Launching new products is a key part of growing or future-proofing a small business, and it has become even more important in today’s uncertain business landscape.
But even if you believe your product is fail-proof, a poorly-planned launch could significantly hamper its success. This article on how to launch a product will provide a handy checklist and guidance on planning and managing the process successfully.
5 Steps to Launching a New Product
Today’s ‘always-on’ consumers – enabled in large part by access to mobile technology and social media – represent one of the biggest ever shifts in the retail industry, according to a report by IBM [1]. Always-on consumers don’t plan shopping trips ahead, the report says. They shop whenever and wherever the mood strikes them, and are likely to have specific demands related to things like price, ingredients, delivery options, and production methods.
They’re also not very loyal; a recent report from McKinsey revealed that 38% of consumers switched brands or products when their preferred product was not available [2]. Your product launch plan should take into account each of these elements:
- Know your audience inside-out
- Establish your minimum viable product
- Plan, test, and adapt your marketing strategy
- Line up your logistics
- Have a safety net
1. Know your audience inside-out
Researching your audience and developing your product can sometimes feel like a chicken-and-egg situation; you need to know what consumers want to develop your product, but you also need to develop your product in order to build a launch strategy. You may need to be flexible about which order steps 1 and 2 take, and whether you cycle between them.
Market research will help you to understand who your customers are, as well as what they want from a product and how and where they want to hear about it.
“If it helps, make up several customer personas,” says Jo Blood, founder of Posture People, which sells ergonomic office furniture and accessories. “Give them names, work out their age, what they do, what jobs they are likely to have, what they read, and what their interests are.”
Don’t focus uniquely on new customers at this stage. Your existing customers can be a vital source of insight, as well as word-of-mouth. “One of the things we did when launching our online workplace assessment tool was to send it to existing customers free-of-charge and ask them for their opinion before launch,” says Blood.
2. Establish your minimum viable product
A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product that delivers the minimum feature set or benefits to solve a specific problem. “The most important word in the above sentence is ‘minimum’,” says business consultant Professor Annie Brooking of business consultancy Magic Monkey.
“If you have delivered much more than the MVP, with features and benefits the customer does not want or need, it’s likely to have taken longer and been more expensive to develop than it needed to be at its launch.”
The process of identifying the MVP can include creating a competitive analysis of your product alongside any competitors, understanding your pricing (including how your competitor’s products are priced, any discount strategies you might have, as well as contingency pricing plans if you have to increase costs), and testing the new product with potential and existing customers.
3. Plan, test, and adapt your marketing strategy
Lots of new products don’t sell, but this isn’t necessarily the result of a bad product. It’s often a sign that it hasn’t been marketed correctly.
As a general rule, 10% of your turnover should be invested in marketing, says marketing strategist Amber Leach, founder of digital marketing agency Established By Her. This figure also applies to a product launch.
“The more you invest in a marketing strategy, the better results you will get, she says, “But it is very important to start small – measure everything, and then build on what is working. There is no point putting thousands behind a campaign that hasn’t been tested.”
Another common mistake is only using one platform for marketing, or using multiple platforms, but not adapting your approach to each. You can lean on your customer personas here to build out your spread and messaging for each, but Leach advises running an organic campaign first, across multiple digital channels.
“Split test your content, measure your results and then, if you have money to invest in social advertising, put the spend behind the most successful organic content.”
Take advantage of delayed payment terms while pulling together your launch. The American Express® Business Gold Card gives you up to 54 days until payment is due so that you can monitor the progress of your product launch before making further expenditure¹.
4. Line up your logistics
When launching a new product, it’s vital to think about all the administrative and practical steps you need to take to be able to sell it across different channels. Thea Paraskevaides is co-founder and creative director of music accessory company Beaumont Music, which released a new range of instrument cleaning swabs in September 2021.
“Because we sell B2B as well as B2C, we needed a universal product code (UPC) and barcode for our distributors, in addition to the standard labelling and packaging that we use when we ship directly to consumers,” says Paraskevaides.
“My best advice would be to do all of this at the same time – get those new UPCs and update your warehouse packing lists, datasheets, and digital catalogues in one fell swoop.
“If you do it piecemeal, you’re bound to miss something.”
5. Have a safety net
Always ensure you’re ready for all aspects of your product launch, including what happens afterwards. “I made a mistake and failed to keep an eye on our website on launch day and ended up being contacted by someone to say the product was out of stock on our site,” says Paraskevaides. “If you’re going to go to all this effort to coordinate with influencers and have a product launch, make sure your website is working!”
Also make sure you have a tech team, or at least someone to jump in on any technical problems, on standby throughout your launch. If 24/7 cover isn’t possible, then try to cover the main trading hours. “Something will go wrong,” says Leach, “so it’s a great idea to have everyone ready and waiting to fix issues if they arise – you could lose thousands of pounds’ worth of sales due to a minor technical issue.”
1. The maximum payment period on purchases is 54 calendar days and is obtained only if you spend on the first day of the new statement period and repay the balance in full on the due date. The American Express Business Gold Card has an annual fee of £195 (£0 in first year).
2. If you'd prefer a Card with no annual fee, rewards or other features, an alternative option is available – the Basic Card.
Sources
[1] IBM, Meet the 2020 Consumers driving change
[2] McKinsey, Survey: UK consumer sentiment during the coronavirus crisis
