It’s estimated that as many as 95% of new products end up missing the mark. Sometimes this is due to the product itself, which simply isn’t a good fit for the market.

However, more often than not it has to do with the quality of the product launch campaign. This campaign encompasses your entire strategy when it comes to introducing the public to your new product.

Unfortunately, breaking through the noise of hundreds of other new products in your industry can be challenging. This is especially true if you have alternative ingredients products, like CBD or kratom products.

That’s why we made this marketing campaign tips guide to walk you through everything you need to know about making your product launch campaign a success.

Perform Market Research and Competitive Analysis

Good market research and competitive analysis will make up the base of your product launch campaign. As such, you don’t want to launch campaign planning without focusing on this step or everything will fall.

Market research is the process of finding customers who would be a good fit for your product. It will make up the bulk of your marketing strategy. You can find it by looking at both consumer trends as well as specific consumer behavior.

To find your target market, you need to ask yourself some questions about your product. Ask the following:

• What’s the demand like for your product?
• How many potential customers are interested in your product?
• What’s the average income of your customer?
• Where are most of your consumers located?
• How will they get your product? In-person or online?
• Are there a lot of similar products already available?
• How much do you think your customers will pay for your product?

The answer to these questions will be essential for finding a target market, which we will cover in the next section. A competitive analysis is the process of finding out what makes your product stand out.

In other words, you find a unique value in it. We’ll go into more detail about the unique value of your product, but for now, think hard about both the strengths and weaknesses that your product has.

Define the Target Market

The importance of establishing your target market cannot be overstated – it will be the backbone of your campaign marketing strategy. That’s why it’s vital to understand exactly what it is.

Your target market, or target audience, can be thought of as a specific group of consumers who are the most likely candidates to buy your new product. Now, you can attempt to define your target market on your own.

Sadly, at the end of the day, this will just consist of guesswork. To tangibly define your target market, you’re going to need consumer data. So, what type of consumer data should you be collecting?

There are three main areas you should focus on. First, their demographics. This includes things like customer:

• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Occupation
• Lifestyle
• Interests

Next, you want to learn more about consumer behavior within your target market. You might pay attention to how frequently they shop, or their purchase history.

The way they interact with websites or marketing emails/ads is also important. Lastly, look into your consumers’ motivations. This involves digging deep into what the consumer is searching for.

For some, it might be a good deal. For others, it might be what they value, like ethical ingredients or American-made products. The appeal of status also shouldn’t be ignored.

So how do you find this consumer information? Focus groups and surveys are a great place to start. Once you get enough, you can begin crafting a portrait of your target market.

Figure Out the Unique Value in Your Product

Unfortunately, the nature of the free market means that there will likely be lots of competition when it comes to your product. The specific amount of competition will depend on the product and the industry.

The key to cutting through all the noise these other products create is to find the unique value in what you’re selling. This can be defined as the special ‘it factor’ that separates your product from the competition.

However, that’s only half of the unique value formula. The other is how the product helps solve a problem or fill a need that your target market has. Now, if you’re a small business, price likely isn’t going to be your unique value.

That’s because larger corporations are simply able to offer things at a lower price. For example, let’s say your product contains medicinal mushrooms. You might highlight the fact that medicinal mushrooms have been linked to gut health.

That way, you’re appealing to a target market that values wellness and alternatives to traditional medicines. Listing the benefits of your product is a great way to start connecting them to your target audience.

Also, keep in mind that some businesses incorporate storytelling into unique product value. Another example, maybe someone with chronic pain who develops a CBD line.

Their unique value might be that their product is designed to combat pain. And, because the product was developed by and for people with pain, the company positions itself as an expert with a quality product.

Organize Your Timeline

To stay organized during the process, you should create a fairly strict timeline. With a clearly defined set of steps for your product launch, you’ll likely end up procrastinating parts of it.

This can cause you to miss valuable promotional opportunities. It will also cause you to be in crunch mode, which can lead to even more mistakes. So create an outline of all the different sequences leading up to the launch.

To get started on this, we recommend setting a launch date and then working backward. Remember that this timeline isn’t set in stone. You can always adjust it to make sure you’re staying on track.

Plan Promotional Activities

Promotional activities and marketing material are by far one of the most important aspects of your product launch campaign. Now, many businesses make the mistake of only investing in things like print and web ads.

They might pair these with some half-hearted social media posts detailing the new product introduction. Now, don’t get us wrong – ads can be an important part of promoting the new product.

