Every business has a product, whether it is a physical item or a service you provide. It is easy for the public (i.e. your customers) to become blind to what you do or why you do it, which is a dangerous place for a business to be in – if your products go unrecognized, so will your business.
If you reliable produce a product or service, day after day, year after year, it eventually becomes taken for granted and becomes invisible. While your sales may continue, it does nothing to IMPROVE your sales or make you more well known in the marketplace. Likely, your sales will not even stagnate – they will begin to fall, and you will have a difficult time stopping them.
This is where the product launch strategy comes in. Product launches are specific advertising campaigns that attract new people to your business, increasing and enhancing sales.
At this stage, you may be thinking that you have nothing to launch, but for most businesses, it will only take a small amount of lateral thinking. All you need is to take your existing product and repackage it!
Repackaging is Common
Take vehicle manufacturers as an example. Year after year they produce the same car, with minor tweaks in color or shape, a refined gadget here and there, and the occasional improvement in performance. Many people will buy a new car because it is new, and it will not matter to them that it is the same as the previous model.
The question is, why? The perception is that newer is better, and whilst that may be true regarding how long a car may last, it is not true for everything – and most people change their car before it falls apart so that extra 12 months of life is just a bragging right rather than a necessity.
If you sell a service, change your pricing structure. Offer a small addition to the standard service. Make your contract 13 months instead of 12. Offer lower levels of service, making the original Gold, and the new lower versions Silver and Bronze, thereby allowing those who cannot afford the Gold deal to still purchase. That is right – extra income for less work.
If you sell a product, make it bigger, smaller, a different color, scented, rounder, squarer, etc. If none of those apply, do a two for the price of one-and-a-half deal – “multiple purchases result in lower individual costs” – as a promotion, and make this promotion the “product”. Advertise that promotion, and there is a good chance it will catch someone’s eye.
With your new service or physical products, you can proceed with your product launch.
Marketing your Product Launch
Your product launch can take a multi-pronged approach, adapted for your individual needs.
The first instance is to use the resources you already have – your website, social media channels, email list, etc. – and put out information regarding your new product. Next, look at advertising through each of these channels.
You can promote your website via Google Ads, most social platforms have their advertising options (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even YouTube), and your email list is a captive audience.
If a real-world location will work for your product or service, organize a conference or a local meet-up with the public. Have physical media ready to promote your initiative, as even flyers or business cards can help greatly. Make sure you include your website and social media details on any literature you produce so you can double-down on the effect.
When you promote this new product, you will be sub-promoting all your other products and services. And remember to promote the value you are giving – this must be something worth having. This is not a way to trick people into thinking you are offering the same old thing at a different price – this is redefining your product range and promoting what you do.
The flip side of this is that your staff will be full of excitement at the prospect of the product launch, and while not directly a team-building activity, everyone will want to work together to make this succeed.
You will also get valuable insight into the minds of your target audience, as there will no doubt be questions and ideas from those who come to you through this new sales funnel – all of which you can use in your next product launch.