How to Launch a Product in 2023 [Complete Guide]

Statistically, around 90% of the products that are launched annually - Fail. People who run their small online businesses try to launch product after product; this is pretty much becoming a new normal. When you introduce something to the consumer market, it becomes a game of dart and arrow, and you tend to throw as many arrows as you can to see how many of them hit the bull eye. The victory is in your hands if you know how to map a successful product launch strategy that possesses the development, launch, and promotion phase.

How to Launch a Product in 2023

This blog post discusses the effective approach and product launch roadmap that every eCommerce store should adapt to increase the probability of success:

1. Meeting consumer’s needs

An effective product launch strategy should always consider consumers’ needs and demands as a priority and satisfy them in the most suitable way possible. A fruitful way is to evaluate the contemporary market and answer the questions: Why would someone buy your product? Determine how your product could fill any void and add value to someone’s life. These are all reasons that push consumers to buy any things. Acknowledging customers’ perspectives of buying your product is how you can initiate your promotion strategy more effectively.

2. Know your target audience and your competitors

To make rational decisions related to your brand or product, you need to grasp the insights of the contemporary market and trends, that is;

• Who are your potential customers?
• Who are your current competitors?

There are several ways to do so, such as:

• Google your product or product category and outline the direct and indirect competitors that show up.
• Connect with the people within the domain of your target market and ask them which product or brand they are most likely to buy from and why?
• Observe the relevant social media accounts or pages your potential consumers follow and are responsive to.
• Gain customers’ perspective by shopping online or offline to feel what it would feel like on customers’ behalf to browse and purchase products.

As you go about your research, make a note of:

1. Who your potential and most likely customers are—the ones you can engage easily.
2. Who your top rivals are— specifically the brands that are performing well and famous in the market.

It’s crucial to deal with this aspect before heading forward, as it will remove the curtains of doubt, making it obvious for you where you should keep your focus and gain a competitive edge over your rivals.

3. Making a prototype and Beta Testing

To refrain from making false investments in a wrong product or item, outsource beta testers to run a test mechanism so they can provide feedback on how to improve and what to change, if necessary. It will allow you to dodge undesirable customer reviews that may, in turn, damage your image in the market, causing your patrons and investors to perform damage control to justify their linkage with your brand or business.

Also Read: How to Launch a Successful eCommerce Business in 2022

4. Readjustment and Changes

Once you step into the testing phase and start getting feedback from testers, friends, family, colleagues, or anyone who can help eliminate the risks, it’s crucial to make necessary adjustments accordingly. It’s difficult to make changes after completing a product, but it can create a notable difference in its quality. Everyone has a different perspective; some of your patrons may outline a feature that you’ve never considered adding or point out something irrelevant that you can eliminate. Ultimately, your product would become an ideal entity that your consumers not just need but want.

5. Strong marketing campaign

A successful product launch strategy is directly linked with your marketing strategy. Try to build anticipation among your target consumers by running promotional campaigns before the product launch. This awareness approach will be more effective and drive more RoI s on a new product.A few effective ways to start a promotion campaign for your upcoming product involves:

1. Build a dedicated page about the new products on your website
2. Initiate an email campaign that encourages signups to learn more about the new product.
3. Reach out to influencers that can promote your product through their content and tease the product
4. As per your budget feasibility, try to advertise at as many appropriate channels or platforms as possible where you can receive enough traffic to trigger public interest.

Don’t underestimate the power of SEO. If you want to cut your budget short, use effective SEO methodologies and keywords.

Related: How to Start Dropshipping Store [Complete Guide]

6. Build a firm supply chain

Business owners need to manage the inventory record of their products and ensure they have enough supplies to meet demand (This headache can be dodged by white labeling, which will be discussed in the following piece of writing). The most effective way to do this is to set up a manageable supply chain framework. Maintain rich communication with your vendors and ask about the limit of their generation capacity and how many units they can assemble or provide in a specific time frame. Then, discuss the scenario of scale production in case your product launch yields more demand oversupply.

7. Network and share your product

Once you’ve set a launch date, stick to it. It will reduce your efforts to continuously update your digital marketing mediums, customers, vendors, anyone involved in any changes or updates being made.When it’s time, promote the new product and trigger your email campaigns and social media channels, and encourage your friends and colleagues to spread the word as well. Your work is not over yet; ensure that you get the market’s attention on every marketing platform. And if necessary, repost and share reminder notices at regular intervals after the official launch.

8. Reach out to the press - post-launch

Once you’ve launched your product, and as soon as positive responses and feedback start to come, reach out to the PR firms and collaborate with influencers and ask them to share your story. People tend to buy from where they feel their emotions attached, so take your audience on a journey from inception, to development, to eCommerce. The public shows a keen interest in reading and listening to the content related to the origin of successful products, especially if they suddenly appear out of nowhere. Don’t hesitate to do so if you have an inspiring and catchy product story to reveal. Feel free to post your story on social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or Instagram.

