How do you create a marketing strategy for your new product (Checklist) |

Your strategy for marketing could be the difference between stellar sales and a flop launch. Make a plan of marketing for the launch of your new product using this checklist.

One wise man once stated, "By failing to prepare in advance, you're setting yourself up for failure."

When it comes to launching an innovative digital product we couldn't agree more.

For help in setting yourself up for success, we put together a six-point checklist for building your plan for marketing. Follow these steps to create an effective marketing plan that you could apply to every new product release.

Marketing plan for the launch of a new product checklist

Get a pdf of the checklist here .

Step 1: Establish objectives for the launch of your new product.

It is possible to have the largest marketing budget and the fanciest devices, but until you set goals your plan for marketing is like a ship with no rudder: unfocused.

Marketers have a bad habit of setting broad goals. We talk about things like "make the most revenue" and "drive the engagement" without getting into how achieving those goals will look like in action.

Why do we do that? One reason is that it's not easy to establish global marketing goals, or even ways to gauge success. Each creator is different and has their own KPIs (KPIs) depending on the goals they have set for themselves.

Setting goals that are specific to your brand, business, and product can help you select what metrics to keep track of before launching your product.

For example, if you are trying to gather the sign-ups to your pre-launch for your brand new online class, you could keep track of the number of site visitors who sign up for an email newsletter prior to the launch.

In contrast If your aim is to attract new customers via advertisements on social media it is important to monitor how many people click on your Facebook ads and how many of those visitors then purchase your product.

For setting the appropriate objectives for your business plan The SMART goal framework.

Utilizing the SMART goals framework, you create your goals in order to satisfy five requirements:

Specific Set detailed goals that narrow in on a particular part of your enterprise.

Measurable: Make sure that you have a way to measure your goal and keep track of your progress.

Attainable:It's fun to dream of the big picture, however goals with no concrete targets can quickly become discouraging. Be sure to make your goals ambitious and feasible.

Important: Check that your objective is in line with your values, brand and business objectives.

time-boundGive your self a clearly defined date to meet your goals. Deadlines hold us accountable and give us a timeline to strive towards.

It could include: "By adding a pre-launch landing page on my site and collecting 100 email sign-ups for my pre-launch before launch day the month following."

If you have specific goals to consider and a realistic target and an action plan to achieve it, you can set yourself up for a successful launch. What that action plan looks in the end depends on a number of variables, which includes the audience you are targeting.

Step 2: Define your target audience

This is equally important when preparing for the introduction of a brand new product.

This is why you shouldn't promote your product effectively if you aren't aware of who you're marketing to.

The target market is the potential customers you plan to sell your services or products to. To ensure that your marketing is as effective as possible you must be aware of your potential customers as people and not only demographics.

That's where buyer personas come into.

Content marketing expert Amy Wright explains : "Buyer personas describe who they are that you want to attract who they are, what their lives look like, the challenges they have to face, as well as how they make decisions."

A buyer persona might look like this image for one the Spotify's targeted customers:

Check out forums, online communities, and read reviews on products that are in your field. Consider:

What do my potential clients talking about on the internet?

What challenges do they face?

What are their intentions?

What do they value?

What languages do they speak?

Once you know the way your customer speaks and thinks, it will help you explain why your product is a great fit for the people they are.

Your audience wants to discuss their thoughts and ideas with you. 64percent of consumers want brands to connect with them, and 95% of consumers prefer a positive opinion of companies that seek feedback.

If you engage in discussions within your own brand community, you can build connections and connect over common values. It helps you get to know your target audience better, which will help in creating marketing content that is a hit with them.

One great example of learning from your clients comes from Tiffany Williams, founder of Rich Girl Collective .

( makes it easy for creators such as Tiffany to build brand communities, communicate with their customers and also sell digital items, all from one platform. Try it out to see if you like it with a no-cost 14-day trial. )

Overall, the better you know about your target audience and the better you are able to adapt your advertising to their needs and show them the ways your product will aid them to succeed. It's important to know this information in this next step.

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 wish to provide your customer, then work backward to determine what your product does to achieve this final result. That's your USP.

Your USP or value idea , answers two questions:

What problem does my product solve for my customers?

What makes my product different from my competitors?

