How to create a marketing strategy for your newly launched product (Checklist) |
The strategy you choose for your marketing can be the difference between stellar sales or a disappointing launch. Develop a strategy for marketing the launch of your new product using this list.
One wise man once stated, "By failing to prepare in advance, you're setting yourself up for failure."
In the case of launching the latest digital products, we couldn't agree more.
In order to help you set yourself up for success to achieve your goals, we've created a six-point checklist for building your marketing strategy. Utilize these tips to build a marketing roadmap you can apply to every new product release.
Product launch marketing plan checklist
Download a PDF version of the checklist here .
Step 1: Establish goals for your product launch
It is possible to have the largest marketing budget and the fanciest devices, but until you establish goals, your marketing plan is like a ship without a rudder: directionless.
Marketers have a poor habit of establishing broad goals. We say things like "make greater sales" and "drive involvement" but we don't really think about the way to achieve those goals like in action.
What is the reason we do this? It's because it's hard to recommend specific global marketing goals, or even ways to measure the success of a campaign. Every artist has their own set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) depending on their goals.
Set goals that are relevant to your brand, business, and product can help you select the metrics you want to monitor prior to the launch.
For example, if you are trying to gather the sign-ups to your pre-launch for your brand new online course, it is possible to keep track of the number of site visitors who sign up for the pre-launch emails.
On the other hand If you're trying to gain new customers by using advertisements on social media, you would track the number of people who click the Facebook advertisements, as well as how many customers purchase the product.
In order to set the best goals for your marketing plan The SMART goal framework.
By using the SMART goal framework, set your goals so that they meet the following criteria:
Particular: Set detailed goals which narrow down a particular part of your enterprise.
It is measurable: Make sure that you can quantify your goal and track your progress.
Achievable:It's fun to dream of the big picture, however goals with no concrete targets could quickly turn into a demotivating experience. Be sure to make your goals ambitious and feasible.
Related: Check that your goals align with your brand, values, and overall business goals.
time-boundGive your self a clearly defined deadline to achieve your goal. Deadlines make us accountable, and provide us with a timeframe to work towards.
It could be: "By adding a pre-launch landing page on my site, I will collect 100 pre-launch emails prior to the launch date the month following."
If you have specific goals that you have in mind with a reasonable goal and a plan of action to achieve it, you can set yourself on the path to a successful launch. The way you design your action plan in the end depends on a number of variables, which includes your target audience.
Step 2: Define your target audience
This is equally crucial when preparing for introduction of a brand new product.
This is why you shouldn't market your product if you aren't aware of who you're marketing to.
The target market is the potential customers you plan to sell your services or products to. To make your marketing most effective you must get to know your potential customers as people and not just their demographics.
Buyer personas are where they come in.
Content marketing expert Amy Wright explains : "Buyer personas describe who they are that you want to attract, what their days are like, the challenges they confront, and the way they make decisions."
A buyer persona might look similar to this image of one of Spotify's customers who are targeted by the company:
Look at forums, online communities, and read reviews on products that are in your field. Ask yourself:
What are my target customers discussing online?
What obstacles do they face?
What are their intentions?
What is their value?
Which language are they using?
If you understand how your audience talks and thinks, you can better present the reason why your latest product is the perfect match for your audience.
Your audience is eager to share their opinions and ideas with you. 60% of consumers would like brands to communicate with them, and 95% of them are more positive view of businesses that solicit feedback from their customers.
In the event that you start discussions in your own brand community You can create connections and bonds over values that are shared. It helps you get to get to know your audience more intimately, which can help to create marketing messages that is appealing to them.
One great example of learning from your customers comes from Tiffany Williams, founder of Rich Girl Collective .
( allows creators like Tiffany to create brand communities, connect with their customers and even sell digital goods, all from one platform. Test it for yourself with a free 14 day test. )
Overall, the better you know about your audience's needs and the better you are able to tailor your marketing to fit their requirements and explain how your product can aid them to succeed. You'll need that info for the next stage.
Step 3: Establish your unique selling proposition (USP)
Once you know all about the issues of your intended audience's requirements, goals, and needs and needs, you'll be able to define your unique selling proposition (USP).
Start with the result you wish to provide your customer, then work backwards to discover the method by which your product can achieve this result. This is your USP.
Your USP is also known as your value idea will answer two of the following questions:
What problem does my product solve for my customers?
What makes my product different than my competitors?
