By Raul Harman

If you believe that a good business idea is enough for your startup to be successful, you cannot be farther from the truth. Of course, that idea will always be your stronghold and motivation but in most cases, it is not what generates revenue – your products are. Since each sold product counts, then you need to draw people’s attention to the product, and one of the best ways to achieve that is through a carefully planned launch.

For a product launch to be sensational, there are a lot of things in its background that need to be tended to. One of the first steps is to assign teams to different tasks and also, for them to communicate properly because, without that, you risk losing money and time. But, most of all, your launch can benefit from a good marketing plan – so, here are some tips to help you plan a launch that will get your startup on the business map!

Utilize the power of the visual

In an era in which people are bombarded with information from every side, it’s completely understandable that they don’t have time to read long content pieces. No matter how compelling the story about your startup and product may be to you if you present it in the form of a long article, chances are you will lose their interest. The good thing is that there are other ways to express that same story but to reach people more directly. 

Namely, humans process images 60,000 times faster than words so by taking that same content and presenting it in any of the visual forms, you increase your chances of the audience taking interest in the launch. Instead of a dreary story about the beginnings of your startups, you can make a fun infographic; if a process needs to be explained, forget about long instructions and make a short video. Whichever form you go for, you will not regret it!

Leverage the most effective marketing channels

Presuming that your marketing budget is not limitless, the matter of finances would need to be taken care of at some point. Digital marketing is less expensive than traditional but it still costs and you need to make sure you have enough funds to cover everything – unpaid bills are not something a startup can afford so you need to take the topic of your budget very seriously. 

For starters, you need to do research into marketing channels which are most suitable for your kind of product – e.g. if your products are intended for the elderly, then Instagram probably shouldn’t be the channel you will invest the most. Also, another strategy you should consider is influencer marketing. For starters, it is highly effective since the investment won’t break the bank, and it can be applied to almost any industry. So, choose the channels you will invest in prudently.

Generating interest and collecting feedback before launch

Let’s take a look at the human aspect of the launch – on one side, you have the teams working on making things possible, and on the other, you have the customers. However, these sides aren’t adversaries. In fact, they complement each other, and for the launch to be successful, you need to pay attention to the following:

  • Whether the deadlines are being respected;
  • The communication between the teams;
  • What customers expect from the product and the launch.

And what if you could take control over all three of these aspects with just one tool? It is the DevOps collaboration that improves team cooperation, and for instance, allows your marketing team to know exactly in which development stage the product is in. Based on that data, their teaser campaigns then can provide valuable feedback from customers about certain features, so that they can be changed before the launch.

Focus on product branding

With so many choices and similar variants of the same product, branding becomes an essential part of making your product known. Product branding represents all your efforts to make your product stand out by using a specific tone of voice and visual identity, and even a separate personality for that specific product. Apple is a good illustration of this, with its iPhone and the additional “i” in the name of its products.

Product branding encompasses many procedures, such as:

  • Creating a unique packaging without spending a fortune;
  • Coming up with an interesting overall design;
  • Concocting a distinct name and compelling descriptions.

Of course, before you start fantasizing about large ventures, you have to first check your budget and of course, do the necessary research. Gather the information about the prices and be aware of how much it costs you to make the entire product and how much does your entire launch campaign costs. 

Think both online and offline when it comes to launch

Regardless of whether your product is digital or not, you shouldn’t only concentrate on digital promotion. Your marketing campaign can benefit from a live event, and for example, even you streamlining the launch via one of the marketing channels. 

That helps create a feeling of uniqueness about the product which automatically triggers the idea that the ones who were present at the limited live event are special which is something you need to leverage. Also, such events are excellent for creating new contacts and strengthening the relationship with your customers and influencers. As mentioned, influencer marketing is highly effective, especially with Millennials and the generations that come after them.

Final thoughts

For a startup, every major change can make a difference between growing and failing. Paying special attention to your marketing tactics in terms of product launch is essential because that is a unique opportunity to reach a larger number of people. So, plan every step of your launch with care and the results will come!