Marketing a new product or service requires plenty of brainstorming. You should know what kind of marketing works and the most effective techniques. You just cannot stick with the marketing strategies you’ve been using. You need a fresh, fine-tuned strategy to promote your new offering successfully.

Developing a product and launching it is already challenging, but the work doesn’t end there. Half of the work is marketing, and it could make or break your new product or service. This article will discuss developing a marketing strategy for a new product.

Understanding your product

To market a product successfully, you need to know where it stands in the market. You created the product, so it goes without saying that you know what it is, but many forget what their product is supposed to be down the road. This results in subpar marketing strategies that lead to failed launches and net losses. Some of the questions you need to answer to understand your product better are the following:

● What problem does it solve?
● What makes it unique?
● What is its selling point?
● Where will you sell it?

These questions seem simple, and you probably already have the answers to them, but it’s worth keeping things in perspective. Having a clear answer to these questions will help you determine where your product stands in the market, thereby establishing a solid foundation for marketing.

Conducting market research

How you conduct market research will depend on the product or service you plan to launch. If similar products are already in the market, you can use sales statistics on those products in your research. You can also interview a number of people to see how they react to your proposed product or service.
There are three things of primary concern in market research: potential market size, market trend, and seasonality. Focus your research efforts on those three, and you should get valuable information. There are helpful tools you can use or perhaps consider partnering with a top market research firm.

Determining an audience

Your product will appeal to a wide audience and potentially drive more revenue in an ideal world, but in reality, the best move is to focus on a target audience. Once you’ve understood your product well, you need to determine a target audience. Knowing your target audience gives your marketing strategy a direction and helps you market your product in a tone that speaks to your customers. It also makes it easier to determine the potential market size for your product.

Knowing your competitors

Knowing your competitors is as important as understanding your product. By analyzing competitors, you get insights into market dynamics, promotion strategies, targeted audiences, and other effective techniques in driving sales. First, identify who your competitors are and sort them according to relevancy. Businesses that compete with you directly are primary competitors; those who sell a similar product but to a different audience are secondary competitors; those who don’t sell a similar product but target a similar audience are tertiary competitors.

Establishing objectives

Marketing strategies won’t go anywhere without clear objectives. Having set goals gives your planning a direction as it clarifies what exactly you want to achieve. The key is to set specific goals as they are easier to follow and track, instead of broad goals that are vague and don’t really point you in a direction.

Strategizing

Most of the steps you’ve taken are just for gathering information, and now you’re ready to develop a marketing strategy. This is where you apply everything you’ve learned about your product, competitors, and audience. Some strategies you can use in your strategy are the following:
● Offering an exclusive preview to loyal customers – your patrons are the most likely people to buy your new product, and they’re also the most likely to promote it. Allowing them to access your new offering first is generally a great way to reinforce engagement.
● Using a special introductory offer – to create more interest in your product, include it in a special introductory deal. Make sure to emphasize the deal is temporary.
● Running a social media contest – social media is among the best platforms to engage with your audience, and running a contest will build more anticipation for your new product.

Tracking your progress

Since most marketing efforts today are digital, tracking your progress should be a lot easier. Vital KPIs such as customer health score, customer lifetime value, and attrition rates are easily accessible. Despite this, keep in mind that plenty of marketing still takes place outside of the digital world, and the best way to track your performance there is by comparing your activities to revenue.

A vital part of tracking progress is using what you’ve learned to improve your strategies. If something isn’t working well, knowing its reason will allow you to pivot easier. For instance, learning why marketing efforts through your website are doing poorly will help you improve CRO.

If you think developing a marketing strategy for new products is challenging, that’s because it is.

Fortunately, your business doesn’t have to go at it alone. Even corporations outsource some of their marketing efforts, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t. Firms like Market Quotient offer reliable and innovative market research solutions that can help your business concentrate on its core activities. By letting them take over tasks such as market research, you can dedicate your resources to your most critical operations.

Contact us today at contact@marketquotient.com or +1 201.285.2024 to learn more about how our virtual business solutions can benefit your business and avail 10 hours of no commitment FREE trial.