Product launches have a lot of moving parts. Development. Prototyping. Planning. And yes, creating a product marketing campaign.

But what does it take to make it a successful one?

We’re going to walk you through a few do’s and don’ts to keep in mind to develop a marketing plan that will make your next product launch a success.

Do Come Up with Measurable Goals

Before launching any campaign, you’ll need to understand what Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure the results against.

Some KPIs to measure might include:

– Hitting a certain sales goal within [X] time
– Acquiring a specific number of new customers
– Monitoring the number of new followers on your company’s social platforms
– Increasing the amount of traffic the website receives by [X]

To get there and achieve these goals, it makes sense to bring in other team members. Talk to your sales department and refer to your overall marketing strategy to form a cohesive plan.

You’ll also want to include your creative team. Designers, developers, etc., need to understand your goals so they can deliver a solution that works for the product.

What you don’t want is to leave any of these groups in the dark. Everyone needs to be on the same page.

Don’t Listen to Marketing Myths

There’s a common myth in marketing that we want to clear up—ever heard of the Rule of Seven?

This rule states that it takes seven contacts between a brand’s message and the customer before they’re ready to buy. We’re inclined to disagree.

People are not part of a hive mind, and their buying decisions depend on many factors. Some care about cost, while others base it on the type of item or length of time to receive it, including whether the purchase will bring instant gratification.

The path to getting your product into the hands of customers is also dependent on whether or not it’s a B2B or B2C product.

For instance, products with a higher cost, think four figures and up, will have a longer sales cycle. Larger investments usually require more consideration and justification versus smaller, lower-cost ones.

Do Talk About What Makes Your Product Unique

Some products focus on all of their incredible features. But this isn’t what customers want to see. When brands boast about all of the bells and whistles, it leads people to say, ‘So what?.’

To get around this, you’ll want to make the benefits the star.

Show how the product solves a customer’s specific problem and turn the solution into a relatable story. From there, use the product’s features to enhance and back up its benefits.

Don’t Let the Competition Trip You Up

When planning any product marketing campaign, you’ll want to look for ways to edge out the competition. If you’re wondering how, go back to basics and listen to your target audience and underserved people within the market.

How can you slide in to fill in the gap when the competition isn’t delivering?

Once you uncover the spots where other company’s products aren’t giving people what they want, you can come in and give them more of the ‘wow factor they’re looking for.

And when it comes to product marketing, it’s all about how well you can dig into the end user’s motivators.

Do Plan for the Campaign Lifecycle

Many businesses focus on part of the customer journey, not all of it. Marketing has become more sophisticated over the past couple of decades. People are discovering, evaluating, and making purchases using different digital outlets.

There’s no longer one path from which all consumers interact with a brand. Plus, they’re also shortening their own sales process by arming themselves with information before buying.

You’ll need to plan for this. All of your communication and creative campaigns have to center around multiple demographics and touchpoints, which we’ll admit sounds overwhelming.

But machine learning, automation, robust data, the rise of advanced marketing tactics, and new social networking platforms are making it a little less so.

Use this to your advantage and devise a solution for each customer interaction throughout the campaign. Think of creating smarter emails, personalized content, and advanced visual cues to engage with people.

Conclusion

Product marketing is about more than the product. It’s about delivering an experience—a solution. To get to the point where a customer becomes more than a prospect, you need to continuously engage them in conversation and make them part of the brand story.