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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Do You Need a Product Launch Marketing Consultant?

The key to any product's success is a successful launch, and the key to a successful launch is a successful product launch marketing campaign. While you may be able to launch your product on your own with little or no outside input, there are some specific areas you might consider bringing someone in to handle the details. After all, you need the product launch marketing campaign to be done right first time, don't you?

That said, there are a couple of ways you can go when it comes to hiring a consultant. You can either find a company that specializes in product launch marketing and who can offer multiple areas of service, or you can pick and choose which tasks you need to outsource to a consultant. Hiring a comprehensive consultant gives you a resource experienced with product launches who can offer truly expert advice on a myriad of topics.

Picking and choosing which individual tasks to outsource may appear at first glance to save you a bit of money, but it may not always be the case. You should always consider your ROI in this context.

Here are some areas where you might consider using a consultant in your product launch marketing plan:

Graphic and Web Design

Anyone can indeed make a banner and slap it at the top of a web page. Many people make an attempt at designing their own logos and graphics. Most folks, given today's versatile web publishing tools, can even create a web page that looks nice.

You don't want a web page or logo that looks nice. Nice means "forgettable." You want your graphics and your site to make an impact. You want to draw the viewer's eyes in and keep them there. It doesn't have to be flashy and it doesn't have to be obnoxious, either.

You need a designer's eye and touch if your product launch marketing strategy is going to prove to be effective.

List and Lead Management

Maintaining your mailing list, email list or leads list is essential to launching your product. After all, if you can't get the word out about your product to your target market, no one's going to buy and your launch will fail.

There are a number of automated tools to help with this aspect of your launch. If you have enough technical savvy, you can probably mange your leads in-house. However, a consultant may be able to not only manage your existing leads but generate new ones. If that's the case, it might be worth hiring out. Lead management is a great add-on service if you're already paying a consultant for other work.

Copywriting

Knowing how your product benefits your customers is one thing. Being able to communicate that effectively to your customers is another thing altogether. Bringing in an expert copywriter can mean the difference between a successful product launch and a failed product launch.

Hiring a copywriter is more than just hiring someone to fix your grammar or spelling. Copywriting involves things like psychological sales techniques, the visual flow and pagination of a letter or web page and even the choice of active versus passive language.

Whether or not you hire consultants to work on your product launch marketing strategy is, of course, a highly-individualized decision, based on your existing skill set, resources and budget.

Product Launch Tactics - Using Autoresponders to Boost Your Product Launches The Best Ways to Launch a Product Online Launching A New Product? 5 Necessary Questions to Ask Product Launch Copywriting Requirements Do You Have a Product Launch Strategy?

Product Marketing Plan #2 - Create a Crushing Offer

Your product is as nothing without a crushing offer. You've done the spadework and come up with your list of assets. You just have to arrange them in such a way that together they give you the maximum leverage.

You know which modalities to use... text, video, audio, live streaming, webinar and/or teleseminar because your market research will have told you that.

Let's take video for example. I use it in some product launch marketing plans but wouldn't go near it for others.

What's the deciding factor?

The same factor that always has been and always will be the only factor to pay attention to:

What the people in your market respond to.

And the emphasis in that phrase is on "people". You see, too many so called internet marketers view their market as a nebulous mass - and that's a serious mistake. Your market is made up of individuals. People just like you and me who have goals, hopes, dreams, aspirations, deadlines to make, families to feed, bills to pay, hobbies to engage in, and on and on.

As David Ogilvy so aptly put it, "the consumer is not an idiot, she is your wife".

So you have to understand at the deepest level exactly what forms of communication the people in your market like best. And if you don't know that, then you have to test and test some more until you do know... or just ask them!

Be aware too, that preferences change, so you have to stay on top of new media and new technology and be testing on a regular basis if you want to maximize your effectiveness.

All the time that you are romancing your list with your product launch story they have no idea that you are about to launch a new product. They just appreciate the great content that you are giving away for free.

