Product launch: What to consider when launching a new product

A product launch is a lot more than just releasing a new product on your website. It involves a precisely scheduled series of events leading up to the date your product becomes available for sale. These events consist of correspondences with your email list, the release of free pre-launch content, promotional webinars, or anything that builds buzz leading up to the date your shopping cart opens. The goal is to make as many sales within a brief window of time as possible.

A megaphone with a arrow to a rocket launching from a cardboard box with an arrow leading to money signs.

What are the steps involved in launching a new product?

What to consider when launching a new product

It takes a lot of planning, logistics and valuable content to successfully pull off a launch but, when you do, you can expect to make sales and lifelong brand advocates.

Maximize your sales potential

With on-target messaging aimed at the right audience over the right distribution channels, you’ll hype up your audience and nail your launch every time.

Make lifelong customers

Customers never forget. By over-delivering on your promise to your customers in the form of a fantastic product and authenticity during your launch cycle, you’re guaranteed to create loyal customers.

A thank you page pop-up with a man in a blue button-up shirt next to it.

Maximize your sales potential

With on-target messaging aimed at the right audience over the right distribution channels, you’ll hype up your audience and nail your launch every time.

Make lifelong customers

How to launch a product using Ontraport

Orchestrating a lucrative product launch involves a lot of moving parts. You need to cover as much ground as you can on a strict budget; content, media, referrals and advertising all cohesively power the engine. So if you’re going to grow and scale your business via a product launch, a reliable automation tool is an absolute necessity to make it happen.

Ontraport’s marketing automation can be tailored to any launch model, regardless of your industry. The platform consolidates automated marketing (SMS, email, voice, and postcards), referral programs, Facebook retargeting, a landing page builder, payment processing, and tracking — everything a small business needs to launch confidently.

“What’s cool about this foundational way of marketing is that even with the changes in technology, it stands the test of time.”

- John Gallagher, Founder, Learning Herbs

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Examples of product launches using Ontraport

Grassroots product launch

There is no single right way to launch a product, but your standard grassroots launch looks a lot like the diagram below. Leads are dropped onto a marketing campaign wherein they go through a series of touchpoints that entice them to buy. Your email messaging can build hype around your product and link contacts to your pre-launch content housed on Ontraport landing pages or even a gated members-only page. Further automated correspondences, such as SMS or postcards, are great tools to build anticipation and urgency around your product until the sale goes live. It’s all automatic.

Referral contest

Launching a product or event in the near future? Referral contests are a proven way to enroll your top advocates to build hype for you. In exchange for the most sales, you'll reward the top referrers with a cash prize or gifts they'd be keen to win. This can be set up in Ontraport in just a few steps. An automated contest announcement email directs your partners to a referral contest page on which they'll read the conditions, see the prizes, and obtain their unique referral link. All referral sales are tallied automatically, making it easy for you to pay your winners after the contest is over.

Mini-course

A mini-course is a series of educational videos delivered via email and staggered over a predetermined period of time — typically days or weeks. This “show, don’t tell” launch tactic keeps leads anticipating your next round of visual content. Content delivery messages can be built quickly — and strategically scheduled — using Ontraport’s Campaign Builder. You’ll start by sending your list a welcome email that teases the mini-course. Next, send a series of emails linking the recipient to the first lesson of the course. Each mini-course lesson page contains a compelling CTA that drops leads onto your purchase page where they can purchase the mini-course in its entirety.

Webinar

Sharing some of your best tips in a launch webinar makes your audience more inclined to buy. Using Ontraport and your preferred webinar platform, you can place the leads in your database onto a webinar campaign to promote your next product launch. A series of automated emails will drive your leads to an event landing page on which they can register for your webinar and obtain their unique link to the event. From your presentation, you’ll direct your audience to an order form on which they can purchase the product or service you just pitched.

Live event

Invite leads and customers, as well as cold traffic, to your live launch event using Ontraport's visual Campaign Builder. Send your leads an event announcement email, SMS or postcard that links them to your RSVP landing page. To keep you current on the number of guests in attendance, contacts who RSVP are automatically added to a fulfillment list to be sent to your event planner (or yourself) prior to the event. As the date of the event nears, your contacts receive a final event reminder email that, yet again, links to your RSVP form, giving you a final headcount and leaving the logistics entirely up to Ontraport.