9. Consider public feedback - post-launch

Google and other relevant sites made for customer feedback are modern-day consumer reports. Notwithstanding how effectively you engaged the audience during your product launch, the public’s opinion of your brand can be ruthless if your business fails to deliver what it promised.If you receive negative feedback, hold patience, respond with a positive greeting, and provide a short-term way to solve the consumer’s immediate concerns and a long-term solution to ensure future customers won’t encounter the same issues. Responding to the reviews and feedback whenever possible reveals that you are dedicated to your product and care for what your customers think.

‍10. Go with White labeling - Manufacturing and Selling or Just Selling?

‍Manufacturing an entirely new product is often risky and costly. Here comes white labeling into play as a perfect solution to help an eCommerce business grow with a budget-friendly approach. The manufacturer provides the eCommerce business to acquire readily available goods to sell under its branding. The only task left for the eCommerce business is to run marketing campaigns and sell the products at a suitable markup rate; thus, both the eCommerce facility and vendor make money.Like a corporate practice, the manufacturer deals with the design and development of the product. At the same time, the eCommerce platform owner has to handle the marketing and sales of the product.Here are some of the primary reasons why you should opt for selling white label products.

• Reduces manufacturing costs

One of the topmost reasons businesses consider selling white label products is the notable reduction in manufacturing costs, which provides space to invest more revenue back into selling more products.

• Lean operations

By operating as a white label eCommerce platform, your business will run lean, as you aren’t bound with heavy manufacturing costs and HR-related issues (as discussed below).During the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses crashed because of high manufacturing costs.

• Improved customer experience

Statistically, the businesses that prioritize customer experience generate around 5 to 6 times more revenue than businesses with average customer experience. One of the most effective ways a lean team can improve their customer experience is by offering white label products. As your resources are limited, collaborating with a manufacturer will expand your resources, and you can focus on core business goals such as improved customer experience and improved marketing strategy as well.

• Instant access to knowledgeable staff

Private label or Direct sale companies that manufacture their goods and services have to deal with new employees’ hiring and training process for every new product assembly. Rather than recreating and running the whole lengthy process, white label partners allow you to benefit from the knowledge and experience of dedicated staff who already have a firm grip over the product’s inside and out.

• Pivot quickly with consumer trends

Private label companies also have to tackle market pivot issues.Imagine you’re a fitness retailer, and you decide to create a line of trainer shoes with a currently trending design. With the traditional manufacturing approach, it may no longer remain popular among the masses when your product is finalized. In this scenario, you would be in a deadlock kind of situation due to the burden of high manufacturing costs, unsold inventory, zero demand, and nothing to offer your contemporary customer base.On the contrary, if you have a white label partner, you can choose to sell one of their existing and currently trending products to your consumers with suitable markup.

• Ideal for rapid growth

As an immature business, you may not have enough capacity to manufacture multiple products at a given time but partnering with a white label manufacturer enables you to have sudden access to their entire supply line. Therefore, you can expand to a new market of consumers offer multiple products to your consumer base.Let’s say you are a private label company that only sells cricket bats. However, some of your potential customers may want to purchase a cricket bat and cricket ball together. It’s human nature; rather than buying a cricket bat from your store and a cricket ball from a different store, the customers will likely choose to purchase both items from another store, offering both products.By partnering with a white label manufacturer, you can enjoy instant access to the cricket ball and the cricket bats. Therefore, you would engage a broader consumer segment, those who want to buy only one of either item or both.

• Test product lines risk-free

If you’re a budding company that ultimately plans to exercise private labeling or direct selling, white labeling is still a greater good as a first small step towards your destination. The process involving a white-label approach takes a few short weeks before you start selling. In contrast, private label selling may take several months to start selling as it bounds you to find a facility space, hire employees, create designs, purchase raw materials, and start manufacturing products on your own. On the contrary, you could start selling white label products to get some cash in the bank and then shift towards private label as the company grows further. In a nutshell, White labeling is the best option to start selling instantaneously while reducing your company’s costs and plausible risks. Creating a white label partnership medium is very simple, and you’ll be instantly enjoying a variety of product options at the tip of your finger.

Conclusion

Keep in mind; you will never have 100% control over how people perceive your brand. You can cut your extra expenditures to boost RoI, engage more customers in the effective way possible, make a great first impression and sustain your reputation. Still, you can’t control the individual opinions that exist in everyone’s mind.All you can do is remain honest, push your limits to the extreme and try to resonate with your core consumer base. With the right knowledge of how to handle things and rational decision-making, you can unleash the true potential of your business.