However, you must diversify your promotional activities. First, consider some pre-launch activities that showcase the product features. Depending on the nature of the product, you might do this at expos or conventions.

Or, it might be more appropriate to hand out samples on the street. This type of promotion is often more effective than traditional marketing because the user gets to see the benefits of the product themselves.

More importantly, if they’re impressed, they might tell their family and friends about it. This can be huge for a new product. As G2 notes, it’s estimated that 56% of consumers learn about a new product through their family and friends. So this word-of-mouth product launch strategy shouldn’t be underestimated.

Another good strategy is to take advantage of influencers on social media. Influencers are great because they can be a direct pipeline to niche target markets.

For example, if you have a mushroom supplement, then partnering with a good wellness influencer can bring a lot of good attention to your product.

The other benefit of this is that audiences tend to trust influencers, so it can bring a lot of authority to your brand.

Figure Out Distribution

Distribution is going to determine how customers can get your product. In some cases, you might make direct sales through your website or place of business.

More commonly, you’ll work with retail partners and online eCommerce platforms to sell your product. You must sort out all your distribution channels well in advance of the launch.

After all, the worst thing that can happen is people want to buy your product but they have no way to get it.

When you plan distribution, you have plenty of time to sort out all the logistics that come with inventory management and deliveries. That way, the product is sure to be available at launch.

Train Your Sales Team

In many cases, you might rely on a sales team to present your product to customers. Regardless of whether you own the business, or you’re shipping your product off to third-party sellers, you want to make sure the sales staff knows how to present it.

For this, we recommend preparing a crash course document that quickly highlights the features and benefits of the product. It doesn’t need to be long.

Just enough so they can effectively communicate when talking about the product with potential customers. Prioritizing product sales is an essential part of any campaign marketing strategy.

Establish Metrics

You put a lot of effort into creating and launching your product. As such, you’re going to want to know whether or not it was a successful product launch.

This is important because it allows you to adjust your product positioning if the initial launch is underwhelming. It also lets you learn what parts of your launch campaign worked and what parts failed.

From there, you can apply what you learned to future product launches to make them more effective. To measure success, you’re going to need to establish metrics.

Specifically, you want to lay out some key performance indicators, or KPIs. This is a form of measurement that judges the performance of a long-term campaign.

So what are some KPIs you should be measuring for your product launch campaign? Sales performance is a big one, and what most companies are concerned with.

That being said, there are some other metrics you should be considering. These include things like:

• Customer acquisition
• Engagement
• Rate of product adoption
• Market share
• Brand awareness
• Customer satisfaction
• Return on investment (or ROI)
• Product performance

We recommend measuring both short-term and long-term KPIs. That way you have a better picture of how the launch is affecting your business.

Challenges That Could Affect Your Product Launch Campaign

As we mentioned at the start of the article, the vast majority of product launches don’t hit their KPI goals. There can be a lot of reasons for this. Maybe there was a boom in products that caused unexpected competition.

Or, maybe new laws or research casts doubt on some of your product’s ingredients. However, by far the greatest killer of a product launch is lack of interest. It doesn’t matter if your audience knows about your product – if they aren’t interested in it, they’re going to ignore it like the hundreds of others they see each week. So how do you drum up interest? Rather than releasing all your promotional material at the same time, we recommend gradually teasing the product.

Release bits and pieces of information. This slowly builds up hype around the product until the release date. Other challenges to look out for include:

• Unclear messaging
• Lack of brand awareness
• Failing to differentiate from other products
• Relying too much on the past
• Problems with the product

In some cases, identifying these challenges can help you pivot and potentially save the product. However, if it’s unbelievable, you can apply the lessons you learned to your next product.

To avoid some of these challenges, we recommend partnering with a professional launch team.

These experts can provide you with helpful strategies that maximize the chance of your product connecting with an audience. Just make sure to choose one that specializes in your industry.

Need Help Launching Your Alternative Ingredients Project? Call Kyckstarts

We hope this guide helped you learn more about what goes into a successful product launch campaign. Here at Kyckstarts, we know how challenging it can be to introduce a new product to the market.

However, it can be even harder to introduce alternative ingredient products. That’s because there’s been a huge explosion recently of new products in this industry, from CBD to kratom.

Luckily, our expertise in this industry helps ensure that every product you launch has the best chance of success. So if you’re ready for some custom-tailored product strategies, get in touch with us today.