Developing a new product or service is always an exciting process. Whether you’re launching a brand-new business or expanding your current line, the launch of a new asset can propel your business to even greater success.
However, product development doesn’t happen overnight and there are many stages to go through before it reaches the market. While it can be tempting to rush through development to get a great product on sale more quickly, this could be a costly mistake.
By taking a strategic approach to development, you can minimize your costs, reduce resource wastage and, ultimately, create a more marketable product. With this in mind, take a step back and don’t launch your product until…
You’ve protected your business
Once your product is released, you run the risk of people copying your ideas, mimicking your brand, or even attempting to use your intellectual property. Due to this, it’s vital to secure the appropriate legal protection before your concepts are put into the public domain.
Many people assume that only a finished product needs to legally protected, but this isn’t the case. Your ideas, concepts, and plans could easily be hijacked by unscrupulous persons looking to make a quick buck.
There are various options available when it comes to protecting your intellectual property. Patents, copyrights, trademarks, and non-disclosure agreements are just some of the tools used to retain ownership of business ideas and product innovations. With your entire business at stake, however, it’s important to get independent legal advice to determine what type of intellectual property protection is right for your business.
You know who your market is
Identifying your market is a key consideration when developing any new product or service. Sometimes, you target a particular market and invent a product that appeals to a particular demographic. On other occasions, you might come up with an innovative idea and then explore which markets it could be relevant to.
No matter what route you take, identifying potential markets enables you to locate your target audience. This is critical for a number of reasons. As well as gaining insight from your target demographic, knowing who your market is means you can begin to think about how to engage with them.
Furthermore, exploring which markets are available to you, based on your product, could help to broaden the scope of your line. In many instances, products will have dual purposes or value in more than one market. By leveraging this, you can engage varying demographics and significantly increase the profitability of your product.
You’ve obtained user feedback
How people respond to your product will determine its ultimate success. More specifically, how people within your target audience respond to your product will determine whether it sells. User reaction is vital to the commercial viability of a product, so it’s an essential part of the development process.
Many businesses overlook the importance of gaining genuine user feedback, which often leads to expensive oversights and failed product launches. With platforms like Userzoom, however, you can reach millions of users within your target demographic and obtain genuine product feedback. This gives you a safe and secure way of connecting with your target market and gathering the data you need to refine your product.
Of course, user feedback doesn’t only become relevant at the final stage of development. To maximize the value of your research, it’s important to monitor user reactions throughout the entire process. By gaining user input from the outset, you’ll have valuable information you can use to develop your concept, prototype, minimum viable product, and, eventually, your final design.
Your brand is well-established
Launching a business means you’re creating a brand, whether you realize it or not. Every product, service, marketing asset, and interaction all reflect your brand, so it’s vital that every element is aligned.
Branding determines how your target audience defines you and what qualities they associated with your business. As such, it has a significant impact on whether your target demographic feels compelled to engage with you or purchase your products and services.
Ideally, your brand should remain stable throughout the lifetime of the business, so it’s well worth taking the time to refine your company’s identity. In many cases, companies choose to undertake consumer research throughout the branding process, as well as during product and service development.
By getting real-time feedback on your branding plans from relevant users, you can ensure that your company message is clear and unequivocal and that it will appeal to the intended market. Even the best products struggle to gain a foothold if a company’s branding is off-kilter, so it’s important to lock down your brand before you begin promoting your enterprise.
Retail routes are established
You’ve developed a great product, generated buzz within the industry and your target market is clamoring to part with their cash – goals achieved, right? Not quite.
You know you’ve got to sell your product in order to generate revenue but creating interest from your target audience is just half the battle. You’ll need a seamless supply chain and reliable logistics in order to deliver an impressive level of service and actually get your product to the market.
When companies are unprepared for widespread interest in a new product, they often miss out on a substantial source of revenue. By the time they’ve scaled up production, demand has begun to wane and can’t be recaptured.
A new product launch can – and should – create interest within your target audience and it’s important to capitalize on this as much as possible. Before you think about launching a new product, make sure you have production, logistics, and delivery options in place. With online, offline, and third-party retail options available, how you choose to sell your product will have a considerable impact on the revenue it generates, so ensure you choose a model that works with your business structure.
Planning a Successful Product Launch
With your product finally ready to be revealed to the masses, you might be eager to get it out there straight away. However, creating anticipation can lead to increased demand and a flurry of early sales. With the right branding and marketing, you can turn your product launch into a virtual, real-world or cross-dimensional event. By doing so, you’ll create brand awareness, increase engagement within your target audience and ensure your product has a major impact on the market and its users.