Joint Venture Webinar

Using Ontraport, you can partner with fellow entrepreneurs or business owners for your mutual benefit. Launching a joint venture webinar using Ontraport is one way to fill in all the gaps of what might otherwise be a tedious process. Say you were going to launch a joint venture webinar to promote your latest product launch. First you'd send your partner a referral link for them to share with their list while simultaneously announcing the webinar to your own list. Both of your lists are directed to a webinar sign-up page using an Ontraport-generated referral link. After pitching your product to viewers of your webinar, any referral sales are automatically credited to your partner, earning them a fixed commission and netting you a hearty helping of extra sales. Win-win.

Master the steps involved in launching a new product with Ontraport.

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“With Ontraport, you can automate the whole customer purchase experience. You can charge them, give them access to something, send them an email now and three more a week later, and you can tag them based on what they bought — all with the click of a button.”

— John Gallagher, Learning Herbs

Master the steps involved in launching a new product with Ontraport.

Get a demo

— John Gallagher, Learning Herbs

Frequently Asked Questions

What is marketing automation and why is it so important?

Marketing automation is technology that manages repetitive marketing tasks and complex campaigns so you don’t have to. This software allows you to automate your communication with leads and customers throughout the customer lifecycle, from their first touchpoint to post-purchase.

When paired with a CRM that collects data about your leads and customers, your marketing automation software can use that data to deliver engaging, effective experiences across multiple channels. Whether you use email marketing, SMS messages, postcards or a combination of them all, marketing automation tools will give you the power to turn more leads into customers — without managing the whole process manually.

What is a digital marketing funnel?

Digital marketing funnels are like road maps that your prospects follow until they eventually convert into loyal customers. You can create all kinds of funnels depending on your business and strategy, however most center around the five customer lifecycle stages: Attract, Convert, Fulfill, Delight and Refer.

With marketing automation, your leads and customers will move from one stage to the next based on their interactions with your business. For example, your marketing platform can bump a contact to their next lifecycle stage automatically after they reach milestones like signing up for your newsletter or making a first purchase. The best part is, it all runs on autopilot after you set it up, which gives you the power to scale faster.

What steps should I take for a profitable, successful product launch?

Launching a new product involves a lot of behind-the-scenes prep to create buzz and organize your team into action. To make sure you have all your bases covered for your next launch, check out our detailed Product Launch Guide. It will walk you through all the steps involved in launching a new product, from the first stages of brainstorming all the way to your post-launch follow-up strategy.

Is Ontraport a good choice for B2B marketing automation?

Yes — Ontraport is a great fit for attracting new prospects, nurturing leads, generating sales and more for your B2B business. We offer reliable tracking and attribution, highly personalized communication channels, and ready-to-launch marketing funnels that you can kick off in minutes. Plus, since Ontraport lets you gather and store more data than most marketing automation solutions, you’ll be able to reach more potential customers and get better results from your marketing efforts.

How do I know what to consider when launching a new product?

Every product launch is different, but here are some basic questions to ask yourself in the early stages to make sure you get yours right:

Based on your industry and market trends, when should you launch?
How much will your product cost, and are your customers willing to pay what you’re asking?
What will you call your product?
Which channels, medium and messaging will you use to promote your launch?
Who is your target market?
What is your competition doing, and how will you position your launch in a way that makes you stand out?
Have you thoroughly tested your product?
What feedback have you received from users who have sampled your product?
Are you willing to be flexible and optimize your marketing, product or strategy to succeed?

How do I know if Ontraport is the best marketing automation software for me?

When you’re shopping for a marketing platform for your business, you’ll want to take your entire business into account — not just the marketing side of things. Whether you choose Ontraport or not, we recommend making sure your automation platform includes the following features, at the very least:

A website or landing page builder to share your business with the world online
A system for capturing leads and sending marketing emails
A contact management system (CRM) to keep track of clients and prospects
A payment processing tool to collect orders and charge credit cards/li>

Of course, you’ll probably need more sophisticated tools as your business continues to grow. With Ontraport, you’ll have everything you need now and in the future — all under one roof.

Take a look at our buyer’s guide for a complete checklist of all the CRM, marketing automation and sales features to keep in mind throughout your software search. It’ll help you find the perfect platform for your business (even if you don’t choose Ontraport).

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