When you identify your USP, you're reaffirming that your product will help people achieve their expectations or get over the real obstacles. This is a crucial element of a successful product launch. 35% of startups are unsuccessful due to a lack of demand for their goods or services.

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 customer demand. Your USP pinpoints that product-market fit, and describes what makes you apart from your competitors and makes potential customers decide to choose the company.

If you're unsure of how your product stands out, conduct market research and learn about your competition.

Are there areas of pain that your competitors don't address? What do you offer differently? Your course may be unique with more visual lessons than other courses on the same topic and perhaps your knowledge offers a unique viewpoint from the other makers who are in your area.

Your USP also helps you figure out the best way to promote your product.

Take Death Wish Coffee , for example. Many coffee companies highlight characteristics such as smoothness, flavor or even taste however, Death Wish is unique in its strategy, boasting that it is "the best coffee on the planet".

Death Wish knows that their customers are looking for extra strong high-quality, strong coffee. So their advertising messages highlight the distinctive features of their coffee. Their USP might not appeal to all coffee lovers, but it showcases the uniqueness of their brand and focuses on their target market.

In the end, if you understand what makes your product special You can emphasize that through your marketing. Utilize the same language the people you are targeting use to talk about their pain points. Your messaging will resonate with the appropriate customers.

The time is now to broadcast this message with the world -- but first take a look to ensure you can do it without breaking the bank.

Step 4: Determine your marketing budget

As a creator it's likely that you aren't able to hire an outside sales force and in-house marketing staff, and that's okay. But you need to determine what you can manage to invest in marketing before you start running advertisements or commissioning design.

The good news is that you don't need an investment of six figures for a strategy that works. Actually, more than one-third of small-sized businesses spend less than $30,000 on marketing every year.

As you figure out your budget, you may be able to delegate money to expenses like

Toolkits and software that allow you to develop material, interact with your followers, and run campaigns.

Freelancers, like Copywriters, graphic designers video editors, as well as web designers.

Paid advertising, such as sponsored content such as paid search ads and social media advertising. (We'll be discussing paid social advertisements in the coming section.)

With your budget in hand now you're able to move on to step 5 and select the most appropriate marketing platform for your launch.

5. Choose the channels you want to use for your marketing

Different approaches are a hit with different people Not every approach will work for every creator, budget, and product.

Additionally, there are numerous digital marketing channels that one creator could tackle on their own, so it's crucial to choose the most suitable ones for your needs and your customers.

Here are some of the most well-known channels you should think about including in your marketing strategy.

Email marketing

Email marketing is a must-have in every digital marketing plan. It is estimated that over 4 billion individuals will use email this year. They will send around 320 billion emails per daily.

Customers and marketers alike enjoy emails. Customers and marketers alike love it. 73% of consumers rank email as their top channel for advertising messages. 59% of marketers have cited email as the top return on investment in 2018.

Email can also be a cost-effective option for small businesses with a tight marketing budget. At around $42 for each one dollar invested  Email is one of the most lucrative returns on investment (ROI) that any other marketing channel.

Below are a few resources that can help you grow your email list, choose an email platform, and make the most of your email marketing:

Marketing through social media

Marketing on social media is most effective when you combine the organic and paid strategies. The organic approach to social media marketing helps you connect with your potential and existing customers, while paid advertisements on social networks help you gain more eyes on your products.

In order to generate buzz about your product launch, Twitter is a solid alternative. As an example, the professional and marketer John D Saunders utilized a YouTube video Twitter to announce a new online course:

John's video let his audience understand what to expect from the course and received high-engagement with 30+ retweets and more than 200 likes.

On the paid social side the ultra-specific targeting tools will enable you to connect with those who are relevant faster than what organic advertising can. In excess of 62% of marketers say that paid social media advertising has been at least somewhat efficient for their company.

Facebook advertisements are a low-cost option for small-scale businesses as well as solopreneurs to get their new product or service in front of a larger public. As an example, business trainer Melyssa Griffin used this video ad to announce her Pinterest workshop for bloggers.

When the correct audience segmentation set up, Facebook ads like Melyssa's can result in digital sales for creators.

Here are some additional sources that can help you master the art of social media marketing

Marketing content

Content marketing cost 62% less and could generate greater than three times the leads as traditional marketing. It's an affordable way to reach your audience, establish your expertise, and build relationships with prospective clients.

The people you want to attract discover your blog's contents through searches or through other channels of distribution.

