How to create a marketing plan to promote your brand's new service (Checklist) |
The strategy you choose for your marketing can be what the difference is between great sales and a disappointing launch. Make a plan of marketing for the launch of your brand using this list.
A wise person once said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
In the case of launching the latest digital products, we're in complete agreement.
In order to help you set yourself up for success We've put together a six-point checklist for building your marketing strategy. Use these guidelines to develop a marketing roadmap you can utilize for each new product release.
Checklist for marketing plans to launch products
Get a pdf version of the list here .
Step 1: Establish goals for your product launch
There is no limit to the size of your marketing budget as well as the most elegant equipment, but unless you establish goals your plan for marketing will be like a boat without a rudder: directionless.
Marketers tend to have a bad habit of setting vague goals. We can say things such as "make more sales" and "drive the engagement" without really digging into how achieving those goals will look like.
What is the reason we do this? One reason is that it's not easy to establish universal marketing goals or ways to gauge performance. Every artist has their own set of key performance indicators (KPIs) according to their goals.
The setting of goals that are unique to your brand, business, and product can aid in deciding the metrics you want to monitor prior to the launch.
For example, if your goal is to collect pre-launch signups for your new online class, you could keep track of the number of site visitors who sign up for your pre-launch email updates.
In contrast, if your goal is to convert new customers through social media ads, you would track the number of people who click your Facebook ads as well as how many customers purchase the product.
For setting the appropriate objectives for your business plan, we recommend the SMART goal framework.
By using the SMART goal framework, create your goals in order to satisfy five criteria:
Specific Set detailed goals that narrow in on one particular area of your company.
Measurable: Be sure you can quantify your goal and track your progress.
Attainable:It's fun to dream big, but pie-in-the-sky goals could quickly turn into a demotivating experience. Be sure to make your goals ambitious however, it is doable.
Important: Check that your goals align with your company's values, branding as well as your overall goals for the business.
Time-bound:Give you a reasonable deadline to achieve your goal. Deadlines hold us accountable and set a deadline to work towards.
Your SMART goal might be: "By adding a pre-launch landing page on my site and collecting 100 email sign-ups for my pre-launch ahead of the day when my website launches the month following."
With specific metrics in mind and a realistic target and a plan of action to get there, you can set yourself up for a successful launch. What your plan of action looks like depends on a variety of factors -- including your target audience.
Step 2: Define your target audience
This is equally crucial when preparing for release of a new item.
This is why you shouldn't promote your product effectively if you aren't sure who you're selling to.
The target market is the prospective customers you plan to sell the products or services you offer to. To make your marketing as effective as possible you must be aware of your potential customers as people, not just their demographics.
This is where buyer personas step into.
Content marketing consultant Amy Wright explains : "Buyer personas describe who they are that you want to attract, what their days are similar to, what challenges they have to face, as well as how they make decisions."
A buyer persona might look similar to this image for one Spotify's target customers:
Look at forums, communities on the internet, and read reviews on products that are in your field. You can ask yourself:
Who are my clients talking about on the internet?
What obstacles do they face?
What are their intentions?
What do they value?
What languages do they speak?
Once you know what your target audience thinks, you will be able to better present the reason why your latest product is a great fit to the people they are.
Your audience is eager to share their feedback and thoughts with your. 60% of people would like brands to communicate with them. 90percent of consumers have a more favorable opinion of companies that solicit feedback from their customers.
In the event that you start discussions in your brand community it helps you build relationships and connect over common values. It helps you get to know your target audience better, which will help you create marketing messaging that is appealing to them.
One great example of learning from your customers comes from Tiffany Williams, founder of Rich Girl Collective .
( allows creators like Tiffany to create brand communities, connect to their fans, and sell digital products through one single platform. Try it out on your own with a trial of a 14 day trial. )
The more effectively you get to know the people you want to reach The more effectively you will be able to adapt your advertising to their requirements and explain how your product can help them succeed. You'll need that info to proceed with the next phase.
Step 3: Establish your unique selling proposition (USP)
Once you've figured out all the details of the pain points of your audience's as well as their needs and objectives You can then identify your own unique selling proposition (USP).
Start with the result you'd like to give your customer, then work backward to determine how your product achieves the desired final result. That's your USP.
Your USP is also known as your value idea is the answer to two inquiries:
What problem does my product help my customers solve?
What differentiates my product from my competitors?
When you identify your USP by stating that your product helps users achieve their goals or overcome the real obstacles. That's the most important aspect of launching a product successfully. 30% of startup fail due to a lack of need for their products or products or.
