What to Do and What Not to Do When Launching a New Product

Although it might sound absurd to say that every business is a marketing business, there is a deeper truth to this statement. It’s not a flat denial that a wide range of businesses provides different goods and services in all sorts of industries. Instead, it’s actually saying that unless a business gets good at marketing, it won’t stay in business for long.

Although some businesses claiming that their products sell themselves because it’s benefits are obvious, this is rarely true. They make the mistake of not marketing their products enough, not seeming to realize that no matter how wonderful a product might be, the public needs to be educated about its benefits. It’s also easy to be a little too optimistic about your product release and failing to prepare thoroughly for a product launch. It’s a mistake to underestimate the cost, planning, and time it takes to successfully launch your new product to the market.

With that in mind, here are some tips on what to do and what not to do to make your marketing launch a smashing success.

What to Do

1. Do use professional video marketing.

If you’ve been marketing for a while, you’re familiar with the idea that people prefer video to any other form of media. While text and infographics might break information down into details and podcast interviews can be highly entertaining, most people prefer video content. You may even have some explainer videos that provide your audience with great content regularly; perhaps, a YouTube channel where you talk directly to your audience, sharing juicy details about something they would love to know more about. However, when it comes to a product launch, you need a different type of video.

Professional video marketing doesn’t assume your viewer knows you but tells your company story as if it is the first time you’re revealing it. In telling your story, it doesn’t gloss over details with self-deprecating commentary.

Instead, it uses various techniques, from graphics to voice inflexion, to increase the emotive quality of your story of how your business has grown from humble beginnings. In other words, it uses copywriting and advertising techniques to evoke the archetypal Hero’s Journey used in most Hollywood scripts. As a result of this zero-to-hero theme, your story connects with everyone, those who already know your brand, to those who are just hearing about your business for the first time. This rapport-building influences a wider audience, increasing traffic, enhancing conversion rates, and boosting sales.

2. Do use teaser campaigns on social media.

Social media offers the perfect medium for creating suspense and drama about your coming product. Give your project a catchy name, be vague on details, and find as many ways as possible to signal that something new is coming soon. In 2014, when Microsoft launched its Lumia phone, it teased its audience on social media by showing the corner of the phone with a black backdrop and the numbers 11.11.2014. No explanations. No links to click for more information.

What Not to Do.

1. Don’t mess up the schedule

For your product launch to be a success, you have to treat it as an epic play’s final closing night performance. Map out every detail and create backup plans for any envisioned worse case scenarios. Make sure everyone in your team is clear on dates and times, roles and functions. If possible, do a drill to make sure that everyone knows what to do and when to do it.

2. Don’t forget to sell.

Even if you think that selling is undignified and wince every time you see a vociferous car sales commercial on TV, a sales launch is not the time to understate the value of your products. You must educate everyone who is directly or indirectly involved in sales about your product so that they can effortlessly talk about its benefits when contacted by a potential buyer.

In conclusion, even if you have branded your business well and have reached a point where your customers know, like, and trust your products, it does not mean that you can coast through a marketing launch. Instead of acting like a champion who expects to win just by showing up in the ring, you’ll do far better by adopting the determined mindset of the underdog who has something to prove.