing short of awesome. What do I mean by awesome? I mean your product messaging must be razor sharp and focused on the well researched pain points of your buyer. Know their jobs, everyday vernacular, and unique challenges like the back of your hand.

Even though there’s time to iterate over the long-term, a product launch is a “make or break” moment in the sense that every micro-interaction is an opportunity to win over your target customers.

Understand that messaging takes time to refine, but put in the time up front to refine your elevator pitch. Collect feedback from your target audience, market test ideas for tag lines, and determine what questions you need to answer.

Make every audience interaction count by starting this process early. Make sure that your messaging is clear, direct, and compelling.

Iterate Quickly

Once your product is launched, you’re going to quickly generate insights that you didn’t have before. You’re going to need to switch directions and course-correct—often on the fly and very early on in your marketing strategy.

Make sure that you and your teams are well-positioned to react and adapt accordingly. You need a systematized process to vet and discuss your insights. You’re going to need to make important trade-offs at an accelerated pace, including areas in which you weren’t looking. Perhaps a new channel or partner emerges—you’ll need to create the space for your team to pivot quickly to accommodate these opportunities.

The Bottom Line

Never treat your product launch as an isolated project. You’re going to need time to refine your value proposition, build out the right marketing channels, and adapt your approach as you continue to learn. Don’t strive for perfection: aim to constantly learn and adapt instead.

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