That's why there's no product-market fit. Your product-market fit refers to the extent to which your product is able to meet demands of the customer. Your USP pinpoints that product-market fit, describing what differentiates you apart from your competitors and entices potential buyers to decide to choose your company.
If you aren't sure what makes your product stand out, conduct market research to learn more about your competitors.
Do you have any issues that which your competition doesn't solve? What does your product do differently? Your course may be unique featuring more videos than others on similar topics and perhaps your knowledge provides you with a new view of other artists in your niche.
Your USP can also help you figure out how you can market your product.
Take Death Wish Coffee as an example. Many coffee companies highlight characteristics like smoothness or flavor, but Death Wish is unique in its approach, claiming to be "the world's strongest coffee".
Death Wish knows that their ideal customer wants extra-strong, kick-in-the-pants coffee, so their marketing messaging highlights the distinctive features of their coffee. Their USP might not appeal to every coffee drinker, but it showcases the uniqueness of their brand and is relevant to the market they are targeting.
When you are aware of what makes your product special You can emphasize that through your marketing. Make use of the same language your target audience uses in discussing their issues points. Your message will be a hit with those who are your ideal customers.
It's time to start sharing this message across the globe However take a look to ensure you can do it without breaking the bank.
Step 4: Determine your marketing budget
If you're a designer it's likely that you do not have enough money to employ an outside sales staff as well as an in-house marketing team but that's fine. But you need to determine how much you could be able to afford for marketing prior to launching ads or commissioning designs.
The best part is that you don't need a six-figure marketing budget to implement a winning strategy. In fact, more than one-third of small companies spend less than $10,000 for advertising each year.
When you are determining your budget, it is possible that you want to allocate money to costs like:
Software and tools to create contents, connect with your audience, and run campaigns.
Freelancers, like Copywriters, graphic designers video editors, and web designers.
Paid ads, for example sponsored content and paid search advertisements, as well as social media advertisements. (We'll be discussing paid social ads in the following section.)
If you've got your budget now you're able to take the next step 5 and select the best marketing platforms to promote the launch of your new product.
Step 5: Choose the marketing channels that you will use
Different strategies appeal to different types of audiences Not every approach is suitable for each creator, budget, and product.
Additionally, there are more online marketing channels out there than any single creator could manage alone, so it's essential to find the most suitable ones for your needs and your customers.
Here are a few of the most popular channels to think about including in your marketing plan.
Email marketing
Email marketing is a must-have in every digital marketing plan. It is estimated that over 4 billion people are expected to use email this year. They will send around 320 billion emails per every day.
Marketers and customers alike enjoy customers and marketers alike love email. 73% of consumers consider email to be their top channel for marketing messages, and 59% of marketers have cited emails as their primary return on investment in 2018.
Email is also an affordable option for small businesses with a tight marketing budget. With an average of $42 per $1 spent Email is one of the most lucrative return on investment (ROI) of any other marketing channel.
Below are a few resources that can help you grow your email lists, pick an email platform, and make the most of your marketing emails:
Marketing via social media
Marketing on social media is most effective when it is combined with both paid and organic initiatives. Organic social media marketing helps you connect with your community and potential customers, while paid social media ads can help get attention for your product.
To build some buzz around your product launch, Twitter is a solid alternative. As an example, the marketer and designer John D Saunders used Twitter to promote a YouTube video Twitter to promote a new online course:
John's video made sure his followers be aware of what they can be expecting from the class and saw high engagement that included 30+ retweets as well as nearly 200 shares.
On the paid social side Ultra-specific targeting tools can enable you to connect with those who are relevant faster than traditional methods will. More than 60 percent of marketers affirm that social media advertising has been or at the very least, effective for their business.
Facebook ads can be a cost-effective choice for small businesses and solopreneurs who want to put their latest product or service placed in front of a bigger public. As an example, business trainer Melyssa Griffin made use of this video advertisement to promote her Pinterest workshop for bloggers.
With the right audience targeting put in place, Facebook ads like Melyssa's translate to digital product sales for creators.
Below are some other tools to assist you in mastering the art of social media marketing
Content marketing
Content marketing cost 62% less and generates over three times the leads as traditional marketing. It's an affordable way to reach your audience and establish your knowledge and establish relationships with potential customers.
The people you want to attract discover your blog's contents through search engines or other channels for distribution.
Your articles help them learn and then begin to trust your expertise.
