Product Launch Strategy
By data According to the Marketing Research Association, only 40% of products ever make it to market. Of those, only 60% generate any revenue.
However, often the launch of a product is accompanied by the expectation that it will certainly be a success. The creators are blinded by the work they have done and believe that if they think their product is cool, then naturally other people will think the same.
It seems like a successful product launch comes down to just two things: getting the right product to the right people. Sounds simple. But it’s far from it.
Launching a product is a really big job. In this guide, we'll cover everything you need to do to launch successfully, from making sure you've built the right product to marketing strategies to get it in front of the right people.
Table of contents:
Dive into data to understand what people want (or where you're missing opportunities)
Talk to your customers
Research the market and turn ideas into strategy
Get to market as early as possible to validate your ideas
Start building a community and audience
Identify your ideal customer (only one per product!)
Take a cue from Steve Jobs and create a compelling story
Write a draft press release using the Amazon formula and decide where to publish it
Make a contact list and contact the press and partners
Create a landing page
Describe the customer journey and start collecting creative materials
Get inspired by crowdfunding and use pre-orders to create excitement
Set ambitious goals for the ideal scenario
Create a launch strategy and use a project management tool to track all tasks
Place the launch announcement on relevant resources
Host an online meetup, AMA, or other event to get people involved
Reach out to influencers and mentors to expand your reach
Reach out to journalists, bloggers, and other partners you sent content to before launch
Share the launch information with your current users and ask them to spread the news on their social networks.
Use important achievements to reach current users (but don't overwhelm them)
Work with your sales team to convert leads
Compare expected metrics with actual data and make adjustments
Keep the momentum going and keep reaching your engaged audience
Organize a system for dealing with errors and problems
Conduct a go-to-market strategy analysis
Pre-launch: Deciding what to launch and how to achieve it
Product launch begins long before launch day.
The only way to ensure success is to know for sure that the product is valuable to people. Not only that, you need to tell people about it, get them interested, and do everything possible to make them want to buy it when it finally becomes available on the market. Here's where to start:
1. Dig into data to understand what people want (or where you're missing opportunities)
No matter how loud and well-publicized your product launch is, success ultimately comes down to delivering value to customers. So the first step in your product launch strategy is to make sure people actually need what you have to offer.
Start by analyzing your own data. What metrics can show where people are coming from and why?
Do you have several products, among which one is clearly the leader?
Are users leaving a specific page on your site? This could mean that your offer doesn't meet their expectations.
Have you noticed a decline in activity or sales while your competitors are showing success?
Look for patterns in your data to identify where you can create value for your users. However, remember that this is just a starting point. Overly data-driven design can stifle creativity, but using it wisely is a powerful tool.
2. Talk to your customers
The best insights come from real users. Unfortunately, many companies skip this step or assume that the data tells you everything you need to know. But talking to customers provides additional benefits:
You get to know them better, their specific needs and the reasons why they chose you – this will come in handy when creating customer profiles.
You get honest answers about what features they use – which will help validate the value of your product and give you ideas for new features.
You hear how they speak and the exact words they use in their speech – this is invaluable for your marketing activities.
Customers are a rich source of information. But you need to give them the opportunity to speak. I understand that you are enthusiastic about your product and want to talk about it, but give customers the opportunity to speak freely and without influence from you. Open-ended questions can yield unexpected answers.
However, as with data, this information should be used as inspiration rather than a step-by-step guide. As Steve Jobs once said:
“Designing products based on focus groups is really challenging. Often people don't know what they want until you demonstrate the product.”
3. Research the market and turn ideas into strategy
The final source of product ideas is the market itself. What already exists in the market? Who will users compare your product to?
You can start by making a list of your competitors and conducting a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. Or simply look at your product and ask yourself, “What makes it different from the rest?”
Remember, it's not enough to simply claim that your product is better. You need to be able to justify it in concrete detail.
What will people talk about when you launch your product? If you put your product next to your competitors' products, what will make someone choose yours?
These key differentiators are the foundation of your launch strategy, so it’s important to identify them early on.
4. Get to market as early as possible to validate your ideas
Once you have collected all the necessary information, it is time to check if you are on the right track.
We are talking about the validation process – testing the product on a group of real users.
You may want to maintain some mystery and intrigue around your product. But not testing your ideas on real users is like trying to hit a target blindfolded.
