A lot of effort is required to build a tangible product out of an intangible idea and make it successful in the market. The new product’s success is very crucial, as it helps to build the success of an organization, maintain the company’s reputation and acquire new customers.
The new product becomes the lifeblood of the company. Because, If the customers feel dissatisfied with a new product, they eventually start losing trust and move on to something else.
But, on the other hand, there is also a high risk of failure while implementing new products. According to Harvard Business School, over 30,000 new products are introduced every year, and around 95% of them fail.
A new product may fail due to various reasons. Few may get lost in the saturated market of similar products, same due to a lack of consideration of customer needs, market change, and so on.
Then, what makes the 5% of new products survive successfully?
There is no secret behind it, but the one common thing that drives a new product’s success is working on the right set of strategies.
In this blog, let’s discuss the top 5 ingredients for new product success.
Positioning
Positioning is a strategy to build a good image of the product to occupy a distinctive position in the minds of target customers, by highlighting its unique elements.
Positioning the new product helps to identify,
- Where your product fits in the market?
- Why it’s the best solution for your customers?
Product positioning entices a potential prospect to learn more about your offering by differentiating the product from similar products in the market.
Good positioning is about making sure your product is the first thing they think of while thinking about your product category i.e the customer’s go-to choice.
For instance, we have all used the phrase “to Google something.” There is a high probability that your personal email is Gmail. From search engines to applications we use regularly, Google is everywhere today. The Google ecosystem created a trusted solution for every possible way the internet is used ( chrome, youtube, Google pay, etc).
This practice is known as multi-segment positioning which made google the gist to define the way we use the internet.
To acquire an ideal position,
- Identify your target customer and market.
- Find the Unique Selling Point (USP) of the product.
- Create a product positioning statement.
- Use the position statement and create creative campaigns with the appropriate communication channel.
Marketing
Marketing encompasses all activities, processes, and strategies to bring potential customers to the product. Through marketing, customers get a solid understanding of what it does and how it works.
Marketing the new product aids in identifying,
- what grabs the user.
- What makes users excited about the product?
In the age of the digital world, with a short attention span, customers get deviated easily. Marketing can only helps to exchange information, maintain active engagement, and build a relationship over time. It is an effective way to educate and express the product value proposition to the customers.
For instance, Spotify – Now the top music streaming platform for millennials.
Spotify offers a fresh and unique “Daily Mix, Discover Weekly” playlist and customers recommended music based on their listening habits. No Spotify customer has the same dashboard. Spotify offers as much personalization as possible and makes each customer feel individually valued.
This practice is known as personalized marketing, which is the secret behind Spotify’s sound of success.
As a result, Spotify currently boasts over 188 million premium subscribers and 433 million active users in 180+ countries with the highest market share of 31% in the global music streaming market.
To market a new product,
- First, list down the pain points the product will potentially solve.
- Find who’s most likely to have these problems(the target customer).
- Identify what channels your audience use frequently and their online behaviors.
- Create an attractive product story that strongly conveys your product message.
- Almost done! Now, consistently convey the right message to the right people through the right channel.
- Also, try out different marketing strategies to find the best that yields results.
Time for launch
The product launch is a coordinated effort to bring a new product to market and make it available for use. Clever product launches create a good impression, entice customers and create urgency.
For new product success, the product launch time plays a major role which is often underrated. Not all times are favorable for a product launch. It is important to find an apt time to launch.
“One must work with the time and not against it.” – Le Guin
For instance, when Olipop, a healthy soda brand released a new flavor, it made $30,000 in the first 15 minutes the product was on sale.
The Olipop created a new way of launching its product. On the understanding that their customers don’t check their mail regularly, they used SMS medium to send a personalized message during their product launch saying, “Look, I just finished making this for you guys. It tastes amazing. Here’s what I did with it. If you want to order it, click here, it’s ready to order.”
A few things to check on before launching a new product,
- Do in-depth market research to find the current market demand. Since market demand for the same product changes from time to time.
- Interview target customers before to understand when and why they need the product.
- Set up the launch date and stick to that.
- Determine the launch method and draft up the launch message and launch the product.
Iteration
Product development is an ongoing process and with evolving technology, it is hard to develop a flawless product at a stretch. Iteration is the only way to reach the perfect one.
The iterative process refines a product through repeated adjustment cycles. It makes continuous improvements, helps to attain higher quality, and keeps up with market trends.
To make an iterative approach,
- First, build and launch a Minimum viable product (MVP) in the market.
- Then, connect people at all levels related to the product and request feedback. Refine the feedback and make the necessary development.
- Repeat the feedback cycle to identify areas for improvement.
- Also, regularly test the product to find the errors to work on.
- Always make sure that the iterative approach helps to make a better product in the end without affecting or changing the product vision or mission.
Right focus
The right focus starts with understanding the target market.
A target market is a group of people with similar product interests. It can be further divided into different segments or subgroups based on customer age, gender, location, priorities, values, and behavior which is commonly known as segmentation.
The Segmentation helps to divide and focus. It makes planning creative campaigns or personalized content easier and more efficient. Products need to be tailored, considering each segment of the target market to deliver good quality to all users. Segmentation makes the right focus and efficient use of all resources.
Some common types of segmentations are,
- Demographic Segmentation – based on gender, age, occupation, marital status, income, etc.
- Geographic Segmentation – based on country, state, or city of residence, climate, and weather conditions.
- Behavioral Segmentation – based on purchase behavior, spending/consumption habits, browsing history, and product usage.
- Psychographic Segmentation – based on personal attitudes, values, interests, beliefs, or personality traits.
- Firmografic Segmentation – based on user size, industry, location, and status.
- Technographic Segmentation – based on preferred technologies and attributes.
End note
Every new product is ideated with innovation, built with tremendous effort, and launched with great optimism. In today’s world, with a gazillion products on the market, simply bringing the product into the light will not give the desired product success.
In this blog, as we discussed,
- The right positioning,
- The right market,
- The right launch time,
- Iteration and the right focus.
These five ingredients combined with the new product success make a perfect success strategy. And new product success is an output of balancing all these five ingredients effectively.
During the process, most fail to position themselves well enough, some fail at marketing, while others fail at making a solid product launch. Keep on reworking these five strategies until the desired result is obtained.
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