Every year, there are approximately 30,000 new products introduced by companies in the U.S. But unfortunately, somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of those products fail to make much of an impact and are discontinued before the following year.
If you’re currently planning a new product launch, you obviously want to give your product every single chance to succeed. That means putting out a product that will meet the needs of your consumers. But it also means taking steps to launch a new product in the most efficient way possible.
Do you want to make sure your product has the opportunity to be successful once it hits the open market? Here are 10 tips that will improve your chances of acing your new product launch.
1. Price Your Product Right
How much is your product going to cost to buy? This is, as you know, one of the most important questions you’ll have to ask yourself before your new product launch.
If you price your product too high, you might turn some consumers off right away. But if you price it too low, it might sell out quickly without returning much profit.
You should spend the months leading up to your product launch considering how to price it. You should research similar products, hold focus groups, and do whatever else it takes to price your product right.
2. Create a Sales Plan
Outside of a coming up with a price for your product, you also need to create a sales plan for it. Will it:
- Be sold in stores?
- Be sold online?
- Be sold through a home shopping network?
- Be sold alongside in-store demonstrations?
- Be sold door-to-door?
Your strategic business planning will ultimately dictate how you go about selling your product. If your plan isn’t airtight and you aren’t committed to using one specific sales plan, you’re setting yourself up for failure from the start.
3. Train Your Employees to Sell Your Product
Once you have a clear sales plan in place and you know how you’re going to sell your product after your new product launch, you should speak with your employees and train them to sell your product.
In some cases, your employees might need to plan to get out in the field and sell, sell, sell on your behalf.
In others, your employees might need to be prepared to answer customer calls and speak with them about what your product does and why they need it.
Regardless of how you plan to sell your product, you will need your employees to play a part in the product launch planning. They need to be on the same page with you so that they’re ready to do the dirty work necessary to sell products.
4. Set Sales Goals
When you first launch a product, you want it to sell well. But you also want to be realistic about your sales.
Unless you’re selling something that’s truly revolutionary and one of a kind, your sales probably won’t be through the roof.
You should set realistic goals that you think you can hit and then work towards hitting them. If you meet them in just a few weeks? Hey, that’s not a bad problem to have.
You can always add more goals to your list later and try to hit them. But it’s better to set realistic goals and meet them than it is to set unrealistic ones and come up painfully short.
5. Figure Out How You Plan to Market Your Product
In addition to figuring out a sales strategy for your new product, you will also need to plan to market your product. Whether that means running an ad in a local newspaper or running a commercial during the Super Bowl, marketing is the way you’re going to let people know about your product.
It’s a good idea to spend time thinking about the best way to market your product. A print ad might not show all the ways people can use your product. At the same time, an expensive commercial might not be necessary if you’re selling something that doesn’t require much explanation.
The key should be to create a marketing budget and then utilize it to get the most bang for your buck when advertising a product.
6. Create a Social Media Strategy
One of the best parts about launching a new product in 2018 is that you could theoretically market it without spending any money at all.
It won’t be easy, but you can use social media to market a new product successfully. By coming up with the perfect campaign, you can have everyone talking about your product without spending a dime on marketing.
Finding a great social media campaign for a product won’t be easy. But it’s worth exploring it to make the most of your new product launch.
7. Motivate People to Buy Your Product
When your product first launches, people might wonder why they need to buy it. It’s your job to tell them.
You can do all the clever marketing you want, but why do people need to run out and buy your product right now? That’s the question you need to answer for them.
Will the product:
- Make it easier for them to get out of bed in the morning?
- Help them spend more time with their families?
- Allow them to get in better shape in just minutes a day?
- Show them how to stick to a better diet?
No matter what your product does, people will need to have a reason to have to have it. You should be able to motivate them to go out and buy it.
8. Offer Promotions
When you’re first trying to sell people on a product, they’re going to be skeptical about it. It doesn’t matter if it’s actually the greatest product in the world; they will doubt how great it is.
You can help them put their skepticism to the side by offering them a great deal on it. Maybe that means slashing the price in half for a week. Maybe it means giving people two products for the price of one.
Regardless, you should consider holding a promotion to sell your product initially. By making people feel like they’re getting a good deal, you can encourage them to buy your product.
9. Make Immediate Improvements to Your Product
It’s not going to be possible to make improvements to all products on the fly. For instance, if you’re selling a new bike, you can’t suddenly change one of the parts on it after production is done.
But if you’re selling, say, a new smartphone app and you find that it’s malfunctioning for some customers, you can make improvements to it and update it to ensure people enjoy using it.
If at all possible, you should be making continuous improvements after your new product launch to show your commitment to your product.
10. Gather Feedback From Customers
After people have had a few weeks to digest your product, you should start asking for feedback on it. You can:
- Put up a survey on your website
- Send out a questionnaire to those on your mailing list
- Set up focus groups
You should also listen to those who call your customer service department to complain. Many of their complaints can help you improve your product and the way it works in the future.
Enjoy a Successful New Product Launch
It’s not easy to execute a new product launch. But you can do it if you have a great product and are willing to work at selling it. These business resources can help you to find ways to create a sales plan, come up with a marketing campaign, and more.
Check out our blog for additional information on running a successful business.