You are working during one of the most entrepreneurial eras in history. Thanks to digital media, launching a product to a global audience has never been so manageable.
Equally, competition has never been as fierce. To successfully launch your product online, you need a winning product launch marketing plan. For a successful launch, product marketers need to work with marketing communications experts so that the benefits of the new product are carefully positioned and then, the best online reach channels are selected to reach your audience. We'll show how you can use the RACE framework to review the different media options and build a funnel to maximize interest and sales in your new product.
By using this type of strategic planning and following best practices for using digital channels, product marketers can avoid common product launch pitfalls such as targeting the wrong audience, using the wrong type of content and not optimizing the right customer journeys.
Within new product development (NPD), marketing can make or break the launch. That's why we recommend utilizing our tried and tested marketing processes and templates, to acquire and retain high-value customers from the off.
We created the RACE Framework as a structure for marketers and managers to plan, manage and optimize their customer journeys across all the key customer touchpoints - including digital media and experiences.
This visual shows all the potential interactions that can be used during a product launch campaign. You can use it as a visual checklist of what’s required. Keep reading to the end to see examples of it in practice.
Creating a product launch marketing plan helps you take a structured approach to exploring potential opportunities for your launch, defining your aims, and preparing your launch timeline. This applies to all product marketing activity relating to your launch:
Planning your product launch empowers you to prioritize resources in a logical and effective order. With a product launch campaign, as with so many issues related to business, whilst you can plan for most eventualities, you should also plan for the unexpected. That's why we recommend using an actionable framework to structure your marketing, and make adjustments.
In this blog, we'll cover the fundamentals of planning for your launch, plus examples of product marketing in action, and advice to help you get your launch over the line.
If you're looking for new marketing solutions tools to streamline your marketing activities and boost your performance, did you know Smart Insights offers both free and paid membership options? Find out more about marketing tools, templates, and memberships, integrated across RACE, and chose the right plan for your business.
You may know the Smart Insights RACE Planning framework, integrated across 5 essential outcomes of any marketing or digital marketing plan:
The RACE Framework gives marketers and managers quick access to practical, actionable data about their customers' experiences of your product. That's why we recommend using RACE to plan your product launch campaign.
Product marketing is a unique area of marketing. Product marketers work with a critical focus on their products and how customers perceive and utilize them, as shown in this definition by the Product Marketing Alliance.
"Product marketing is the driving force behind getting products to market - and keeping them there. Product marketers are the overarching voices of the customer, masterminds of messaging, enablers of sales, and accelerators of adoption."
That's why, when planning your product launch, it's essential that you chose a customer-focused framework.
Our internationally acclaimed RACE Framework breaks down your product launch campaign plan through a simple customer-focused experience funnel. We recommend these 5 steps to guide you from initial planning to customer sales activation and long-term brand building and advocacy.
For each of these stages, we recommend specific actions to take and resources and tools in our guide. You can download your copy of our RACE marketing plan below, which is applicable to both B2B and B2C markets as you'll see below. But first, read our top tips on how to create a successful product launch marketing plan.
Free marketing plan template download Use our simple three-page Microsoft Word template if you work for a small business who needs to quickly create a simple, practical marketing plan quickly. It's structured in three sections of steps using the acclaimed RACE Growth System for improving marketing results Access the Free marketing plan template
It can be difficult to start from scratch. Included below are some consumer and business product launch examples:
To become the bestselling maze-building gaming app.
"Every maze is based on highly accurate maps of some of the world’s most popular actual mazes."
To become the go-to smart home security system for residential households.
"Our smart home security system provides advanced features such as facial recognition, real-time alerts, and seamless integration with other smart devices."
To become the most trusted online small business accounts software platform you can buy.
"Our software package has been developed in partnership with each of USA’s top three small business accountancy practices."
As you can see, a new product launch is no mean feat. It's likely you'll need a variety of marketing solutions to help bring your plan to fruition. That's where we come in, as Smart Insights has marketing solutions structured across 20 marketing toolkits, including lifecycle marketing, digital experience, and sector technology.
We hope you have found these examples useful. Keep reading for expert advice on optimizing your own product launch marketing plan.
With so many variables, it would be foolish to suggest you can always be fully prepared for anything. However, by reviewing the risks and defining steps to mitigate them you will be able to remain in control of each stage of your launch, even if the unexpected happens, you’ll be ready to respond to it coolly, rather than react on the spur-of-the-moment.
Smart Insights Business Members can track internal and external factors at play within their NPD eco-system, and adapt accordingly with solutions such as our SWOT/TOWS template, PESTLE analysis template, and Customer journey mapping template.
Depending on your intended market, you will need to develop a clear all-encompassing vision. Each aspect of your product launch vision is supported by a substantiating statement.
Geoffry Moore offers a simple template for drafting a vision statement, based on a fill-in-the-blank approach.
"For [our target customer], who [customer’s need], the [product] is a [product category or description] that [unique benefits and selling points].
Unlike [competitors or current methods], our product [main differentiators]."
Our Digital Experience Learning Path module, Define Digital Value Proposition, helps product and brand marketers craft a powerful DVP, using tools such as the 6Cs of customer motivation and benchmarking.
You are intimately familiar with every aspect of your new product. However, the same cannot be said for your prospective markets and audience.
Initially the most important of these markets are ‘early adopters’, particularly where you are launching into a relatively new product category.
During the first phase of your planning, beyond simply considering what your product is, think about how and where it fits on the ‘radar’ of your early adopter marketplace. This is crucial.
Not only does it help ensure the features and benefits of your product are understood, but importantly, it sends out a signal that helps early adopters distinguish your offering against competitors who may produce a similar product.
You can download our product launch playbook to find out more about how to build a marketing plan for each stage of your product launch, across B2B and B2C industries, with examples.
Draw up a timeline covering the build-up, launch, and post-launch, mapping each stage against benefit messages aimed at specific markets, along with benchmarks against which you can explain any value propositions against competitors.
When developing your campaign plan, consider how you can work with potential influencers early on. Online, this has far-reaching implications that extend to how and where you promote your product. For example, which influencer blogs should you have in your sights? How about podcasts and trusted journalist reviews?
Smart Insights Business Members can use our marketing campaign plan template to structure their product launch timeline across campaign goals, target audience and targeting, key messages, media plan and budget, campaign assets, execution, and tracking.
When launching a new product, as with any campaign, you will want to define success criteria, but it’s particularly important for a new product launch campaign since uncertainty means you will need to adjust your approach.
Key performance indicators include:
Break down your KPIs by channel to measure and compare your results. Metrics here could include:
Finally, don't forget that building the option to update or upgrade a product over time can enhance your income revenue stream. Engagement is a key feature of successful RACE product launch marketing plans, don't undo all your hard work by failing to keep customers engaged post-purchase.
'Engage' is the final stage of our RACE funnel and one that can be overlooked by marketers who don't have a strategic approach to their marketing. But there are so many advantages both interaction and engagement that can boost conversion. Find out more about how to boost your customer engagement and all the other parts of our purchase funnel when you download your free guide today.
Free digital marketing plan template Our popular marketing planning template is structured across the Smart Insights RACE Framework. Join Smart Insights as a Free Member to download our digital marketing plan template today Access the Free digital marketing plan template
By Dave Chaffey
Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here. Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary. Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question.
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