Creating your first product can be so exciting. You’re waiting for that influx of hard, cold cash, but if you don’t have connections and a blueprint of how to launch a product successfully, you might find that it enters the marketplace without much fanfare.
This can be very disappointing – especially if you’ve worked hard to create a product for your niche that you’re extremely proud of. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You need some insight about how to prepare for a product launch, and then you will see the kind of return that you were hoping to get.
How To Successfully Launch Your Next Product
Create a Product Attractive to Your Target Audience
One big mistake many marketers make is that they release a product that they think would be good. But that’s not what the market is buying. The market is buying products they want.
So before you even create a single page or video frame, you need to conduct ample research to make sure that your idea is something people are hungry for – and willing to pay for as well.
If there’s competition, don’t let that scare you off – let it be a signal to you that other people are seeing success in this niche, with a similar idea to your own – or at least in the same neighborhood.
Your desired audience is buying products they want. Not what YOU think they need. This means you need to create a product that is attractive to your desired audience. Click To TweetContact JV Partners Early
Trying to sell a lot on your own is doable, but you have to be a master at traffic generation to achieve the same results that you would with joint venture (JV) partners.
Serious JV partners have a schedule they adhere to when it comes to their promotions, and you have to get on their calendar months in advance. That means having your product ready well in advance, too – because they’ll expect to receive advanced free access to the finished product.
This is the way the top product launches work. The preview access should be given when you first email the potential JV partner. You never ask them if they want to see it – or tell them you’ll give them access if they want it.
JV partners like to have a perk known as early promotions. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy early promotional period. You can launch 72 hours early with JV partners and let affiliates get in on the action three days later. This is just enough time to appease the JV partners, to make them feel special.
Have an Affiliate Program in Place
For a successful launch, not only do you need to secure some high-end JV partners, but you also want to develop a thriving affiliate program. This is something that you’ll promote just as much as you do your product, if not more.
What do you need for a successful affiliate program? You need sales copy to convince people to promote your product for starters. Just as you would write copy for your product, draft some that excites affiliates, informs them, and makes your program one they can’t afford to miss out on.
Train your affiliates on the best way to promote your product. Many affiliates don’t know the best way to reach your niche market, or what tools they respond best to.
Have a bevy of supplies that help them make sales. At a minimum, you want to have:
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- Banner ads – vertical, horizontal, animated and non-animated, all different sizes and some color options
- Social media swipe copy
- Email swipe lists for a series of emails they can release
- Solo email ads they can use
- Blog posts
- Articles
Give them nothing less than 50% commission. This makes it worthwhile to them to promote you, because many of these affiliates are lurkers, yet top sellers – and they want a return for their investment of time and space in their schedule.
Setting up your next product launch will be a breeze when you pickup my Product Launch Marketing Planner, a workbook and full video training combo, teaches you how to plan your product launch. In other words, if you don’t exactly know what goes into a product launch, you will when you buy this planner/training combo!
Secure Testimonials and Repair Your Product
Before your product ever launches publicly (or to affiliates and JV partners), you can release it to a limited few individuals to get their feedback about the product. With some, they’ll be good enough to use as testimonials on your sales copy.
You want to choose people in the niche who need the product, not just friends and family members. Advise them that the reason you’re giving them access is because you need feedback to help improve your product.
Make sure you get the right kind of testimonials. They should be honest – someone who has truly used the product. Get a real headshot of the person giving the testimonial. It’s also great if they can give you a short testimonial via video that lasts under 3 minutes. They can state their name and tell what their experience with your product has been.
When collecting testimonials, ask for a real headshot of the person giving the testimonial. If they can give you a short testimonial via video that lasts under 3 minutes, even better! Click To TweetSoft Launch Testing
Before you launch openly, you want to conduct a soft launch to see how your sales copy converts. Tweaking sales copy is easy, but you need to split test certain elements like headlines and bullet points to see which one makes customers respond better.
You can either soft launch to your own list or make an arrangement with another marketer to soft launch it to their list with them getting a paid promotional fee or commission, whichever choice they want.
You can also soft launch segments of your list. Launch to one segment first, make changes based on feedback and then soft launch to another segment for a follow up batch of feedback before it goes live.
Test the Process for Functionality
A long time ago, marketers used to brag about how they crashed their servers with so much traffic. Truth be told, much of this wasn’t true – although some did experience true technical difficulties.
Either way, it’s frustrating and unacceptable to the people who matter most – affiliates and customers. No one wants to land on a site expecting to be able to buy something, only to have a site that’s not functioning properly.
Test every aspect of your sales process BEFORE launch: payment processors, download systems, confirmation emails, etc. Do NOT test using the same email you used for setup. Better yet, have a friend test! Click To TweetTest every element – how various payment processors work, if the automated delivery or download system works properly, and even if your buyer receives the right files!
Make sure that the test includes how they’re signed up to your list. Do they get a confirmation email? Is the email written exactly how you want it to be – with no broken links? Once the functionality of the process is ensured, you can begin bringing on partners and building a buzz.
Build a Buzz
Develop some pre-release fanfare for your product. You want people to know it’s coming. Think of your promotional steps the same way movie companies plan their releases.
You see snippets of a coming attraction at the end of other movies (which you can do at the end of your previous products). You see trailers being advertised (video buzz works well for this regarding your own products).
Use a variety of media to let people know what’s coming and create teasers for them. Podcasts, video marketing, and PDFs – even limited access inside a membership area will work!
At the very least, take the first chapter of your product and release it for free to make people build up a desire to see the rest. Give interviews, guest blog, and host webinars that help people learn what the product is about and why they’ll need it when launch day arrives.
Ciao,
Miss Kemya
Have you checked out the Product Launch Marketing Planner?
Use this workbook to organize all of this info so that you can streamline your product launch, and stay organized in the process. Also includes a 45 minute training, so you’re ready for your next product launch! Click here to check it out.
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