When Sir James Dyson set out to create the world's best-selling vacuum cleaner, it took him 5,126 prototypes before he found one that people liked.
Create an early feedback group with good friends, key users, and even new users, and let them try the product early on. Are they using it the way you envisioned? Do they see real value in it?
All this research ensures that you understand exactly what you're offering in your launch before you try to sell something that people don't actually need.
5. Start building a community and audience
Yes, there are billions of people using the internet every day. Yes, there are probably a lot of people who want to buy your product. But what if they don’t know about it? Or what if they only hear about it on launch day? You’re probably going to fail.
So you need to build an audience around your product and brand long before the launch date.
As an example, let's look at Ryan Hoover, the founder of ProductHunt, who speaksthat his company would not exist at all if it were not for his efforts to build an audience:
“ProductHunt wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t written before launching and built an audience of people who love tech.”
Ryan chose to write about the industry his product will be in because it is one of the easiest ways to connect with like-minded people. However, he says it is not enough to just write about your product. You need to talk about the problem you are solving, the challenges you faced that forced you to find a solution.
Where you write also matters. Choose popular platforms with an existing audience, such as Medium, or answer questions on Reddit, Quora, or in specialized Facebook groups.
If you’re launching a consumer product or something with a strong visual component, another option is to build a following on Instagram or Pinterest. This will show potential customers that you’re in their niche and understand their specific needs. As Hoover explains:
“If you start doing something you really enjoy, you will find and attract people with the same interests. They will not only be the first people you can turn to for feedback, but also your first users and customers.”
6. Identify your ideal customer (only one per product!)
You probably already know who your product is for. But to launch successfully, you need to focus on who that person actually is. Rather than just looking at broad demographics — like saying your product is for 18- to 35-year-olds — it’s much more effective to have a clear idea of your audience. As Matt Certo, CEO of digital marketing agency Findsome & Winmore, puts it:
“Brands die when they try to please everyone.”
Instead, Certo explains that you need to know who your best customers are (and learn everything you can about them).
“Describe them. Draw them. What do they like about your service or product? How do they use your product in their daily lives? How does your company improve this person's life every day?”
A great example is Lululemon. The sportswear brand has narrowed its audience down to two specific personas: Ocean and Duke. Each of them has its own characteristics, such as age, annual income, interests and even marital status.
A detailed ideal customer profile will help you strengthen your launch strategy, product development, and marketing.
If you're launching a consumer product like Lululemon, ask yourself similar questions:
Who is my ideal client?
Where does he live?
What is his/her annual income?
What are you interested in?
How to use our products?
What other features can be highlighted?
If you are building a B2B product, it is better to focus on the company itself and the problems it faces. Questions about the company size, the buying cycle, pain points, etc. are a good start.
7. Take a cue from Steve Jobs and create a compelling story
Now that you know who your customers are, you know what they want, and that your product actually fulfills that need, you need to explain to them why you are the one to bet on.
In other words, it's time to move from the “what” to the “why” in the context of a product launch.
If you need an inspiring model, no one did it better than Steve Jobs.
Jobs was a master of storytelling at product launches. But his specialty wasn't just telling a story about the product itself, it was showing the people using it. Jobs' stories made you feel like you had to have the new product, which is why Apple users are so loyal to the brand.
When creating your own product launch story, it’s important to remember: focus on people, not the product. People remember and respond to emotions more than facts. If you just focus on improved speed or design or another feature, it will be easy to ignore.
Instead, create a story about what these features allow the user to do.
One popular template that has been used by everyone from Jobs to Hollywood screenwriters is the three-act structure: introduction, conflict, resolution.
In the introduction, you show the customer where they are now and make them the hero. In the conflict, they face a problem – this is a pain point that you understand and that your product solves. In the resolution, the hero overcomes their problems (with the help of your product) and the world becomes a little better.
Simply put, before a user spends their hard-earned money on a product, they want to know that you understand them, their problems, and that you have a working solution. If you nail all three of these points in your story, you can use it as the basis for most of your product launch copy.
8. Write a draft press release using the Amazon formula and decide where to publish it
Press coverage can boost the success of your launch. The problem is that many marketers think journalists will be interested in a redesign or new product features. (Spoiler: they won't.)
