Product Marketing Launch Plan

What are the phases of a product marketing launch plan?

While you could just produce a new product and send it straight to the shelves, it’s not likely to succeed. Ensuring you have a plan and strategy in place means putting your best foot forward for your launch.

A product marketing launch plan has three phases: pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. 

Pre-launch phases

Before you even start building a product, you need to do some legwork beforehand. This requires lots of research and a roadmap for how to market your product from start to finish.

Research 

Start by looking at your target market. Create a buyer persona and jot down their pain points. Pair each pain point with solutions that your product brings. Also, consider what stands out from competitors. 

Next, you’ll need to dig into the product itself. While those in the marketing department won’t know how precisely how a product is made, they need to know as much as possible — everything from how its features work to its dimensions. 

Finally, do a competitor analysis. Look into what they do well (and not so well), how they market their product, and their pricing strategy. A SWOT analysis is a perfect tool to help with this.

Roadmapping 

After your research, you can start building your marketing big picture. This is when you choose which marketing channels you’ll use. Consider how you’ll use your website, what paid media you can employ, and which social media platforms will benefit your customers most. 

Don’t forget to include both organic and paid advertising and marketing and PR opportunities. You could create a mind map with ideas and whittle down the best channels for this particular product. Maybe you want to stick to traditional advertising on TV for a classic product? Or you could try taking your product to TikTok for a younger audience?

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Roadmapping From A to Z

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Launch phases

Now is the time to make it happen. Getting your product to market is the most exciting but daunting part of any product launch. 

Rollout 

If you’ve done a thorough research and set up a detailed roadmap, the rollout process should be the easiest stage! This is the action of every piece of content you’ve created for this launch, regardless of the channel. You’ll probably have some pre-launch content posted to entice customers to sign up for a mailing list for exclusivity or advertise a “coming soon” product.

Not only does content need to be posted pre-launch, but you should post throughout the launch process. 

Reporting

Identify any KPIs you want to track, like engagement on social media to click-throughs on your website to pre-order or purchase. This data should be done daily throughout a launch so you can adjust as you go. You may find that some marketing channels have higher conversion rates than others. That means it could be worth scaling back on other mediums and focusing your efforts on more profitable channels. 

Post-launch phases

Once you’ve launched your product, you can’t leave it there and move on to the next launch. It’s essential to review what went well, respond to feedback, and retain customers gained from this launch. 

Response 

Collate feedback and reports to determine what you can do better next time. Respond promptly to any issues customers have had and compile information packs for your customer service team. Be upfront with customers about any problems and solve them.

Retention  

Gaining new customers is great, but you need to keep working to retain them. You could offer them incentives, discounts, or set up a referral scheme for loyalty. Never underestimate the need for great customer service as a retention tool either. Word of mouth is still a powerful form of marketing!

Why are product launch marketing plans important?

There are several reasons why having a marketing plan for your product launch is important:

• Customers know what to expect when they receive the product

• Increased brand reputation for expertise

• You’ll target the right customers in the right places

• You will receive new customers and retain current customers

• New product launches = increased attention = more investment

7 tips for building a product marketing launch plan + examples

Before you get started with your product marketing launch plan, here are a few top tips to consider before you start.

1. Focus on a single buyer persona - It can be tempting to focus on several but try to have just one customer profile in mind per launch.

2. Make sure your entire marketing team is an expert about the product - Create a product description sheet and hand it out internally to all staff involved, from marketing to customer service.

3. Set ambitious (but SMART) goals - Choose what metrics you’ll be tracking for each channel used and continue to follow them throughout the launch period.

4. Pick the right marketing channels - Use a mixture of organic and paid, social media, advertising, PR, and your website.

5. Use the same tone of voice across all content - Consistency across all channels ensures that customers know what to expect.

6. Make sure your website is easy to use - Double-check that all links work and make the checkout process as simple as possible.

Generate hype pre-launch - Provide lots of pre-launch content, use influencers to generate hype, and get customers talking.

eBook

Roadmapping From A to Z

Read now