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Market Your New Product or ServiceFollow these 7 steps to a successful launch. By Kim T. Gordon So you want to bring a new product or service to market. You’ve done your homework and decided exactly what you plan to offer, now all you need is sales. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Every day countless new product and service ideas are conceived – never to be born because they’re not properly brought to market. In fact, a large percentage of the calls our coaches receive are from small-business owners who want exactly this sort of help. And we carefully guide them through these 7 important steps to bringing their new products and services to market. 1. Study Your Competition Many business marketing classes teach participants to perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. Start by taking a serious look at your competitors. Make a list of the businesses that offer products or services similar to the one you plan to launch. Even if you think your new product or service is entirely unique and without existing competition, it’s important to put yourself in your prospective customers’ shoes and imagine what they might buy in lieu of what you plan to offer. Once you decide who your competitors will be, review their marketing materials, including ads, brochures and web sites. Evaluate how your new product or service will stand up against what’s already being offered, in what ways you will excel, and which companies or their offerings pose the greatest threats to your success. 2. Target the Ideal Customer To successfully launch your new product or service with a minimum financial outlay, it’s essential to focus exclusively on the prospects you believe are most likely to purchase from you. These may be customers who are currently buying something similar and will appreciate the additional features your new product or service provides. Your best prospects have a perceived need for what you offer, can afford to buy it and have demonstrated a willingness to do so – probably by purchasing from your competition. Bear in mind, it’s always easier to fill a need than to create one. 3. Create a Unique Value Proposition At this stage, you should have a clear understanding of what you must offer in order to stand apart from your competition and who will want to take advantage of your offer. Do you know why customers will want to buy from you, versus the vast field of competitors out there? What benefits and features will you provide that your prospective customers will value most? The bottom line is that your product or service "bundle" should be unique and meet the needs and desires of your best prospects. 4. Define Your Marketing Strategy and Tactics Next, choose your sales and marketing channels. Will you market online, via catalog, or through dealers, for example? Generally, multichannel marketers achieve the greatest success because customers who can shop when and however they like tend to spend more and shop more often. Suppose your strategy is to market a low-cost workout device to people who can’t afford gym memberships or high-priced home equipment. You might choose traditional direct marketing plus online sales as your primary channels, and employ tactics including direct-response television spots and online ads and e-mail solicitations that link to your web site. 5. Test Your Concept and Marketing Approach With all the money it takes to bring a new product or service to market, it’s foolhardy to rush headlong into the launch phase prior to testing. What should you test? It’s best to examine your product or service bundle plus your marketing message and even materials. Depending on what you plan to market and your budget, you can use formal focus groups (or simply host roundtable discussions with members of the target audience), employ online research, mall intercept studies, or distribute your product to a select group of users for testing, for example. Only after testing is complete, should you proceed to final creation of your tools and marketing materials. 6. Roll Out Your Campaign Public relations often plays a vital role in a product or service launch. You can use media relations tactics to place articles and win interviews, get coverage by allowing key press to review your product, hold a launch event, or use grass-roots marketing to build buzz. But no matter what publicity route you choose, first make sure your product or service is completely ready and available for purchase to maximize returns from the coverage you receive. Your other marketing efforts should follow closely on the heels of your press roll out. Monitor the results from all media and, in the first weeks and months, be prepared to adjust your campaign to take advantage of what works best. 7. Know Your Product’s Lifecycle The campaign that you use during the introduction and education phase will soon need to be updated as your product or service matures. If you’re monitoring your marketing results carefully, you’ll begin to see diminishing returns that will indicate when it’s time to revise the product or service itself, alter your media message or even phase out this particular offering and lay the groundwork for the launch of your next great idea. Get In-depth Coaching on this Topic>>
Kim T. Gordon's columns and articles are read by more than 3 million small-business owners each month. She is a small-business expert and the author of four books, including Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business. Copyrighted material. May not be reproduced in whole or part without expressed permission from the author. |
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