How To Turn A Product Idea Into A Reality
Est. Reading Time: 1 Minute
Most products fail in capturing the right audience and surviving the marketplace. In fact, the average success rate hovers around 20%. The planning and the execution of the go-to-market strategy can be just as important as the quality of the product itself. So start with a bit of research, take surveys and make sure your idea warrants the time and money you will be sacrificing along the way.
It is hard to admit as a visionary and an entrepreneur but, sometimes in the real world, no one wants to buy your product.
This is where the planning stage can save you.
After identifying your target audience, create a lean marketing strategy and a website for taking preorders. This is crucial. Meanwhile, be prepared to scale up with your manufacturer quickly in case you underestimated initial orders. People hate businesses who can’t keep their promise and, in the digital age, the initial set of negative online reviews can bury a product and a whole brand in its infancy.
Marketing is the most crucial piece of your product launch. Marketing is continuous and it does not end after a customer places an order. If you continue reading, I will be sharing some innovative strategies to help you market your new product.
Est. Reading Time: 2 Minutes
According to the Harvard Business Review, about 75% of consumer packaged goods and retail products fail to earn even $7.5 million during their first year, forcing approximately 60% of new businesses to close. It’s safe to say that if you’re not ready, you should not launch a new product. Follow these steps to create a successful marketing campaign for a new product launch:
So many entrepreneurs wrongly convince themselves that simply because their product is unique, a horde of customers will line up to buy it. But every good marketing strategy begins by identifying your buyer’s persona to know which platforms to use to communicate with them and how to convince them that your product is unique. The older generation calls this the customer profile.
Most likely your ideal customer is already buying a similar product or spends money in that space.
This is where the power of targeted digital marketing comes into play. On Facebook, for example, you can target audiences based on their interests. If you sell a B2B product, LinkedIn will allow you to show ads to people in specific industries or with job titles.
In your marketing message, you have to clearly state why your product solves a problem that your target persona is currently experiencing. You should additionally clarify how it is different than other products currently in the market. This is your unique value proposition.
Create a website with the right colors that loads fast and is mobile friendly. Build additional landing pages specifically geared towards promoting your product and add a shopping cart for taking orders.
A Video Landing Page (VSL) could be a very effective way to increase conversion from web visitors into first-time shoppers. Keep it short and creative. Depending on your product and audience, your video style may differ. You may want to use an animated explainer video for a software product, or use real people in a skincare product video for example. Positive testimonials from people who have tried your product should be available on the product landing page as well as links to your social media pages to build more credibility.
If you’re reading this in 2020, by social media, I mean Instagram. Instagram marketing through influencers who try your product can get the word about your product out virally. So make sure you’re ready for a short term jump in orders from their posts. This strategy could be as simple as finding the right influencer who is followed by people whose profile matches your audience and having them try your product and share their opinion about it on their page. The right influencer campaign can bring you customers with a positive ROI.
According to ShipBob, 48% of customers have returned at least one item in the past year. Create a friendly shipping policy and make sure you have the capacity to handle returns in a timely and hassle-free manner. This policy can help with your online reviews, bring in return clients, and increase referrals.
A great channel you should never ignore in digital marketing is emails. Beyond introducing your products to your new customers, emails can get existing customers to reorder at a fraction of the cost of most other platforms. You can learn a lot about how to effectively create and send emails by subscribing to your competitor’s email lists.
Build a Shopify website to promote and sell products easily. Take advantage of their drop shipping services while you figure out other parts of your business.
Automate your email marketing by using a platform like Active Campaign. They have an easy to use platform and very affordable plans.
Hire a freelancer on Fiverr who specializes in making product marketing or animation videos. This way you can get your video done professionally within a reasonable budget.
CEO, Novia Marketing
Farbod is a serial entrepreneur having started 8 different companies in marketing, sales, and technology since graduating college. In 2015, he founded Novia Marketing, an innovative lead generation and full-service marketing agency. His clients have ranged from one-time data buyers to presidential candidates. He also owns a SAAS platform called SYNC Profiles for local businesses to help them gain better visibility online, manage their data across the Internet, and generate positive online reviews.
Full Bio | Connect With Farbod | LinkedIn
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