Product Launch Checklist: Step-by-step guide
Being in Product and Marketing for over a decade people ask for tips and tricks on how to build and launch their product. From CPG to SaaS I have had the great fortune to launch hundreds of products.
To maximize the efforts of a product launch I start with a framework. With a baseline set, everyone can get on the same page quicker and launch with more momentum. The following product launch steps are developed to help align the goals and tactical execution.
The downloadable step-by-step guide breaks down each task of the product launch (Download Here).
Follow the three primary product launch phases through:
- Pre-launch
- Launch
- Post-Launch
From first time or veteran Product Marketers sometimes it’s hard to ensure you hit the right message at the right time in the right places. Your primary goal for a product launch will be dependant upon the business objectives and the phase of growth that the business is in. Putting together the brand vision, messaging, and vision to reach the consumer are some of the most important secondary attributes to any product launch.
Before you go customizing the product launch checklist to your business or product you need to dive into the research to understand the consumer, market, and product in a more holistic way. I start with the consumer persona — (Download Persona Builder Here). Now I can start to answer questions about my consumer such as where do they live geographically and online, what are their habits, and most importantly what heuristics can I leverage to ensure that product stickiness is forefront and adoption is simple.
Once you’ve identified 2 types of personas:
1 — Your PRIMARY consumer
2 — Who you would NOT want buying your product
You can now focus in on the #1 and leave #2 alone, no reason to chase bad money here. The stronger the targeting and message the stronger the product launch. Entering into a new product category we spent months on the target consumer. This work alone lead to a very successful product launch exceeding our goals by 4x, that’s a solid win!
A final word, the most important part of the launch framework is to make it your own. Use the templates to identify your consumer, set the message, and the framework will help set the positioning.
Be sure to check out the other support documents to help you define each part of the brand, product, and consumer so you can knock that product launch out of the park:
Go Launch Wild!
