The world of business has changed an awful lot since the dawn of the Internet. More people than ever before are relying on the web to handle their social time, market research, and, most importantly, shopping, and this has made it a lot easier for companies to get started. When it comes to something like a product launch, though, there are an awful lot of nuances which business owners don’t understand. In the world of technology, this only becomes more apparent, but this post is here to help you out. By exploring the elements which can make a launch like this successful, this post will be exploring some of the steps you need to take.
Building Hype
A lot of modern products are popular long before they ever hit the market. The companies selling them understand the importance of building hype, and will work hard to make sure that information about their new launch is spread around the web. This will start on social media and your own website. Teasers can be shown off, giving hints at what your new product might do or be for, but you need to make sure that you don’t give too much away. Apple are great at building hype like this, with people across the world being excited about releases which haven’t even been announced.
There are a number of different strategies which can be taken with this, though it is worth being creative and trying to find unique ways to build hype. One of Apple’s strongest methods in all of this involves leaving a device for other people to find. This is usually done in bars, with loads of pre-release iPhones being dropped off like this. Enabling news companies and publications to talk about the product before it hits the market, this sort of action can be a great way to keep your company in people’s minds.
Taking Pre-Orders
In a perfect world, businesses would know exactly how many items they are going to sell before a product hits the market. This isn’t possible, though, and you have to take on some risk when you’re going through this process. Pre-orders can help to mitigate this, giving you the chance to start earning before you ship anything, while also giving you an idea of how popular your product might be. This should only be done once production has started and you’ve tested your product properly, as this will ensure that you don’t make any promises which you can’t keep.
Working With Influencers
Over the last decade or so, websites like YouTube have become a huge driving force in the world of online sales. When the right content creator decides that they like a product, it can send a company’s sales off the charts, and this is something you should be aiming for. It’s very common for businesses to send out free products to people in this position, all in the hopes that they will give it a positive review. This can be a little risky, as YouTubers will be honest about bad products, and this means that you can give yourself a bad name if you choose the wrong influencers. Other social media can be great for this, too, but might not have the same sort of reach.
Arranging Events
While the internet provides a powerful tool for companies looking to market their products, entering the physical world is also critical. When something like a phone is about to launch, for example, events will pop-up across the globe, giving potential customers the chance to test the products before they commit to buying them. While this will be expensive, the impact it can have can be staggering, as it will provide an opportunity for your customers to try the product for themselves, rather than having to wait for reviews to come out.
Arranging events like this will be a lot of work, and it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to achieve the same scale as a larger company. Instead, it’s best to focus your event on one or two prime locations, like London, New York, or Tokyo. You only need a few tables, custom signs, and a few people to help you out, with this being enough to give customers the chance to try your products. You should be ready to answer questions, while also keeping anything secret which you don’t want people to know, yet. This is best done when the product you’ve been making is ready for launch, and can even be coincided with your launch to make sure it has a massive impact.
Testing & Bugs
Testing a complicated product takes more than using it once or twice in lab conditions. Along with this, you need people who have never used your product to be let loose with it, giving you an opportunity to make sure that there aren’t any issues when those who have paid for it come to give it a try. This is often referred to as beta testing, and is something which you can have done for free if you’re willing to use online communities to help you out.
This is just about the most important part of your product launch. People expect their techy products to work well from the moment they buy them, and will be very annoyed if they have to wait for updates to fix small problems. If you fail to test your goods properly, you could find yourself struggling to sell future products, and may even have the first launch fail entirely. Even if it takes a couple of months and costs some money, this is a truly vital step to take when you’re making a tech launch successful.
New products are hitting the market all the time, nowadays. This makes it hard for companies which are new to the tech industry to get their voices heard, forcing organisations like yours to be creative and thoughtful with their product launches. It’s never worth assuming that you don’t have to compete, as there will almost certainly be a product on the market which rivals your own.
