Executive Summary 

• Understanding your target audience’s wants and needs is a crucial step for facilitating a successful product launch that speaks to consumer interests.
• A product launch should be supplemented with strategic messaging, a strong positioning statement, and promotional content that centers around your product’s unique value.
• Create hype for your product by releasing previews, holding launch events, and leaning into influencer marketing.
• Amplify your product launch by emphasizing the product’s story, highlighting customer feedback, and staying ready to adapt to changes in the market.

Done right, a product launch can take off and leave your company basking in the success, but a product launch done wrong can fizzle out before it gains steam. So, what’s the secret to an impactful product launch? All you need is an intentional strategy to position your product as one that provides value and improves the lives of your audience in some way.

The proper promotion, planning, and framing will allow your product launch to generate excitement and captivate consumers. This guide will highlight how to maximize your new product launch and make a splash when you do.

Product Launch Checklist

Like any other rollout, a new product launch is not simple—it must coincide with consistent and careful planning. Launching your product is one of the final steps of the process, behind a meticulous preparation strategy. An impactful product launch should include the following steps from pre-launch to post-launch.

1. Learn from Your Customers

We say this all the time, but it can’t be overstated enough—you need to understand your target audience for a successful rollout, whether it’s a new marketing campaign, product, or anything. When aiming for a successful product launch, determine who your target audience is and how to reach them properly with market research.

Be sure to understand customer pain points, ambitions, motivations, and interests so that you can explain how your product meets them. Positioning your product as one that speaks to customer’s desires only helps you create a better product and compel audiences to buy it.

Some ways to learn from your customers include:

• Focus groups
• Consumer surveys
• Social media monitoring
• Customer interviews

2. Write a Positioning Statement

Before you launch your product, you need to convey to your audience what you want your product to do and how it fulfills a given need. A positioning statement directly communicates the unique value proposition of your product.

This positioning statement will also ensure that your team is on the same page and set the foundation for team collaboration, which is crucial for successful product launches. Your sales team, customer support team, product teams, and product marketing teams can all use this statement for reference.

Some of the questions you should answer when developing this statement should include: 

• Why are you launching this product?
• What will consumers gain by using this product?
• Who will benefit most from your product?
• Why is your product unique compared to other products?
• How does this product relate to your overall brand strategy?

3. Create your messaging

Once you have your positioning statement established, it’s time to develop a messaging framework that will resonate with your target audience. Surround your product launch with messaging that covers the benefits and centers around the unique value of the product.

When creating your messaging, consider the following ways to convey it:

• Email marketing campaigns
• Social media marketing campaigns
• Social media posts
• Promotional videos and commercials
• Website blogs and landing pages

Just be sure that your messaging framework aligns with your product branding so that the launch maintains a sense of consistency.

4. Build your market strategy

After you develop a clear positioning statement and the right messaging, you’re ready to bring your product to the market. It’s your choice on how you prefer to do so, but your strategy will depend on your current brand reach and the nature of your product.

The two most common go-to-market strategies are:

• Funnel strategy – The funnel strategy focuses on building anticipation for the product before release by releasing a series of previews that get people excited for your launch.
• Flywheel strategy – This strategy prioritizes generating interest in a section of your audience so that they have a positive experience and spread the word to other potential consumers.

5. Set goals for your launch

Like any other brand launch, you must have a set goal from the start. Setting benchmarks for your launch gives you a goal to work toward and allows you to monitor your progress along the way.

These benchmarks will also provide a metric of how successful your product is once you launch. Brands can then use this information to track their progress throughout the launch and make adjustments to the strategy when necessary.

Some metrics you can use to measure progress include:

• Sales revenue
• Product units sold
• Customer conversion rates
• Website traffic and engagement
• Social media engagement
• Social media mentions

6. Promote your product

Of course, promoting your new product is key to getting eyes on it and building audience interest. Promotion efforts will introduce your product to new audiences and give consumers a chance to learn about it and what it has to offer. 

Some ways to promote your product include:

• Building influencer partnerships
• Hosting in-person launch events or presentations
• Showcasing the product through brand activations
• Incorporating customer referral programs
• Producing promotional content, like landing pages and blog posts

This promotion should occur both before and after your product launch so that you don’t lose any momentum in your efforts.

Best Practices for Launching a New Product

Once you have your product launch plan, you can propel your launch even further by keeping a few key strategies in mind.

Develop a story and purpose

Your product should resonate with your audience in some way so that they’re interested in buying. Developing a story and purpose will highlight the value and the “why” behind a product, as well as build the identity established around it. 

Storytelling also invokes emotion and sticks in a person’s memory, making them more likely to remember the product and want to buy it. Determine a plan to make that happen by asking what stories you might want to tell with your product.

Think about how this product came to be, why your brand created it, and how you see it improving the lives of consumers. Then, include this story in your marketing content and messaging, especially on social media channels, to generate added interest.

Highlight customer feedback

The value of customer feedback is a crucial part of successful product launches. As many as 95% of consumers read online reviews before deciding to purchase a product. The power of social proof helps customers feel like they’re taking less of a risk when they buy a newly launched product.

