Do you want to sell a new product or brand via an Online Channel? We describe the key factors in successfully launching a product or brand online.
1- ANALYZE YOUR MARKET
Launching a product online is not a simple task. The first job is definitely knowing more about your market. A market study requires a better understanding of the opportunities presented by the specific moment for launching your product with the best possible guarantees. That’s why it’s essential to know more about and analyze in depth all the elements that make up the market to adapt our product to a suitable digital development..
WHEN AND WHY SHOULD YOU RUN A MARKET ANALYSIS?
You should run a market analysis mainly when you want to enter a new market so as to understand the problems and opportunities posed when identifying and planning your sales opportunities. At the same time you know more about your competitors.
HOW?
The process involved in a market analysis can be divided into three parts:
Understanding the Market Conditions
Identifying Market Opportunities
Developing Strategies Geared Towards a Market
It should be borne in mind that the Online Channel is price-sensitive, so if you are competing with similar products, the prices as well as the conditions of consumption and delivery are key factors to the success of the launch. If on the other hand your product is unique, the main challenge shall be in making public the fact that your product covers a latent need, and so you should identify the best way of publicizing this, which is a key factor in the success of the launch. These points are vital when focusing the market analysis, bearing in mind that not only should you analyze the products of your competitors or your known market conditions, but also the marketplaces, portals, and other markets to effectively identify the players.
2- DEFINE YOUR PRODUCT
The product is king, and so you should define its attributes to ensure success when you launch it onto the market. Highlighting the benefits and offering added value to the consumer means you can differentiate yourself from the competition. But that’s not enough, you have to work on a strategy focused on satisfying the needs of your potential consumers inside and outside the digital channel.
“Clients buy satisfaction, not just materials” — Jerome McCarthy and William Perreault
3- KNOW YOUR PUBLIC AND YOUR CLIENT/CONSUMER
One of the main points in selling a product online is knowing about your public in detail. Knowing how to interpret consumer behavior and knowing what they like is one of the bases on which to build knowledge of your product.
Via an exhaustive qualitative and quantitative analysis of your public, you can analyze purchasing needs, wants, perceptions and preferences that can help you to focus your strategy of contents and optimize the SEO and SEM activities.
4 – KNOWING HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE
Authenticity marks the difference. That’s why it’s essential to offer a unique proposal that is differentiated from the one already on the market. Success in differentiation revolves around humanizing the consumption experience. Ensuring that the consumer is not indifferent to the product is our trump card. Think about the expectations of a consumer before buying a product or service, and change it into a fun challenge. Brand transparency and honesty are fundamental features that have an effect on their buying decisions and are more important than innovation.
To provide a satisfactory experience, the following is necessary:
Your product should faithfully reflect your brand and your values.
Appeal directly to your consumers.
Be transparent and honest.
Communicate with freshness and creativity.
5 – DEFINE THE CHANNELS
Not all products are the same. They aren’t all directed to the same public and of course they’re not all going to be sold in the same way. There are certain requirements, characteristics and peculiarities inherent to each product that make their sale and dissemination effective in some channels or in others. Some of the channels you can use are:
- Social networks
- SEM campaigns
- Organic channels
- Digital media via collaborations
6 – TEST, EVALUATE AND OPTIMIZE
The testing stage is fundamental for measuring the performance of the product in a “real environment”. Knowing the consumer’s opinion when developing a product is essential. Many current product development campaigns are more closely linked to what we think as a company than with the real interests of consumers. For example, a company that develops mobile applications piles up functionalities that add cost and complexity, but which are far from being appreciated by consumers.
The online channel is changing the essence of innovation, enabling new ideas to be tested at speeds and prices that were unimaginable only a few years ago. That’s why this phase helps you to find inspiration in new ideas and revolutionize the development process of new products.
7 – HOUSTON, WE ARE READY FOR TAKE OFF
After testing the product and defining the attributes, it’s time to design the product launch plan. The launch plan forms part of the marketing strategy and provides specific point to publicize the product, using previously established objectives.
- Market study
- Investigate the competition
- Focus groups
- Communication and marketing strategy
- Media Plan
- Client assistance and loyalty acquisition plan
- Campaign schedule
Launching a product online without digital promotion work is synonymous these days with failure. That’s why at Lifting Group we offer an Online Marketing Management Outsourcing service to ensure a good launch of the product on the online channel.
8 – MEASURE YOUR KPIs
One of the most important steps when launching the product online is to analyze the return. That’s why the analysis of key performance factors enables you to control and track your indicators. A smart way of focusing the KPIs is by using the acronym SMART, or Specific; Measurable; Attainable; Relevant; Timely.
One of the linchpins for the success of a business is the identification of the most adequate KPIs that are related to the project. Here at Lifting Group we constantly monitor the metrics in order to run a detailed and full control and analysis of behavior to enable you to make the right decisions for your clients and the growth of your business.
9- IN SEARCH OF THE RIGHT METHODOLOGY
WHAT IS THE LEAN START UP METHODOLOGY?
The Lean Start Up methodology is a term coined by Eric Ries for a model based on the Lean Manufacturing principle of the Toyota engineer, Taichi Ohno, which is based on saving effort and resources to manufacture specific products needed by clients. This very same approach has been used by Amazon to improve efficiency and to most effectively support human creativity in order to create better products.
Some of the practices proposed by this methodology reduce the development cycle of the product, measure real progress and help with understanding what consumers really want. This way, the “market is scanned” measuring the product’s viability and analyzing if it covers consumer needs.
10 – HAWKERS: SUCCESS STORY OF THE LAUNCH OF AN ONLINE PRODUCT
As an example of a success story of the launch of an online product: we present Hawkers, which has had a major impact in terms of online launch strategies and revolutionized the digital market.
It is without any doubt one of the success stories of the decade, the brand of glasses is an online benchmark. In fact, the product is the success of its brand, which has revolutionized the market by achieving an incredible media spike, and has gone so far as to sponsor the iconic NBA team, the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s the first Spanish brand to sponsor the Lakers, attracting the attention of the media, knowing how to use its arms in a highly competitive online market, with different omnichannel campaigns and excellent results.
The digital business model of Hawkers is not just based on the user experience, but also on the authenticity of the product. The key to the success of Hawkers is based on the correct creation, communication and launch of the product, as well as its capacity to reinvent itself in line with market changes.
At the same time it’s true that before achieving its current success Hawkers went through several experiences of failed projects (Saldum, Knockaround, Miss Hamptons) which led it to the winning project.
WHAT THEN WAS THE REASON FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE HAWKERS LAUNCH? REINVENT ITSELF SO AS TO FIND THE RIGHT FORMULA TO MAKE THE BRAND BECOME THE PRODUCT.
At Lifting Group we can help you to launch your product in the online market and follow the right strategy adapted to the needs of your business. You’ll work with a specialist teams on the development of digital channel strategies, optimizing the positioning on the Online Channel and facilitating links between the client and the company. Throughout our 10 years of experience, we have sought to offer the maximum know how to our clients and so constantly improve their digital strategy.
