So you’ve finally finished the design, development, testing and trademarking phases of your product design process, and you’re ready to launch.
That’s a cause for celebration – but don’t celebrate too much, yet. A new series of challenges await you and your product.
When you move into the launch phase, there are still many things to do, and many things to avoid. Just one mistake can be costly when it comes to a product launch, and there are few companies that can afford to take a huge financial hit on a brand-new product.
Here are some common mistakes that companies make when launching their products (for more, read our initial post on this topic, “Launching a Product? Avoid These 3 Critical Mistakes“).
Having a vague plan
Do you have an extensive, detailed and documented plan for how you want to proceed with your product launch?
If not, you need one, because it will help the launch go much more smoothly. While there certainly should be room for adjustment if anything goes wrong, it should still be a plan that you can adhere to and one that has definite steps and time to measure the success of the various steps.
Announcing too early
It makes sense to be excited about your new product, but that excitement can lead to things being done prematurely. If you announce your launch before the product is ready, which can certainly be a temptation, you’ve just created a deadline for yourself that you might not realistically be able to meet.
There’s a potential embarrassment factor at play here, as well. If you launch a product with design flaws because it wasn’t ready in time, that will do damage. And if you create anticipation, then move the date, that will erode faith in what you’ve created.
As tempting as it might be to set a short release date, patience is always better when it comes to making sure a product is ready before you put it into the marketplace.
Creating enthusiasm by overselling
Are you set up to deliver on the pre-release hype you’ve given your product, or have you oversold what you’re about to launch?
It’s a difficult balance to strike, but it’s important to make sure you don’t oversell your product with a larger-than-life launch.
Not targeting the right audience
Have you gotten the message to the right customers to make sure your product has gotten their attention? Sometimes a pre-launch strategy can be too wide-ranging and not focused enough on the most important demographic.
When this happens, the message about your product can fall through the cracks because it’s not getting noticed by the people who are most likely to buy what you’ve created.
Think of a simple, direct way to reach your consumers and trust it rather than casting the widest possible net.
While you worry about the launch, let Pivot International worry about the design, development and manufacturing of your product to make sure it’s everything it can be. Click here to find out how.
Pivot International offers contract product design and contract manufacturing with global and US based manufacturing facilities. Pivot’s global team of mechanical, electronic and software engineers, physicists and optical designers all have many years’ experience designing products from concept through to manufacturing.