With that in mind, encircling your product launch with customer feedback, testimonials, and reviews will prove it’s a worthwhile investment and frame it as one that’s worth buying. Incorporating customer quotes and testimonials into your messaging and showcasing them on social media will get others interested in your product and want to see the benefits for themselves.

Create hype for the product

If you can create a buzz around your new product or service, then you’ll be ahead of the curve when you officially launch. Ideally, you want your customers to be waiting for the date of the product launch in anticipation.

Generate hype for your new product by preparing your marketing efforts well in advance and being intentional about creating excitement. Some strategies for doing so include:

• Communicate the value of your product
• Release press releases about the product
• Build partnerships with brands with similar audience values
• Leverage pay-per-click campaigns (PPC)
• Create an experiential marketing campaign centered around the product

Leverage influencer marketing

As more people engage with social media and online video platforms, influencer marketing has become an invaluable tool. Influencer-created unboxing and review videos are great ways to engage audiences and introduce them to the value of your products.

Some tips for successful influencer marketing partnerships include:

• Work with influencers that have established followings
• Ensure that the influencer is aligned with the message of your brand
• Communicate clear goals for the partnership
• Allow for creative freedom on the part of the influencer

Consider a pre-order option

Successful product launches generate a considerable amount of hype and attention well before the release, giving brands a chance to capitalize on the excitement. Ensure you don’t lose any of that momentum by offering a pre-order option. This will encourage consumers to convert at the peak of their interest.

When the product is released, these consumers will be among the first to receive it—this is also a golden opportunity to start the public conversation about your product and build positive buzz once it’s launched.

Be ready to pivot

A product launch is an opportunity to build momentum and generate excitement in your product. However, there are situations where you may need to adapt your strategy or change plans entirely.

In some circumstances, it may be necessary to delay a product launch to avoid the risk of the launch not going according to plan. Some instances to consider delaying include:

• Customers are dissatisfied with a current product or offering
• The product isn’t ready, and rolling it out would affect the customer experience
• Current events in the news that may grab audience attention and overshadow the launch

Remain nimble after your launch, too. Pay attention to your KPIs and relate them back to your set goals to understand the success of your launch. If the numbers don’t align with the success you were hoping for, you may need to adjust your plan, whether that means shifting marketing spend or developing new creative campaigns. 

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Case Studies

Brands launch new products all the time, but not all are instant hits amongst consumers. Turning an eye toward brands that have had shining product launches can provide a guiding light for brands looking to do the same.

Apple

Although Apple does have its big brand name in its favor, its product launch strategy on its own is one to admire. Even going back to the first iPhone, Apple had success, but it wasn’t at the level of brand authority it is now. Still, it was able to create excitement to the point that people waited in line for the release. 

The marketing around the first iPhone leaned into what made the product special, highlighting the innovative features, like the new touch screen. People saw the value that the new product would bring into their lives and felt that they had to have it.

Since then, Apple has maintained its success through a mix of brand authority and conversation-driving product launch campaigns.

Tesla

Tesla put its name on the map with its unique concept of all-electric cars that, at the time, were still far and away for other car manufacturers. Part of this rapid success came from the hype created by the release of Tesla’s cars, like the Model 3. Tesla demonstrated the unique value, innovation, and overall benefits behind the car.

Tesla is so far managing another great success for a product that hasn’t even launched yet. Tesla’s Cybertruck reveal built incredible hype that got everyone talking and has since generated over 1.9 million pre-orders. Videos from the initial presentation during the product reveal were shared widely across social media, between the distinct design of the truck, its towing capabilities, and its bulletproof exterior.

The product reveal and supplementary videos around the Cybertruck highlighted the undeniably unique value of the vehicle, put its distinct features front and center, and clearly demonstrated why consumers would want to purchase it over other options on the market.

Dollar Shave Club

Dollar Shave Club is proof that you don’t have to have a big brand name to foster a successful product launch. The brand created engaging and entertaining videos that generated excitement around its brand and its unique straight-to-your-door business model.

The brand also leaned heavily into influencer marketing to grow awareness around its product. Influencers created unboxing videos and offered reviews, adding to the conversation around new Dollar Shave Club products, introducing them to a new audience, and offering their opinions to build consumer trust.

This strategy was a great way to generate consumer curiosity and interest and drive up sales as a result. Between its successful product launches and supplementary content, Dollar Shave Club has built its audience and become a key player in the razor market.

Make an Impact with Your Product Launch

A successful product launch is all about building momentum in your favor and then leveraging that to get audiences to convert. Having a robust product launch checklist can make all the difference.

To build a captivating product launch plan, turn to PETERMAYER. We have helped many brands navigate successful, impactful product launches, and we’ll help your brand, too. Using data-driven methods, we work with brands to build campaigns that resonate with their target audiences and make lasting impressions.

Contact us at PETERMAYER to schedule a discovery call and discuss how we can take your brand forward for a successful product launch and more.