How to Plan a Successful Digital Product Launch

 Updated: September 1 20, 2022

A product launch is an occasion ... similar to an art exhibit or big "open home" which makes a statement: "Hello world, here I am. Stop by and discover the things I'm about." Launches are an opportunity to "wow" your audience.

Your audience will be an exploration. Does this product do something I like, resolve a problem, perform better than something similar to one I already have? Your product's introduction into the market is the time at which you can open your doors and see how well you meet the customers' needs and expectations.

Because a digital product isn't a physical product - it isn't a part of the physical world. What should the launch of your product look like, how do you prepare one? And how do you reach people, and how can you make the effort you put into it result in a profit?

Make Launch Goals

A product launch is an opportunity to evaluate your objectives and gauge your success at achieving them. Are you able to envision a figure in mind for the sales you'd like to make in a specified period of time? Are you more interested in finding out about who your buyers are and their habits of buying? What sort of habits do they have? What are their locations? What is their relationship to your product?

You must ensure that you have the necessary tools and procedures set up to record all the data that you choose to quantify. If your objective is to achieve 10,000 downloads within during the first thirty days after the launch date, do you have the processes that will allow you to record the count of downloads? Can you easily pull data about where the downloads originate in terms of geography? Are you ready to record their comments?

Make use of timing strategically

The timing of a product's debut into the market is an important marketing strategy. Find out the time of the year as well as the places that will be able to maximize exposure and leverage:

• Beware of dates that individuals from all over the world generally take a vacation. This is usually during the summer months of July and August. Also, avoid other public holidays, such as Christmas, New Years, Good Friday, Easter, ThanksgivingDay, Labour Day, Bastille Day, Yom Kipper, Boxing Day and many more.

• Ride the coattails of an important trade show that is in your sector or other important event, such as an exhibition or the release of a new product release or new technology that dovetails with yours. Examples: a large seminar or workshop that trains people to use technology who will likely use your product or the release of an app or operating system that complements the product you sell or increases some feature of it.

• Do not miss launches that you might have heard of, which occur after competitors launched. Your goal is to get in front of your competitors and not be behind or else you could find prospective customers have lost interest. Start first from the gates, if you can.

• Beware of delays when you announce your launch. Competitors could take advantage of that chance to launch their products earlier or worse, stir up the negative press. Be prepared, have buyers eagerly anticipating your item, and media ready to look over the reactions and report on the event.

Make a checklist for launching

Launching a product involves many planning tasks, pre-announcements, post-announcements and following-ups. Be sure that your clients can access the product, understand how they can use it and are happy with their purchase. There's not always an order to this, but you should be sure to perform these tasks at the time they are logically appropriate. You want to be on top of the ones which are sensitive to time and make use of ones that are flexible. And you don't want to ignore the most important ones. Use a checklist.

Create the Big Announcement

Develop and carry out as many activities as possible to build excitement and create demand for your product before the product is available to customers. It can be accomplished with large or small budgets as well as for companies of any size. Begin by identifying and informing the partners. Include them early so they will be able to inform about their clients. Sales executives can be your most powerful evangelists. Make use of LinkedIn connections, as well as other contacts and networking groups to connect with them.

Create a press release for journalists and bloggers before time so that they can get the chance to peek (like the screening prior to a new movie to an elite group of people). Be sure that they are aware that they have been invited for the exclusive view. This is more than just courtesy. This has the potential to bring visitors to your websites as a cowboy drives cattle to pasture.

Industry analysts are also able to create excitement. Contact them via business networks like LinkedIn as well as your business networks , and even in the social media groups on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Brief them, get their feedback and inform them of developments.

Sometimes, playing with words or creating an air of secrecy before a launch could create curiosity and even excitement. A select group of people can be given details. It can help feed an excitement, make buyers excited, and build urgency and anticipation among potential customers. Publish the launch date prior to the event and inform that your customers something exciting is coming.

