Most Launches Fail Because Of These Reasons

Launching a product or service is like throwing a party. Before you invite the guests, you have to prepare the venue, stock the fridge with food and drinks, clean up the house and put out enough chairs.

Let's face it, a product launch is a big deal. It requires some substantial marketing effort to get off the ground. Yet, many product launches don't succeed.

Gosh,?how many times have you?heard this before:?“build it, and they will come.”?- there's not enough eye rolls in the world whenever somebody tells me that.?It means that if you build something good enough, people will naturally find it and buy it. As great as that sounds, that is NOT the case.

It doesn't matter how kick-ass your product is. Marketing is?the secret recipe that lets the world know you exist.?If you don't tell people about your product, you will end up selling to crickets.

The fact is that in today's world of startups, new products launch every day.?People won't go looking for you if they don't know about your existence.?This is why marketing is so important; it's how you let potential customers know that you exist and how you can make them want to buy from you.

When a new product launch flops, a lot of entrepreneurs get bummed. They think, "I give up! I'll just come up with a new idea!" or worse "I'll just give them 50% discount, as long as it sells". They fail to dig deeper on the root of the problem. The truth is that, behind most failure stories are the same old mistakes. The good news is that even the biggest, strongest brands in the world have stumbled when they launch a new product to the market.

After launching?dozens of products myself, and witnessing many product launches?executed by my peers?in multinational markets,?I’ve noticed that many product launches fail because of a few key reasons.

?

1. Failure to understand the customer's need and demand

Before a product is developed, it is crucial to study the target market and understand their needs. This helps to design products that will meet the customers' needs and help them solve a problem. Failure to do so will result in failure of the product in the market. In addition, it is important that you understand your customer's purchasing power as this will enable you to price your product accordingly.

?

2. Poor pricing strategy

Pricing is?very important in the marketing strategy of every product.?The pricing of the product determines who would be able to buy it or not. A low price would attract the low-income earners, whereas a high price would attract only the high-income earners.

Businesses?need to understand the relationship between the need, demand, and value placed on the product by the users.?Wrong pricing can be fatal to the launching of a new product into the market, because you won't attract the right people at a price they are capable of spending. It could make or break your launch, or worse, brand.

For example, if you position your brand as a high quality, mid to high price tag, and on your launch, you hand out discounts on your products so your launch will bring in revenue, you will end up with customers that will only purchase from you when you have a discount, or at a certain price range (which is lower than your normal selling price).

You will then struggle to sell your product at your normal selling price, because the customers you have is just simply not attracted at the pricing.

On the other hand, if you position your brand as a mid to lower quality,?cheaper product or mass market, one single cent will have an impact on your sales result. A good example of this is when you see?€1,99 vs?€2,00 in the supermarket shelves.

If you price it slightly too high, your product will be in a limbo between the two market segments, and as a result you can confuse the main target audience you want to attract.?

?

3. Fixing a non-existent problem

If you’re trying to solve a problem no one has, get ready for some long nights. It’s awesome that you have such a great product?idea, but if you don’t figure out who is going to buy it first, you might end up wasting time trying to sell something nobody wants.

The key to trying to make sure you’re fixing a real problem comes by understanding what problems, needs, and wants can and should be fixed for your audience. Doing customer development is key to figuring this out before you even start building any product that you eventually want to launch.

Too many entrepreneurs start building products or services without truly understanding the problem they’re trying to solve. This can come from a number of factors such as not doing enough research, ego of the founders, lack of focus, and so on.

?

4. Targeting the wrong?audience

While it may be tempting to cover all bases by marketing your product or service to EVERYONE, it’s not the best approach. Why? Because if you try to appeal to everyone, you will appeal to no one.

A business needs specific target audiences in order to be successful. It’s not enough to know that you have a product or service that will appeal to just about anyone who needs or wants it.

You need to know exactly who is going to need and want what you have to offer so that you can create targeted marketing campaigns and specific content that is designed with those people in mind.?

So, the target audience of your content marketing will depend on your niche, sure. It’s obvious that if you are in the Health and Fitness industry, your target audience will be a lot different than someone in the dating advice industry.

But then again… how do you drill down from that very broad target audience? How can you make it more specific?

This is exactly where Buyer Persona creation comes in place. Keep in mind that you need to be as specific as possible.

For example, “Moms between 25 and 40” isn’t specific enough! How about “Moms who are between 25 and 40 years old, who have 1 or 2 kids, live in a big city, love cycling and outdoor activities and are looking for diet plans that help them lose weight after having kids”? This is much more precise!

You can create more than one Buyer Persona if you have multiple niches or products/services that you are selling.

?

5. Poor preparation and no real plans

You see, product launch is a delicate process. It is not just unveiling your product at an event and expecting the world to be awed by it.

It is not a mere introduction of whatever it is you're launching, in the sense that you are just announcing it.?It is the process of preparing the audience for your product or service.?It is like a warm-up exercise before the main event and it must be done with utmost vigor and dedication.

You want?your audience to be eager to know more about what they can expect when they finally buy your product/services. This keeps them interested in what you have got going on right.

I've seen too many entrepreneurs that don't take importance in taking the necessary steps to execute their launch success, but then wondering why their launch?is not profitable or don't generate enough buzz.

Whether you are launching a new product or services, rebranding an existing one, or bringing back an old one, there are some important steps you must take to ensure a successful launch.

AUTHOR

Priska Oroz

Brand Marketing Specialist and Co-Founder & CMO of Athena Founders

Priska has been involved in the marketing, brand management and launching of products for over 10 years.

She has executed dozens of successful launches for global industry giants like Belvedere Vodka, Jose Cuervo, Burberry and Calvin Klein fragrance to name a few, generating?seven figures?in revenue collectively and contributed to the growth of the brand's market share in a competitive space.