Boutique Lifestyle Public Relations Agency Shares Tips To Launch A New Product With Strategy And Confidence

A new product can take a dream and make it a reality by entering a new market. To have a successful new product launch, it is important to plan, conduct market research, price your product well, and protect your brand with an intellectual property lawyer.

Did you know . . .

• “A successful product launch can significantly impact your bottom line.  Successful launches typically lead to 25 percent revenue increases within the first year.” (Source: McKinsey)
• “Ninety percent of companies have to make significant changes after the launch, whether due to unforeseen customer feedback or market conditions.” (Source: Product Marketing Alliance)
• “Thorough market research can increase the likelihood of a successful product launch by up to 30 percent. Knowing your market and competitors is crucial to ensuring your product meets consumer needs.” (Source: CB Insights)

In this blog, Allen Marketing Communications, Inc., a boutique travel and lifestyle public relations agency based in New York City, shares a step-by-step guide to assist business owners in entering the market with a new product launch.

Understanding The Market Before You Build

Market research is vital for any business to understand their ideal customers—demographics and psychographics such as lifestyle, values, motivation, and buying behavior—as well as challenges in the market, competitors, brand identity, and unique selling attributes. “Companies that tend to analyze the market properly are much more likely to thrive in the long term since they limit guesses and match the raises to the actual demand.” (Source: U.S. Small Business Administration).

Market research also helps companies to analyze the pricing, messaging, distribution channels, and website. “An organization that invests in customer insight performs better in revenue growth as well as profitability than its competitors.” (Source: Harvard Business Review).

Validating The Product Concept Early

It is important for companies to test concepts before investing heavily in product development. Surveys, beta testing, pre-orders, or pilot programs are wonderful ways to test the viability of a product. “One of the reasons why 35 percent of startups fail is a lack of market need for their product” (Source: CB Insights).

Listening to potential customer feedback is vital during the initial phase of product development. Their responses will give special emphasis on what they like most in the features, what price will seem reasonable, and what their reservations will be about sales. This step is beneficial in streamlining the product itself and the narrative that you will employ to sell it.

Building A Website That Converts Visitors Into Buyers

A user-friendly website is key to the success of any new product launch, and it is also the first point of contact for individuals to learn about your brand. An efficient, quick, and convenient online site has credibility at a glance. “Half of all users of the mobile industry give up on a site that does not load within three seconds.” (Source: Google).

On your website, it must be very clear on what the product does, who it is targeting, and why it is different. It is important to use plain words, powerful images, and actual merits rather than abstract characteristics. “Consumers believe peer reviews and the recommendations of people they know more than traditional advertising.” (Source: Nielsen).

Creating A Strategic Marketing Plan For Launch Day
 
A strategic marketing plan – brand messages, media relations, social media marketing, consumer promotions, cause-related marketing, and email marketing—is really important to launch a new product. “A brand that has a record marketing plan tends to regard its initiatives as successful." (Source: Content Marketing Institute).

Key messages about launching—companies also ought to talk about change: what changes in the life of the customer once they use your product? Key messages should be integrated into all marketing communications to differentiate a product or service from your competitors.

Protecting Your Brand With Intellectual Property

Companies should protect their brand by hiring an intellectual property lawyer to register original materials and trademark the company name, product, logo, and slogan. “Trademarks are important to brand recognition and consumer confidence by assisting customers in differentiating your product from competitors” (Source: World Intellectual Property Organization).

A trademarked name and logo will avoid legal cases, halt a company’s growth, and prevent expensive rebranding for your product.

Pricing Your Product For Perceived Value

The old adage, if the price is right, then people will buy. Pricing is not a financial choice; it is a brand choice. Price is connected to customers with quality, positioning, and trust. “An eight percent increase in operating profits may be achieved by improving one percent in pricing.” (Source: McKinsey and Company). Pricing is one of the strongest levers to launch a strategy.

Price should be available based on the value that your product brings and not necessarily the cost of producing the product. When your product is time-saving, risk-averse, or produces better results, then it should be reflected in your price. The validation process of testing various pricing models will show what customers will buy and the reasons.

Media Relations For Instant Credibility

Media relations is an effective way to build brand and consumer awareness by working with journalists to tell a company’s story. “It has been found that consumers have confidence in earned media more than brand messages.” (Source: Nielsen).

Social Media Marketing For Buzz And Engagement

Social media marketing builds community engagement with teasers, launch posts, and user content to keep consumers engaged with the brand. Instagram and LinkedIn platforms allow direct communication with your fans. Research indicates that “68 percent of customers track brands to get to know about new products.” (Source: Sprout Social).

SEO For Long-Term Visibility

SEO will give your product a presence once the hype is over, post-launch. “The organic search contributes more than 53 percent to the overall traffic of the site.” (Source: BrightEdge). Search engines send more traffic to your site when your site answers actual questions, and that too, not through pay-per-click.

Preparing For Post-Launch Growth

Long-term success is usually defined by what transpires after the launch. Companies should also have systems that will deal with customer service, feedback, fulfillment, and follow-up on marketing.

It is important to gather feedback on a regular basis and use it to make your product and messaging more refined. A company’s post-launch marketing plan maintains the relevance and competitiveness of its offer.

Our team of lifestyle public relations, social media, and SEO strategists is here to help new brands enter the market. Contact us today.

By Joanna Allen, chief executive officer, Allen Marketing Communications, Inc.