Just like your customers, journalists care about the story. You need to show them that your product can generate interest and grab the attention of an audience. Amazon believes in the power of a well-written press release so much that they write one for every product before development even begins.
As Amazon CEO Ian McAllister explains:
“If a press release is difficult to write, the product is likely to fail.”
Here's an Amazon template you can use as a basis:
Headline: Name the product in a way that is understandable to your target audience.
Subtitle: Describe who the target audience is for the product and what benefit they will receive. One sentence below the title.
Brief description: Give a brief description of the product and its benefits. Assume that the reader will not read anything else, so this paragraph should be informative.
Problem: Describe the problem your product solves.
Solution: Describe how your product elegantly solves this problem.
Quote from you: Quote from a representative of your company.
How to start using: Describe how easy it is to get started using the product.
Quote from a client: Provide a quote from a (hypothetical) user describing how they benefited from using the product.
Conclusion and Call to Action: Complete the text and indicate what to do next.
With your press release template in hand, create a list of blogs and other resources you'd like to be featured on. Research each source and find the journalists or editors who are most likely to write about your product.
9. Make a contact list and contact the press and partners
We've already talked about creating a press release and a list of resources to post each piece. But who else can help you with your product launch?
Who are your partners or third-party companies that might be useful to collaborate with? Which influencers in your industry might be able to talk about you or review your product? And finally, are you planning on launching an affiliate program and will you be able to connect with the right bloggers and partners to help promote your product?
Capture these opportunities and make a list of those you want to reach out to, including why they are a good choice, the size of their audience, and their value to you.
10. Create a landing page
The landing page is where you’ll be sending all your customers on launch day. Think of it as the penultimate step in your product launch. You’ll do a lot of work to get customers to this page, and once they’re there, you’ll have the best chance of “getting them to the finish line.”
This means that the page has a lot of responsibility: it must be visually appealing, contain strong copy, and have a clear interface.
At this initial stage, make sure the key elements are included:
Slogan
Your decision
Main functions
USP (unique selling proposition)
Social proof (user reviews/quotes)
Call to action
To write the copy for this page, use everything you’ve learned from creating a narrative, talking to customers, and analyzing your own data. Share your ideas with others and see how they react. Reach out to your team for early feedback and use their language to better articulate how to make your product most compelling.
This process requires constant updating and should be improved right up until launch day.
11. Describe the customer journey and start collecting creative materials
Most marketing research agree that it takes 6-8 customer “touches” to make a sale. In other words, customers need to see you, hear about you, or read about you several times before they say “yes” to your product.
During a product launch, you'll be working with both customers who already know you and those who haven't heard of you yet. And the more “touches” you can make before launching your product, the higher your chances of success.
One of the best ways to increase these touchpoints is to create a customer journey map (CJM), from when they haven’t heard of you to when they become a customer. Then create content for each stage. To do this, ask yourself:
Where exactly do they spend their time online?
When did they first hear about you?
Who do they trust?
Where do they turn for questions?
Do you have their email or any way to get it?
What doubts might they have about your product?
From there, you can begin planning creative content that will ensure your visibility at every step of their journey. This could include:
Publications in relevant sources
Video materials on your pages
Advertising in social networks
Comments on social networks
Email newsletters
Partnerships with influencers and opinion leaders
Early reviews of your product
Participation in podcasts
Customer Reviews
Make a comprehensive list of all the places your potential customers might learn about you or hear about you, and start describing what you can do to get in front of them.
12. Get inspired by crowdfunding and use pre-orders to create hype
Selling your product before it actually launches allows you to attract early adopters. It also helps you build a community around the product, test marketing messages, and validate your pricing strategy. What’s more, you can create a sense of scarcity by offering limited discounts to those who order early.
However, if you are planning a pre-sale, remember that it requires attention and effort. If you are building a community, you will need to actively engage with it. If you are offering discounts or special offers, it is important not to overlook them.
If you publicly announce a “limited supply” of a product to create hype, be prepared to put in the work to sell it. There’s nothing more demoralizing than a crowdfunding campaign with $0 in funds, and the same goes for your pre-order page.
13. Set ambitious goals for the ideal scenario
To launch a successful product, you need to have a clear idea of what success looks like.