Alert for the Press En Masse

Expose your product to appropriate media who may be intrigued and excited enough to blog about your product. Invest into a subscription to the news release services. The top three options made for small-sized businesses include: E-Releases, PRWeb and PR Newswire are a few most highly rated options. Mid-tier pricing for these three is between $300 and $250. PRWeb, for instance, can help you write the message you want to convey, and then send it to every major newspaper and search engine (30,000 journalists and bloggers and more than 250,000 PRWeb news subscribers) and track it (detailed analysis will show the number of people who saw the announcement, the places it was found and the number of times the release was distributed).

Does a press release help build the traffic on your website and increase SEO? Yes, it will however, a press release's ability to increase SEO has changed over the last few years due changes to Google's algorithm. The press release you send out is more likely to appear in search results if the users are able to enter specific keywords within the press release. It's not known how likely.

Build and Leverage Your Emails

Email lists are as valuable as gold. They are not just a way to promote your latest offering, they could be your customers' potential who are the source of your revenue being earned. You want to cultivate them like precious gems to yield sales on into the future. Those emails will grow because customers will share your emails. They'll build a rapport with the customers. Keep them happy and they'll be your advocates. They should be frequent visitors to your website and purchasers of your product, fans who will transport the message of your brand and help your brand grow exponentially through social media.

Are you starting your product launch starting from scratch? Chances are you do not have any mailing lists. Or, you may possess one that was previously a product that you've promoted. Whatever the case you'll want to encourage people to visit your website to sign up for emails from you. The earlier you start the process, the bigger the list of email subscribers. Set up incentives and rewards. Your clients will most likely need the motivation to purchase the product.

If you're starting with very few emails Utilize social media in build them up. Boost posts on Facebook. Add friends. Follow businesses and individuals on Twitter. Retweet and tweet items that are of interest. Build followers on Instagram and Pinterest by sharing your company's photos including blogs, images as well as pitch decks and instructions. Invite people to complete short surveys. Here's one that's been hitting email boxes:

Make use of your site as well as sales platforms and social media channels to gain the attention of people to your site and solicit them to sign up to join your email lists. This gives you the opportunity to contact your prospects at any time later on, using whatever type of message you'd like; plus, there is no need to worry about search engine rankings or algorithms for social media.

When you can, begin making names to be included in a mailing list using your site. Invite visitors to sign up with their email addresses so that they can be the first to receive notifications. Offer a complimentary preview of the book's first section (like Amazon's "Look inside" feature), or a PDF with helpful advice or details. Create and communicate incentives like incentives, giveaways, or discounts for early buyers.

Sign up with an email service provider (ESP) in particular when you're beginning from zero. Here are a few companies that have been rated highly which range from free to $15 per month. Campaign Monitor, iContact, MailChimp, and Constant Contact. An ESP provides users with the tools to create templates, tools and other services that required to attract customers, evaluate your campaigns, manage the day-to-day requirements of your emails and also generate data.

Prepare to Help

Be ready to provide fast and expert support, particularly when launching a new feature. Manuals for troubleshooting and user guides are helpful when the support team aren't available to help customers solve issues or provide answers to questions regarding usage.

Offer online chat, phone support and/or email support if you are able to. Sometimes, telephone support can be more helpful with technical questions on software. If it's about a forgotten account password or credit card issues or the non-delivery of the item the online chat option or email could be sufficient.

You should have Customer Relations Management (CRM) set up. Do not attempt to manage your support on your own. This will consume many hours of your time, and prevent you from the tasks of an entrepreneur - developing production and sales and new and improved products. CRM software can be used CRM software to handle all of your relationships with customers in the same place.

Look online for virtual assistants, or other people who are looking for work that they can do remotely at their homes. You can also go digital through a software company which acts as an online help desk or chat service online.

Inexperiences Lead to Success

Following the launch, you should learn how your products can be marketed to your global audience. Keep testing, tweaking and making changes in the event of need. If you're not satisfied with your response or sales weren't up to your initial goals Keep in mind that this is just chapter one of the story. Be prepared for mistakes or shortcomings. Learn more from your mistakes than you will from the successes. This will allow you to turn a good product into an extremely profitable one.