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A successful product launch is backed by solid marketing strategy. 

As per Harvard Business School’s report, more than 30,000 new consumer products are launched and 95% of them fail due to ineffective marketing strategy.  

It is understandable why marketing is considered the last phase of any product. However, you don’t underplay the importance of an effective marketing strategy as a business. A weak marketing strategy will make the sales suffer even if you are confident in your product and the research behind it. 

You can devise a marketing strategy with proper planning and proactive steps to garner the desired results. The key, however, is to have a dynamic marketing strategy for different businesses. A strategy for a small business launching its first product will be different than a business launching its new product or an update on an existing product.

In this article, we will look at five marketing strategies that will help your business in a successful product launch. However, before jumping right into the strategies, let us understand how to launch a product. 

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How do you launch a product? 

Launching a product after you’ve spent so much time and energy building it can get intimidating. Whether you’re a small business launching your first product or an established one announcing your nth product, you still may be hung up on the question of how to launch a product effectively.

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To break it to you–there is no right or wrong answer to this question since every business requirements are different. However, there are certain generic points to keep in mind that are common for all nature of business:  

- Ensure that you include all parties including important stakeholders and key teams in the process of planning a launch.  

- Start preparing for the launch way ahead of the launch date. Preparation includes finalizing the activities, doing thorough research on your customers, and coming up with pre-product launch activities. 

To help you come up with a great product launch, we’ve come up with five marketing strategies for you. So let’s get to it without further ado. 

1. Target the right customers 

Hit the right nerve for your product launch to be a hit. 

Your product launch’s success entirely depends on how much it appeals to your prospects. There would likely be existing businesses offering what your product is. In such a case, research your competitors and show your audience what makes your product better than your competitors.  

If you are an established business launching a new product, ensure you know your target audience for the specific product. Whether you are a small business or an established one, there is no way to thoroughly understand your users so that the launch hits the right chord of the right pool. 

- Does your product speak uniquely to your target audience? How?

- Does it solve their current problems? 

- Do you know what issues they are facing? 

The questions mentioned above will help you refine your audience and think harder about whether you know your target pool or not. 

2. Be clear on your business’ values 

A fancy product designed with an unclear objective is bound for failure. 

No matter what features you incorporate in your product if it fails to speak to your audience, it simply fails you as a business. A business that effectively focuses on the prospects' specific needs will succeed. Your product should answer why I should buy this, for your customers. 

Also, don't fall into the trap and try to find your business values in fancy lingo and incomprehensible jargon. The way you express these values is essential. However, your values need to be solid. A strong vision, after all, is simple to define. Of course, the design aspect, copywriting, etc., are crucial to any business. 

The key is to focus on how your product reflects your business values instead of how well you can define them. Focus on how your product sets your business apart from your competitors and check if the product can convince this value addition to the prospects. 

3. Define and test your marketing strategy

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As per the reports by Statista, mobile devices generated 54.4% of global website traffic. This stat speaks volumes about the need for mobile marketing. You must go beyond the traditional marketing and sales channels. You will lose many potential customers if your marketing does not encompass mobile marketing. 

Devising a marketing strategy considering your target audience and their preferred device is a crucial step 1. Get as specific as you can while defining your marketing strategy. For instance, you can create a product-specific mobile application for your customers so that they can seamlessly do so even when they want to switch to a laptop or desktop to complete the purchase. 

Once you define your marketing strategy, it is time to test it. You must’ve heard of product testing. Similarly, testing your digital marketing strategies keeps you ahead in the game. Conduct round table discussions or focus groups with potential customers where they get the chance to interact with you and discuss potential threats to the strategies. 

Informal discussions with potential customers are a great way to get valuable insights into what your customers think about your product. A/B testing is another way to test marketing strategies for emails and social media ads. An amalgam of these testing methods will let you know what resonates the most with your customers and what doesn’t. 

4. Use social media trends 

You must be aware of the Little Miss meme that’s going viral on Instagram lately. Businesses adapt to these trending memes to promote their products. Similarly, you need to find these trends on social media channels and utilize them to announce your product and launch. The key is to find a trend that sits right with your product and thus make your brand omnichannel. 

Get creative and create your trend with hashtags. Take advantage of influencer marketing to reach out to a larger audience. Just ensure that in doing so, you stay true to your brand voice and values. After all, authenticity matters significantly for your business's credibility, and customers quickly pick out shallowness. 

 Images, infographics, and videos are popular social media content formats, especially regarding product promotion. In recent years, videos have become increasingly popular on social media. A well made video is an incredibly engaging medium that can quickly capture attention and hold interest. Additionally, video is highly shareable, making it easy for users to spread the word about new products. For example, a business that wants to promote its new application, can use explainer videos for mobile apps to give potential users a quick and easy way to learn about your app and what it can do for them.

5. Organize pre-launch giveaways and offer pre-offers

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A consumer in today’s day and age demands engagement. They want multiple ways of communication from a business so strive to give them those experiences in whichever ways you can. Creating anticipation among the audience is a great way to launch a new product. A pre-launch giveaway invokes excitement in the audience for your product. 

Moreover, such giveaways enable the winners to promote your brand on their social media pages which aids in your brand marketing. The more people know about your brand, the more it enhances brand awareness. Offering pre-launch giveaways would help, especially if you are a start-up. 

Let your customer pre-order the product if you want to launch a new product as an already established business. This would directly impact your sales as when potential customers witness a high number of pre-orders, they would be compelled to check the product out. 

This technique of giving pre-launch giveaways and offering pre-offers creates a ripple effect among your potential customers and helps your chances of conversion rates. 

 

Wrapping up 5 marketing strategies for a successful product launch 

If you’ve been planning to launch your product, hopefully, the article helped you figure out ways to kickstart devising a solid marketing strategy. Ensure that you consider your target audience when devising these strategies and try them out on a specific pool before implementing them on a big scale. 

Although the marketing strategies are mentioned in the article, how you choose to use them for your business entirely depends on you. Plus, these strategies are primarily digital so if your business demands offline marketing like banners and pamphlets, go for it. Depending on your budget and requirements, you can mix and match offline and online marketing strategies. 

Good luck!

Feel free to contact us to see the unprecedented growth of your business.

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