Be realistic, but don’t be afraid to set lofty goals. These goals should inspire the entire team and guide their efforts. Think of them as ideal-scenario goals. If the entire plan is executed without a single mistake, what would you expect?
Launching a product involves achieving specific metrics — sales, registrations, or subscriptions. So don't get hung up on “vanity” metrics like reposts or traffic.
14. Create a launch strategy and use a project management tool to track all tasks
If it hasn't been obvious by now, launching a product is a process with many moving parts. And keeping everything under control so that they work together is no easy task.
This is where your project management skills come in handy. Launching a product is a team effort. Having a solid and well-thought-out launch plan and schedule will help you organize all the necessary tasks for the various teams involved in the process.
Is your product on schedule and ready to launch on time?
Does the sales team have all the necessary materials and training to successfully sell the product?
Does customer service know that there is a large influx of customers expected and are they prepared to help?
It’s also important to make sure that all possible channels are used to promote the launch. Are you working with an external PR or marketing agency? Do they have all the resources and support needed to launch effectively?
A good launch plan is more than just a to-do list. It takes into account all tasks, their deadlines, and interdependencies. The latter is especially important because you are coordinating cross-functional teams that may not have experience working together.
Discuss this with the teams involved in the process and allow them to help create the schedule and milestones. If they create the plan themselves, it will be more realistic and the teams will be more likely to stick to it.
The end goal is a strategy document that covers all the steps necessary to successfully launch a product and allows everyone involved in the project to know:
Your responsibilities
What information should their results contain and in what format?
Sequence of actions
Who are their tasks dependent on?
Who depends on their tasks
Planning in detail early on allows you to see how everything will work together and gives you time to make sure nothing important is missed.
And while it may seem like a lot of work (and it is), a successful product launch follows the same principle as Thomas Edison's definition of genius: 1% inspiration and 99% labor.
Launch Day: The Formula for Making the Most of the Big Day
What you do on launch day and how successful it is will depend largely on how closely you followed the first part of this guide. But that doesn't mean you can relax and go on autopilot after launch.
Launch day (and the week after) is the time to execute your strategic plan. Make sure everyone knows their tasks, has the necessary materials, and is working together to get your product to the right audience.
15. Post the launch announcement on relevant resources
Given your ideal customer profile, you should already have identified where your target audience hangs out. Now is the perfect time to let them know the big day is upon us.
Many of these announcements can be prepared in advance or use a script developed during the pre-launch phase. However, remember to tailor your messages to each platform. Simply copying and pasting won’t work if you want to stand out. And if you’ve done a great job of getting your message out to the right audience, spamming your launch could ruin it and even harm your brand.
Free your time from routine tasks and organize the process.
One of the biggest mistakes many product creators make is trying to be everywhere during a launch. This can cause you to lose focus and waste time communicating with the wrong audience.
Instead, pick one platform for your main announcement. It should be a place where you know your audience is and where you will focus your efforts to attract people.
For example, many tech companies choose Product Hunt because it already has a large built-in audience looking for the latest tech releases. Use it as your primary announcement platform, and then use social media, posts, email blasts, and paid ads to engage people and raise awareness of the launch.
16. Host a webinar, AMA, or other event to get people involved
Involving customers in the launch process is one of the fastest ways to increase reach. And while you probably won’t have a grand presentation like Steve Jobs, it’s important to create a sense of anticipation and personal connection with your product.
Host a webinar where you showcase your product to current and potential customers. Or host an AMA (ask me anything) session on a suitable platform to directly engage with users. These events require little investment and drive organic mentions and recommendations, helping customers feel like they’re part of something bigger.
17. Reach out to influencers and mentors to expand your reach
You can “support” your product launch by reaching out to people in your personal circle and letting them know that your project has already launched.
While it may seem awkward to message your mom about a new product, the more people you message personally, the greater your chances of expanding your reach.
Before launch day, make a list of everyone you can think of who might be even slightly interested in your product (or your success). Family, friends, coworkers, mentors, teachers, etc.
On launch day, send each of them a private message telling them what you're launching, why you're excited about it, and thanking them for any help in spreading the word.
18. Contact journalists, bloggers and other members of the press you sent materials to before launch
Go back to your pre-launch marketing spreadsheet and check which press and influencers you contacted. Let them know that your project is live, with a link to the landing page and any other materials (videos, testimonials, demos, etc.).
