7 Product Development Questions to Ask Yourself Before Launch
Getting ready to release your product into the world is an exciting, albeit stressful experience. With countless hours of hard work behind you, the finish line is finally in sight. But before you debut the product of your efforts, there are some important considerations to make before your drop date.
Here, we’ll take a look at the product development questions you must ask yourself before launching any new product.
1. Who is our target market?
In most cases, a conversation about the target market would occur in the early stages of product development, which makes it an especially important element as you approach launch. After all, without a target audience, you won’t have a clear idea of who you’re selling to or trying to reach.
If you haven’t worked out the specifics on your audience just yet, use these points to guide your user story discussion:
- Identify demographics (i.e. age, race, gender, career, education level, income)
- Define what a typical buying process looks like for your buyer — do they read reviews, purchase through social media apps?
- Communication preferences — does your audience use email, social media, texting, or all three?
- What are their priorities and personal values?
- What problems do they deal with and how does your product solve them?
With this information in hand, you can develop a more detailed marketing strategy and even find ways to improve your product based on your buyer persona research.
2. Do we have a detailed branding strategy?
There’s a reason so many of us recognize catchphrases like, “Just Do It”, or the emblem of an apple’s silhouette. It’s good branding. Branding is an important component of marketing, whether you’re an emerging or tenured brand. But if you don’t have a history of positive reviews and purchases to back your new product, branding becomes even more critical.
Creating a brand guide is a great place to start. Here’s the basic anatomy of a brand guide to getting you going:
- Mission statement/brand vision
- Description of the target audience
- Brand values
- Brand story
- Taglines and messaging guidelines
- Logo usage
- Color palette
- Typeface use
Having these hyper-focused details will not only help distinguish your brand from competitors but also create more seamless collaboration between in-house and contracted teams.
In need of some branding inspo? Check out him’s skin care line with its refined style. From packaging and typeface to color palette, the men’s health company does an excellent job creating a recognizable, cohesive look.
3. What solution does this product offer?
During your target market research, you identified some of the common problems your audience has and how your product might address relevant issues. Here, you’ll want to make sure your product is providing a direct solution to the consumer’s problem.
Note: If there are other products on the market that are similar to your own, ask yourself what makes your product unique or better.
4. How effective is the product?
Depending on the product or service you offer, you may benefit from conducting clinical studies or customer surveys to communicate the efficacy of the product to new customers. This can be especially helpful if your product is new to the market.
For example, ProFlowers, an e-commerce floral arrangement company, promotes their best-selling, most popular, and trending flowers on their homepage based on customer reviews and satisfaction.
5. How will we spread the word about our launch?
Whether you’re a new or recognizable brand, spreading the word about your new product is just as important. However, the approaches may be different depending on your brand’s current status.
- If you’re a seasoned brand with an established audience, you may reach out to your customers and followers through email campaigns, social media, or in-store promotions.
- If you’re an emerging brand yet to establish a big following, you’ll need to start from square one. Targeted ads, SEO, events, and affiliate marketing partnerships are a few initial tactics to consider before your product launch.
To help you keep your product launch campaign organized, create a calendar for all of your campaign initiatives, including, emails, social posts, and events.
6. How do we plan to survive beyond the initial hype?
If your product launch is well-executed, there will likely be a lot of hype surrounding your brand in the weeks or even months following. But it’s important to think about how you’ll sustain the publicity after the initial hype has fizzled out. Coming up with a 3, 6, and 9-month scale plan can help you get organized and create an effective plan for your product.
7. What do our supply chain resources look like?
If there’s one thing we’ve learned throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that we truly never know what’s next. And when you’re launching a new product, preparedness is of the utmost importance. Before you get ready to launch, take a look at your supply chain options and create an alternate plan in case, you know, stuff hits the fan.
Wrapping up
Launching a new product is an incredibly exciting endeavor and it’s natural to want to get the show on the road. But keep in mind, proper planning and execution are key to a successful product launch. So before you’re ready to release your brain-child to the world, ask yourself these 7 questions.
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Author: Sophie Sirois
Sophie Sirois is a writer based in sunny San Diego, CA, currently writing content for 365businesstips.com. With her Bachelor’s of Art in Strategic Communication behind her, Sophie began working in the content marketing sphere and has been crafting unique, informative, and click-worthy content ever since. Sophie enjoys covering a variety of topics, including tech, finance, business, marketing, wellness, and culture.