When you identify your USP, you're reaffirming the product's ability to help your audience meet their goals or overcome an obstacle. That's the most important aspect of launching a product successfully. 30% of new businesses do not succeed because there's no market demand for their goods or products or.
Also, there's no fit between your product and market. The measure of your product's market fit is the extent to which your product is able to meet the needs of customers. Your USP defines that fit, describing what differentiates your business apart from others and entices potential buyers to select the company.
If you aren't sure what makes your product stand from the rest, conduct market research and learn about your competitors.
Do you have any issues that you're not addressing? What do you offer different? Your course may be unique with more visual lessons than others on the same topic and perhaps your knowledge gives you a different perspective from other creators within your field.
Your USP also helps you figure out the best way to promote your product.
For instance, take Death Wish Coffee For instance. The majority of coffee brands emphasize features such as flavor or smoothness however, Death Wish is unique in its approach, claiming to be "the best coffee on the planet".
Death Wish knows that their customers are looking for extra strong, kick-in-the-pants coffee, so their marketing messaging highlights this distinct feature. Their USP isn't likely to appeal to all coffee lovers however, it reveals the uniqueness of their brand and focuses on the market they are targeting.
When you are aware of what makes your product special You can emphasize that through your marketing. Utilize the same language your intended audience is using to talk about their pain points. Your message will be a hit with those who are your ideal customers.
It's time to start sharing that messaging with the world -- but first take a look to ensure you're not spending a dime.
Step 4: Determine your marketing budget
As a creator it's likely that you do not have enough money to pay for an outside sales staff as well as an in-house marketing team which is fine. You must determine the amount you are able to be able to afford for marketing before you begin running ads or commissioning your designs.
The best part is that you don't require a six-figure marketing budget for a strategy that works. In reality, more than one-third of small-sized businesses invest less than $10,000 on advertising annually.
While you work out your budget, it is possible that you want to allocate money to costs like:
Tools and software to make contents, connect with your audience, and manage campaigns.
Freelancers include graphic designers, copywriters, video editors and web designers.
Paid ads, for example sponsored content and paid search advertisements, and social media ads. (We'll discuss more on paid social ads in the following section.)
If you've got your budget and your budget in place, it's time to move on to step five and pick the best marketing platforms to promote the launch of your new product.
Step 5: Select the marketing channels that you will use
Different strategies appeal to different types of audiences, and not every platform can be used by every creator, budget, and product.
Additionally, there are more than a few digital marketing channels available than individual creator can tackle on their own, so it's essential to find the most suitable ones for your needs as well as your clients.
Here are some of the most well-known channels you should consider including in your marketing strategy.
Email marketing
Marketing via email is an essential element in any digital marketing strategy. More than 4 billion individuals will use email this year. They will send around 332 billion emails each every day.
Marketers and customers alike are both awestruck by email. 73% of customers rate email as their top channel for advertising messages. 59 percent of marketers cited email as the top source of return on investment in the year 2018.
Email is also a reasonable option for small businesses with a tight marketing budget. At around $42 for each one dollar invested Email is one of the best ROI (ROI) that any marketing channel.
Here are some resources to aid you in building your list of email subscribers, select an email platform, and get the most out of your marketing emails:
Social media marketing
Marketing on social media is most effective when it is combined with the organic and paid strategies. The organic approach to social media marketing allows you to interact with the community as well as potential customers, while paid advertisements on social networks help you gain the attention of your customers.
To build some buzz around your new product, Twitter is a solid alternative. For example, designer and marketing expert John D Saunders made use of Twitter to promote a YouTube video Twitter to promote the launch of a new online course.
John's video made sure his followers understand what to expect from the course and received high-engagement by retweeting 30+ times and over 200 likes.
For paid social the ultra-specific targeting tools will enable you to connect with the appropriate people more quickly than organic could. More than 62% of marketers say that paid social media advertising has been in some way effective for their business.
Facebook ads are an affordable option for small-scale businesses as well as solopreneurs looking to promote their newest items to a wider audience. For example, business coach Melyssa Griffin utilized this video ad to advertise her Pinterest workshop for bloggers.
When the correct audience segmentation in place, Facebook ads like Melyssa's translate to digital product sales for the creators.
Below are some other resources to help you master social media marketing
Content marketing
Content marketing is 62% cheaper and can generate over three times as many leads than traditional marketing. It's an affordable means to get your message out there and establish your knowledge and develop relationships with potential customers.
The people you want to attract discover your blog content through search or other distribution channels.
