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Launching a digital product is all about getting your product into the hands (or screens) of the people who need it most. In addition to having a solid product that people need, it’s important to use specific selling points and marketing strategies to ensure success with your digital product launch. By combining the following best practices, you can have a successful digital product launch each and every time.
Research Your Competitors
To truly get a sense of how your products are going to perform, you must first determine what your competitors are doing. Take time to learn about the products they have, how they are marketing them, and any issues they may have run into before or after launching. Instead of relying on your own trials and errors, use your competitors’ past experiences to make yours that much better.
Research is the hallmark of any marketing campaign and will make it easier for you to launch your product. Learn about what the competitors are doing and envision the ways you can do it better. While you won’t want to copy their product launch exactly (because your ideal customer is looking for your unique brand!) using existing or past launches as a benchmark can keep you heading in the right direction.
Don’t be afraid to dig in and get stealthy with your research. The more information you can find out, the better!
Tip: Consider attending a business expo or conference related to your industry. You’ll be able to talk to other industry experts about their products and get a feel for how they market to their customers.
Identify Your Course Avatar
If you are going to sell a successful product you must know your ideal customer. This might seem a bit like a no brainer, but it’s amazing how many people skip this critical step.
To create your ideal customer avatar, you have to ask questions. Consider things like their age, what they need help with, how they’ll use your product, and even how they will treat you as the person selling this product. What’s their pain point, goals for the future, dreams for family and friends? Are they college educated or high school dropouts?
By creating this very real person, you’re setting yourself up to serve the exact audience that you need to get your products in front of. This will allow you to target the exact person your product is designed to serve. It might also help you tweak your existing product to further meet the needs of that person.
Tip: Think of creating a customer avatar in the same way as defining one of your best friends. Write out his or her likes and dislikes and all the things that make them the special person they are. You might even consider naming them and clipping a picture from a magazine to make it seem a little more “real”.
Create a Digital Product Launch Plan
If you really want your product launch to be successful, you must make sure you have a plan in place. The easiest way to get to the endgame is to work backwards.
Start with your final step: the successful digital product launch. What was the very last step you took just before that one? And the one before that? By working backward, you can create an actionable plan that will take you from step to step to get to your goal.
Each of the steps should be meaningful to your product launch and should serve a purpose toward that achieving the desired outcome. Eliminate anything that could be considered busy work and put your focus on the things that really matter.
Tip: Every digital product launch plan will look different. Your product is unique which means your process will be as well. Even if you are looking at someone else’s existing plan, you’ll want to heavily tweak it to suit your own launch.
Build Engaged Fans
If people aren’t excited about your product before it launches, they certainly aren’t going to have a lot of excitement when it actually makes its debut. Prior to launch it’s necessary to focus on creating a “buzz” and getting people talking about your product. You want to make sure that you are engaging with you potential customers and that everyone is excited about the plans you have for the product. When you take the time to build up your fan base ahead of time, they will be ready and waiting to purchase your new product, whenever it launches.
Tip: While engaging with your fans during a launch is important to the success of your product sales, it’s important to remain engaged even when you aren’t planning a launch. By adding value and input at all times, you’ll build a base of true and engaged fans that will know who you are and desire even more from your brand.
Gather Beta Testers
If you are launching for the first time, it’s important to test the product. The best way to do so is to make sure that people are using it. Successful brands launch their product initially to beta testers, often for a discounted price to receive feedback.
Remember when you build up that base of engaged fans? Put it to good use now. Allow a certain number of people access to your digital product at a discounted rate in exchange for their honest reviews. If necessary, you’ll be able to increase the effectiveness of your product by listening to the feedback and making changes before you launch to the rest of the world.
Your Successful Digital Product Launch
If you are planning to launch a digital product in 2020, we’d love to help. From workbooks and handouts to 1:1 support, we’ll help you plan a successful launch of that product you’ve created! Contact us today for more information.