It’s also helpful to add social proof or metrics to these posts. Relevance (answering the question “why now?”) is a must for most press releases. If you can show that there is growing interest and usage around your product, that will increase your chances.
A good rule of thumb is to prioritize people who have responded to you or have already published a preliminary story about your product. Building relationships with the press takes time, and if someone is giving you support, try to return the favor by reaching out to them first.
19. Share the launch information with current users and ask them to spread the news on their social networks
If you already have users, you should not only tell them about the new product, but also ask them to help spread the word. If they have already benefited from you, they will most likely be willing to help.
One effective way is to ask users to share information via emails or on key pages. For example, you can offer a ready-made tweet in an email that they can publish in one click. Or, after registering for your service, redirect people to a confirmation page with the option to share the news on social networks.
20. Use important achievements to appeal to current users (but don't overwhelm them)
You can also use significant milestones during your launch to connect with current users and influencers. Did you get featured in a major publication? Did you hit your financial goals in a matter of hours? Or maybe Elon Musk tweeted that he loved your product?
While you don't want to overwhelm your users, a personalized message announcing a big achievement is a great way to increase shares.
21. Work with your sales team to convert leads
Launch day isn’t just about marketing. If your product launch is driving traffic and generating leads for your sales team, make sure they get all the support they need to close deals.
During the active launch phase, it’s easy to forget about all the people who are also involved in your success. But as we’ve said before, launching is a team effort. These people are key to your success. So don’t forget about them.
After Launch: The Finishing Touches
We're almost at the finish line!
The bulk of the work has been done, and there are just a few steps left to take to maintain momentum and get the most out of this massive project.
22. Compare expected metrics with actual data and make adjustments
After the launch day, the first important question is: how did you do / did it work?
Go back to the goals you set for the ideal scenario and compare them to the actual results.
Did you achieve your sales/registrations/subscriptions goal? If not, can you figure out why? It will all depend on your personal goals, but key metrics to look at include:
Top Traffic Sources: Are these the ones you expected? Were there any unexpected traffic sources?
Results from intermediaries and partners: who showed the best results? Can you find out why?
Email opens and clicks: what worked and what didn’t? How well did your message resonate with your audience?
Blog Post Views and Conversions: Which platforms or posts best communicated your story?
Marketing Page Conversions: Did the results meet your expectations? Pay attention to conversions, time on page, bounce and exit rates, and where users went next on your site (this can indicate what questions they didn’t get answered).
This information will help you not only adjust your marketing campaigns to promote your new product, but also plan your next launch.
23. Maintain momentum and continue to engage with an engaged audience
Remember how we said it takes most customers 6-8 touches before they're ready to make a purchase?
For many people, your big launch may have been just the second or third touchpoint. These customers still need additional interactions to convert into full-fledged buyers. If you’ve collected email addresses of people interested in your product, now is the time to set up an automated series of emails with social proof and feature highlights. If you don’t have that kind of base, consider running remarketing ads on Facebook and Google to stay in their sights.
This is also a good opportunity to engage with new customers and learn why they decided to buy. What about your message or product was particularly appealing to them? This information can be used to nudge those who weren’t quite ready to buy.
24. Organize a system for dealing with errors and problems
No matter how much testing you do before launch, there will inevitably be some unresolved issues. You need to have a robust system for handling them so that minor bugs don't turn into major problems.
25. Analyze your go-to-market strategy
As you complete your product launch, it's worth revisiting your strategy. Are there any things you missed? What marketing strategies ended up on the optional-but-nice list that you can now test as you near the end of your launch?
Just as you’re tracking your progress, analyze what went wrong or took longer than expected. And finally: pop the champagne! If you’ve made it this far without any major issues, it’s time to crack open a bottle (or two). You’ve earned it!
Product launches are always stressful, a huge investment of resources and attention, plus an element of uncertainty that can drive you crazy. But they’re also a reason to celebrate. You’ve built something cool and you’ve put it out into the world.
Since there is no limit to perfection and there will always be something that can be improved or completed, be sure to take the time to celebrate your victories.
Launching a product involves huge, complex processes (the length of this article hints at this).
They start before a product even ships and only end when the next launch appears on the horizon. But they're also some of the most exciting experiences you and your company will ever have.
Follow this guide and you will give your product the best chance of success in the world.
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