Just Remember that when you pivot and start talking about your product, your potential customers have only one question at the forefront of their minds.

And it's not...

"Why should I buy this product?"

It's more like...

"Why shouldn't I buy this product?"

They are looking for reasons NOT to buy.

Your job is to create an offer that is so overwhelming that they feel compelled to pull out their credit card and buy from you.

How to Avoid Costly Product Launch Mistakes

Planning a proper product launch is the key ingredient that determines the success or failure of your launch. A highly successful product launch is the spoils that go to the entrepreneur who plans properly. It's not enough to know what goes where, if you want a truly successful product launch, you need to know when each element needs to be introduced as well. Not only can failing to do this doom your launch but it could also cost you a lot of money (in unrealized profits) in the end. Pay attention to these fixes for product launch mistakes.

Make sure you do not overestimate your launch projections. Because you have high hopes, big dreams, and a firm belief in your product, this is an easy mistake to make. Many of the big businesses you know have had this happen to them too. It's not a bad idea to err on the side of caution so you can be pleasantly surprised when results are better than projected. Let your product launch surprise you and exceed your expectations. This is much better than assuming the worst. It's great to think big but make sure you infuse those thoughts with a healthy dose of reality.

Once your product launch gives you the boost, your next job is to maintain the response and grow your business over time.

You do not have to do everything by yourself.

You don't know everything you need to know about running a small business. If you take on too many responsibilities, like many other entrepreneurs in your shoes do, before the launch something important might get missed. In the end, quality and effectiveness of the product and/or launch will suffer. Learn to delegate tasks that require certain expertise or bore you silly to someone better suited for them.

Last but not the least; focus on enhancing your relationship with your subscribers and joint venture partners before the launch so that when it is about to happen, they are in the right mindset and look forward to it. All in all, from the above article we come to the conclusion that launching a product can be a complicated process, if you make it complicated. When you keep your launch simple the focus remains on the product. Watch out for these and other common mistakes that can derail your product launch.

Product Launch Tactics - Using Autoresponders to Boost Your Product Launches The Best Ways to Launch a Product Online Launching A New Product? 5 Necessary Questions to Ask Do You Have a Product Launch Strategy? Product Launch Copywriting Requirements

Product Launch Formula Simplified (Anyone Can Do It)

Have you seen the pictures of Einstein's blackboard? It is covered with incomprehensible symbols, formulas, and equations. But when we see the familiar e=mc2 at the very bottom we are so pleased with ourselves because we understand the conclusion.

We don't need to follow all the math. We recognize the importance of all the scrawling and we know the result. E=mc2 is like an old friend. We've heard it. We've said it. That works for us.

Money Making Equation

Now, let's talk about launching a product on the Internet. Only instead of reaching the conclusion e=mc2, the conclusion is that people are making astronomical amounts of money in a week, a day or an hour. My apologies to Einstein for the analogy, but sometimes these launches can look so complicated that it is just about as intimidating as Einstein's blackboard.

The Simple Approach

Fortunately, there is a simple formula that anyone can follow to launch a product and the financial results can be life changing. How Simple? Very simple.

The reason the launch formula makes launching a product so simple is that it is all behavioral. "Do this, do that." There are no mysteries. You follow the steps and you get the results. If you can follow instructions, you can have a successful product launch.

The Parachute

It's simple not only because all you have to do is follow certain steps. It's simple because you can even get some of them wrong or leave them out entirely and it still works.

Jeff Walker, in his videos where he simplifies the launch process, talks about a parachute that always brings a successful landing. The value of the parachute is that you can make mistakes that would ordinarily destroy a sales campaign. But with the product launch "secret" launch formula, you are covered. Mistakes (should you make them - and just about everyone does), get absorbed into the bigger formula and all goes well. That's why I say it is simple. Because even if you make some mistakes, it still works.

Even for this guy...

I want to share with you the story of a stay at home dad who, after six years of changing diapers and making lunch, knew he could not break his way back into the corporate world. So, with no training at all, he decided to launch a product on the Internet. In fact, he made just about every mistake you can make.

