There's no substitute for an epic marketing campaign. With perfectly crafted messaging, creative, and captivating ads, your product or service has the potential to fly off the shelves. But what happens if your beautifully packaged product fails to deliver everything your marketing, umm, promised?
Hopefully you're asking yourself this question before your official product launch as opposed to after. If you find yourself in the unpleasant position of launching a product that disappoints your buyers, then you need to act quicker than The Flash.
What are the consequences of a poorly functioning product?
If your product fails to deliver promised results, let's face it: your brand will pay the price. Here are a few of the headaches you could face if your product does not have the features or benefits you advertise:
Sounds awesome, right? MMM, not so much. I've been in this position a handful of times, and well, I'm not going to sugarcoat it: it sucks. It's especially awful when your campaign is hitting every KPI and blowing through your expectations and then things fall apart at the sales and/or on-boarding process. YUCK.
How to avoid the pitfalls
Anyone who has ever survived a product flop will tell you that the key to avoiding the problems above is to prevent them from unfolding in the first place. That means you will need to take some extra steps at the front end. While this may require you to invest a bit more time and effort before your launch, you can avoid financial turmoil and a damaged reputation. Here's what we suggest:
Step One: Put together a brand advisory team
The path to product excellence begins with an honest and competent team of product advisors. Ideally, the team you assemble should include successful but battle-tested industry experts who can quickly spot product performance issues and guide you in addressing them. Ideally, your team will meet regularly from the moment you decide to bring your idea to life.
Step Two: Identify your product's weaknesses
Once you have your advisory team assembled, it's time to review your product with a fine-tooth comb to pinpoint its shortcomings. Here are some common weaknesses that can spell trouble for your brand:
Step Three: Map out a bulletproof plan to fix the problems
After you've nailed down your product's deficiencies, it's time to outline a plan to resolve them once and for all. The key to success with this step is to be thorough with your planning - especially if there are multiple issues. Here are some tips for an effective plan:
Step Four: Launch a win-back campaign
A rock solid win-back campaign can often save the day for you and your brand. But remember to use care and transparency when crafting the message you send to your customers. While a well-crafted campaign can help you regain their trust, a poorly crafted or dishonest message could actually cause further harm to your reputation and leave you back where you were when you started. As you prepare your campaign, keep the following points in mind:
Step Five: Know when to press the pause button
For many eager entrepreneurs especially, knowing when to hit the pause button during the product launch process is the hardest step to master. After all, you want to get your product into the hands of buyers as soon as possible so you can achieve your revenue goals. But knowing when to take a step back is vital to keeping your reputation intact. Here are some signs it's time to temporarily halt production and marketing efforts:
What is the single best path to a winning product launch?
The single best way to align your marketing campaigns with your product goals is to work cross functionally and make sure sales, product and marketing are on the same page AND have user input. Don't think this is all that common? Take a look at this list for starters. It
If you need help here, send us a note. We've been there.
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