The product launch is probably the most time and sweat consuming activity that anyone in marketing ever engages in. Here’s a very short version of the basics in launching a product.
Everything that ends up in a launch plan can be categorized as either an Activity or Deliverable. A deliverable includes things like written down distribution strategy, product naming, product descriptions (both long and short versions), messaging points, product data sheets, screen shots, reference database, competitive pricing reports, Powerpoint presentations (both internal and external), white papers, and the list goes on and on. Activities are comprised of acts or actions such as evaluating beta sites or customers, press tours, analyst tours, partner/channel readiness or roll out, product release to manufacturing, sales training, industry and/or company-sponsored events, and (again) the list goes on. You get the idea. An enormous amount of work is involved in a major product launch.
A critical aspect of effective launch planning is in focusing the team’s energies on several things that (together) make the biggest impact. Throw away the checklist containing a million things. Stick to the following critical items.
1. Plan the launch with a realistic timeframe in mind. Most tech product launches require approximately 3-4 months from the moment a beta release can be sent into production. Oftentimes, I hear people suggest that a product be launched at a big industry trade show without thinking of the ramifications on the entire product development and launch window. If your launch happens to land in and around a big show then go for it. Otherwise, turn your launch into an event in and of itself. Do avoid the weeks immediately preceding and following major holidays. Also, avoid launching when a major (and, larger) competitor is launching a new or major upgrade product.
2. Of the four classic “Ps” of marketing, product comes first! Place (or, distribution), promotion, and pricing depends on the product development and product positioning. Of the product considerations, product positioning is probably the most difficult (and, rewarding) aspect of product planning and launch. The key parts of positioning in this regard will be: naming, descriptions, customer or market profiling, and messaging (both business values and product strengths/values). There are other considerations such as market segmentation, market entry strategy(-ies), beta customer recruitment, etc but we’ll leave those for Raj to tackle another time. We’re really talking about launch preparation for this blog.
3. Now that you’ve gotten the product positioning and messaging nailed down, your focus should turn to the outbound efforts. Before you turn to execution, however, remember to write everything down. If all of the decisions and plans are resident only in your head, you’ll not only have fragmented work from your team but also risk prolonging the launch process by introducing too many dependencies to the process itself. The press release cannot get started because the data sheet is not done. The data sheet cannot be started because the powerpoint preso is nowhere to be found. The new content on the website can’t be staged until the promotional offer is created. It goes on and on. You get the idea. Write down everything and distribute it as a source document. Packaging work (artwork, design, production), demos for both direct sales team and (if required) channel partners, and pricing sheets need to get done. You’ll also want your product marketing gurus to develop a competitive pricing guideline for the field to act as a sales tool for objection handling. This competitive pricing guideline should have a comparison of features for all major competitive products so that context is given to the various competitive pricing schemes.
4. We enter the time-consuming and calorie-burning period of a launch now. We’ve finally gone through the “thinking” period so now we enter what I call the “write and talk” period. If you’ve been rigorous in your planning and decisive about what you want to do, this period of “write and talk” should be a breeze. If not, this will be the most gut-wrenching period you’ll ever witness or live through. In either case, you’re now cranking out all of the written materials (or, deliverables) such as product collateral and sales tools (e.g., RFP guides, case studies, .ppt, customer reference lists, FAQs, etc.).
5. Finally, all that is left to do now is to talk! Go on your press and analyst tours. Do a round of sales training. Thrill the audience at shows and events. And, execute and manage the lead generation campaigns (such as webinars, white paper offers, discounts, or survey rewards) that attracted buyers (!) – exactly as you had planned. Pop open the bottle of Korbel (yup, you’re on a tight budget) and celebrate. You’re done … for about a week. Next week, you have to start planning the next big launch which is only four months away! Welcome to tech marketing.
- John
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