Your articles help them learn and begin to trust your expertise.
They sign up for your email newsletter or join you on social media.
Keep them informed about the launch of your product.
They're eager to purchase your new product, support you, and continue to take lessons from you.
The trick is to create blog posts that provide real value, not just longform product ad copy.
It is important to compose your blog posts in a way that is search engine optimized (SEO) in your mind. SEO makes it easier for your target audience to find your site when they search for relevant keywords and phrases. This is why nearly 64% of marketers spend time on SEO.
Here are some resources to assist you in establishing SEO and content marketing.
Site and landing pages
Picture this: Your launch marketing strategy is going according to plan.
Potential customers are flocking to your website to find out more about the product you offer or sign-up for the latest updates before launch and finally decide to purchase. You need to create an effective landing page to make all your hard work be worth it.
Checking your idea for a product.
Create your list of emails in the lead up to your product launch.
In your landing page for pre-launch, include a short description of your new product and tell visitors the reason why they should join for more information and to be notified when you launch.
Take a look at Nicole Saidy's description of the product for her online training course: Becoming a UX/UI Designer .
Nicole understands that transitioning to user-experience design may seem overwhelming, but she's here to help. She helps her audience decide if the solution is right for them by speaking directly to their issues.
Here are some additional resources on crafting pages for landing and products that generate sales
If you've chosen your channels for marketing, you may think you've reached the end of the checklist. But there's one more vital process to ensure you get the most of your launch marketing and set yourself up for success -- now and for several product launches that are to follow.
Step 6: Record your progress and continue to track
The sixth and last step monitoring your progress and iterating on your marketing will be much more of a continual process than a checklist task.
After and during the launch of your product, review the goals you set in step one. If you're not meeting your objectives, then you'll have the chance to gain knowledge and implement changes your next launch or perhaps refresh your marketing strategies.
For example, let's say your marketing emails haven't been as successful than you'd like. Click-through and open rates are lower than you'd like them to be however, you are able to tweak your strategies prior to the day of launch. You may want to run some A/B tests .
Testing A/B (or split-testing) involves changing different elements of your emails one at a time, then seeing how those changes affect your performance.
If you were A/B testing different subject lines, such as your clients will receive the same emails, but with a different subject line. By comparing the two rate of open, you will discern which subject line does best, and use the information to improve future email campaigns.
Above all else, remember to try new things, and being willing to learn from mistakes helps to develop as a creative.
You may discover that a certain marketing channel doesn't work for your business or audience. This is valuable data to incorporate into your next product launch plan.
"Experiment! It's challenging to figure out how to market online, and each group of possible clients is different. You'll need to play around to find out what's effective (and what isn't). When you're doing anything think about, evaluate the results, and modify your techniques to improve them. There isn't a single magic bullet here!"
"To be successful in running a business, you have to be comfortable with managing a business that isn't successful, because most of the time, success comes later."
Within the Startup Curve , coined by Y Combinator founder Paul Graham Failure is an inevitable phase. It is experienced just prior to when your business begins to grow towards scaling and growth.
The bottom line is:
Don't be afraid to experiment on your marketing strategies to determine what works best for you along with your company, brand and the people you're trying to reach. By keeping your goal in mind and a little perseverance, you'll be on your way to an effective launch strategy which you can apply to several product launches that are to come.
Craft a go-to-market plan for the launch's to be a success
It's been a long process to develop an item that people will love. A well-crafted marketing strategy will make all the hard work pay off come launch day.
To recap, here are the six steps to create an effective marketing strategy for your product launch:
Set SMART goals for the launch of your product. Figure out the meaning of a successful launch to you and which measures you'll keep track of.
Set your goals for the audience you want to target and learn about them as individuals, not just demographics. Do some research on your customers and speak to them to learn more about their challenges and aspirations.
Establish your unique selling proposition (USP). What makes your product an ideal choice for your ideal customer? How can you differentiate yourself against the rest?
Determine your marketing budget. There is no need to invest an amount of money to develop a campaign for marketing that drives sales.
Select your channels for marketing. Marketing via email is essential however there is a variety of other platforms available to select from. Determine which platforms are compatible with your audience and goals.
Track your results and keep practicing your marketing plan. The more you learn about your customer's needs and their needs, the better the next launch of your product marketing strategy will be.
Remember, you probably won't be 100% successful the first time, and that's okay. You may need to go through some trial and error, until you've found the best way to serve both you and your clients, you'll be a product marketing expert with results of the launch to show it.