They sign up for your mailing list, or they follow your social media accounts.
They are kept informed of your new product's launch.
They're eager to purchase your latest product, help you and take lessons from you.
The key here is to write blog articles that provide real value, not simply longform product advertisement copy.
Make sure to write your blog content using search engine optimization (SEO) with SEO in mind. SEO allows your readers to locate your site when they search for relevant keywords and phrases. It's the reason over 64% of marketing professionals spend time on SEO.
Here are some resources to assist you in establishing SEO and Content Marketing:
Site and landing pages
Imagine this: your launch marketing goes exactly as you planned.
Customers are flocking onto your site, eager to know more about the product you offer, sign up for the latest updates before launch and finally buy. You need to create your landing page to help all the hard work pay off.
Validating your product ideas.
The creation of your list of email addresses in the lead up the launch of your product.
In your landing page for pre-launch, include a short description of your product. Also, tell your visitors the reason why they should join to learn more and get informed when your product launches.
Check out Nicole Saidy's description of the product for her online training course: Learn to become a UI/UX Designer .
Nicole is aware that the process of transitioning to user experience design can be overwhelming -- but she's here to help. Her goal is to help her clients decide if the solution will be beneficial for them, through addressing their issues.
Here are more sources for creating page designs and landing pages that bring in sales:
With your marketing channels chosen You may believe you've completed the checklist. But there's one more vital step to make the most of your product launch and put yourself up for successtoday and in the future for many product launches to come.
Step 6: Record your performance and repeat the process.
Sixth and last stage is to track your performance and re-evaluating your strategy, is much more of a continual process than a checklist task.
Following the launch of your product, review your goals that you established in step one. If you're not meeting your objectives, then you'll have an opportunity to improve and make changes for future launches or to refresh your marketing strategies.
For example, let's say your marketing emails aren't performing as well as you expected. The click-through and open rates aren't as high as you'd like however, you have time to make changes prior to launch day. It may be time to conduct some A/B tests .
Testing A/B (or split-testing) involves altering different components of your email, one at a time, then watching how these changes affect the performance of your email.
If you were testing A/B different subject lines, such as your clients will receive the same emails, with the exception of the subject line. By comparing the two opening rates you could determine which subject line is better and then apply that knowledge in future emails.
Above all else, remember that trying new things and being willing to make mistakes can help to develop as a creative.
You may discover that a certain marketing channel may not be the best fit for your audience or business. This is valuable data to incorporate into your next product launch strategy.
"Experiment! It's difficult to determine what to do online marketing, and every set of prospective customers will be different. Therefore, you'll need to test to find out what's effective (and the ones that aren't). With everything you do take note, analyze, and then modify your methods to enhance them. There's not a magic bullet in this article!"
"To be successful in running a business, it is essential to first get comfortable managing a business that isn't successful, as most of the times it's the latter that's successful."
Within the Startup Curve , invented by Y Combinator founder Paul Graham , failure is a standard phase that occurs just before your company begins to grow towards expansion and scaling.
The bottom line is:
Don't be afraid to experiment on your marketing strategies to determine which strategy is most effective for you as a brand, your product, as well as your target audience. With your goals set and a bit of time, you'll be in the process of creating the most effective launch plan that you can use for several product launches that are to come.
Develop a strategy for going-to-market to ensure launch day and its success
You've put in the effort to make something that your customers will appreciate. An effective marketing strategy can make all the hard work pay off come the day of launch.
For a quick recap, here are the steps you need to take in creating a marketing plan to launch your new product:
Set SMART goals for the launch of your product. Figure out what a successful launch means for you and the indicators you'll be tracking.
Set your goals for the audience you want to target and get to know them as people rather than just demographics. Research your customer base and talk to them to learn more about their challenges and aspirations.
Establish your unique selling proposition (USP). What makes your product an ideal choice for your ideal customer? How can you differentiate yourself against the rest?
Determine your marketing budget. You don't need to spend an arm and a leg to develop a campaign for marketing that boosts sales.
Choose your preferred marketing channel. Marketing via email is essential however there is a variety of other platforms that you can choose from. Determine which platforms are compatible with your target audience and objectives.
Monitor your performance and keep reviewing your strategy for marketing. More you understand about your clients to better understand them, the more effective your subsequent product launch marketing strategy will be.
Remember, you probably won't be 100% successful at first, but it's fine. It may take some trial and error until you've found which method works best for your business and customers and your product, you'll soon be a marketing pro with the launch day sales to prove that.