Six Steps to a Successful Product Launch

If your aim is to develop products that your clients will buy without hesitation, you need to know the secrets behind what makes a product successful.

There are several key factors you need to take into consideration in order to come up with a great product. Following these steps will give you the tools you need to get started on creating your product.

Step One

Find out what your market wants.

There are a number of things that you can do to make sure there's a market who wants to buy your product before you invest any time in creation. People buy what they want, not what you think they need. Use both your head and your heart to find out what that want is. Set aside your own preconceptions. Don't predetermine. Listen and pay attention to what your target market is saying or complaining about. Put yourself in their shoes. Do surveys. Make phone calls.

Step Two

Once you've figured out what your clients want, give it to them.

Focus on finding the "hook". Understand what miracle cure your clients are wishing for and make it the top line headline about your particular product. The closer you can present your solution to that miracle cure, the better. You really need to spend some time on this. Write it down as a question to help prompt your subconscious mind to come up with the answer.

Step Three

Organize your content.

Brainstorm all of the things that your end user is going to need to get the results that you are promising to deliver. When mapping out the components of what your product will deliver, think first about what you're going to cover rather than how you're going to cover it.

Make an outline with all of the things that this particular product will cover. You do not need to include everything you know about a topic. This will just delay your product creation. Include content to help your clients get the results they want.

Tip: You don't need to create your product in the order that you're going to deliver it. Create it in a way that you can get it done quickly. Starting with the areas that are easiest for you will greatly aid you in creating your product rapidly.

Step Four

Decide on the format you need to follow.

There should be a logical congruency between the "hook" and the format your product takes. For example, if your hook says "instant," but your product is a 6-month-long course, that's not consistent.

You also need to decide whether your product format will be physical or digital, or both. Base this on what makes the most sense for your market. Answer the questions: What is most appealing to this market? What fits in best with the product? What fits in best with the solution?

Step Five

Figure out what you are going to charge.

Set your price based on the value your product delivers to the end user, not the cost of creating the product. Don't determine your expenses and then markup the product from there. Price according to the problem you're solving. The question you need to ask is "What is it worth to clients to solve this problem?"

Step Six

Think about the design of your product.

Be careful how much time you spend in this. Yes, design is important. People do judge books by their covers. But there's a point where the amount of time you spend on it is diminishing your return. Ultimately, ask yourself "How much more am I really going to sell by spending this extra time on design?"

Following these steps in this order will ensure that you develop a product that is effective and efficient, for your market and for your business.

Hosting a Product Launch Event

Product launch hospitality is a relatively new marketing tactic with promising potential for your business. In this article we are going to talk about this tactic and how to use it and benefit from it.

This tactic is increasingly being used by marketers at new product launch events. Marketers spend more and more on immersive and emotionally powerful events that will grab the attention of the target customers and make such a powerful impression that will generate a lot of buzz for the new product. These events are even more powerful and effective than regular TV ads.

A welcoming and well-choreographed event can do wonders for your business's image and reputation. These rewards however, are a not without effort. Hosting an event can be a challenging and costly endeavor, in terms of money and attention. Successful hosting of events doesn't come easily, so here are a few tips to get you started.

- Hosting a product launch event tip 1: Make the events larger than life

Think Hollywood, try to dazzle and impress your audience but always keep your new product on the center stage and don't get them so dazzled that they get sidetracked and neglect the main reason for the event.

- Hosting a product launch event tip 2: be genuinely friendly

Even if you don't have the money to have a dazzling event, genuine hospitality and friendship displays will give your launch events a warm and welcoming aura that will make your audience at ease, and let them focus on the main event: your new product.

- Hosting a product launch event tip 3: Welcome nontraditional press

Give bloggers the same attention you give "real" journalists. Bloggers are a very influential and they may actually reach more young audience than the traditional press does. If your launch event was a positive experience for bloggers, they will write about it, and their words will reach a lot of your target audience.