They gain knowledge from your writings and start to believe in the expertise of your team.

They sign up for your email newsletter or join you on social media.

Keep them informed about your new product's launch.

They're excited to buy your latest product, help your business, and will continue to learn from you.

The key here is to create blog posts that provide real value, and not just longform ad copy.

It is important to compose the content for your blog using search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. SEO allows the people you want to reach them when they are searching for appropriate keywords and phrases. It's the reason nearly 64 percent of marketing professionals are actively investing time into SEO.

Here are some resources to assist you in establishing SEO and content marketing:

Web site and landing pages

Imagine this: your launch marketing strategy is going exactly as you planned.

Visitors are flooding onto your site, eager to find out more about the product you offer, sign up for the latest updates before launch and finally buy. You need to create a landing page that makes all the hard work result in a profit.

Testing your ideas for products.

The creation of your list of email addresses leading up the launch of your product.

For your landing page prior to launch, include a short description of your product, and explain the reason why they should join to find out more about it and be informed when your product launches.

Check out Nicole Saidy's product description for her online course, Become a UI/UX Designer .

Nicole knows that the transition to user experience design can be overwhelming. However, she's here for help. Her goal is to help her clients find out if the service will be beneficial for them, by speaking directly to the issues they face.

Here are some additional sources for creating pages for landing and products that generate sales

With your marketing channels chosen it's easy to think that you've completed the checklist. There's an additional action to get the most of your product launch and put your self up for successtoday and in the future for numerous product launches in the future.

Step 6: Record your performance and repeat the process.

Sixth and last stage is to track your performance and iterating on your marketing, is something that is more of a continuous process than a checklist task.

After and during your launch, reevaluate your goals that you established in the first step. If you're not achieving the goals you set, there's the chance to gain knowledge and implement changes future launches or to review your existing marketing efforts.

For example, let's say the email marketing campaigns you've created don't perform as you expected. Click-through and open rate is lower than what you'd prefer however, you have time to make changes prior to launch day. It may be time to do some A/B tests .

A/B testing (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 various subject lines for example, your customers get the same email but with a different subject line. If you can compare both opening rates you can see which subject line performs best, and use that knowledge in future emails.

Above all else, remember that experimenting with new ideas as well as allowing yourself to learn from mistakes helps you grow as a creator.

You may discover that a certain marketing channel isn't the right fit for your business or audience. That's valuable information to bring to your next launch plan.

"Experiment! It's hard to know the best way to promote your business online and every group of potential customers will be different. You'll need to play around to discover what's working (and what isn't). With everything you do think about, evaluate, and then modify the methods you employ to make them more effective. There's no one magical solution in this article!"

"To be successful in running a business, you have to first get comfortable operating a failing business as most of the times, success comes later."

The Startup Curve , invented by Y Combinator founder Paul Graham  the term "failure" is an ordinary phase that happens right before your business starts heading upward toward scaling and growth.

Bottom line:

Be open to experimenting on your marketing strategies to determine the best strategy for your, your brand, and the people you're trying to reach. If you have your objectives in mind and a little patience, you'll be well on the way to establishing an effective launch strategy that you can implement for many product launches to come.

Develop a strategy for going-to-market to ensure launch day success

It's been a long process to develop an item that people will enjoy. An effective marketing strategy can make all the hard work pay off come the day of launch.

In case you're wondering, here's the steps needed to develop a marketing plan for your product launch:

Make SMART objectives for the launch of your product. Determine the meaning of a successful launch for you and the measures you'll keep track of.

Set your goals for the audience you want to target and then get them to understand the people they are rather than just demographics. Research your customer base and talk to them to learn more about their challenges and goals.

Establish your unique selling proposition (USP). What makes your product the best choice to your target customer? What makes you different from the competition?

Determine your marketing budget. It's not necessary to pay an arm and a leg in order to make a marketing strategy which drives sales.

Pick your marketing channels. Email marketing is a must-have however there is many other options available to select from. Figure out which ones align with your goals and audience.

Track your results and keep reviewing your strategy for marketing. The more you know about your customers and their needs, the better your next product launch marketing strategy will be.

Be aware that you may not succeed 100% initially, and this is fine. There will be some trial and error but once you figure out what works for your business and customers then you'll become a marketer with launch day sales to show it.