How To Create a Product Launch Plan

Prevent your product launch from being a costly, mismanaged embarrassment. Putting a product launch plan in place will help you smoothly take your product to market.

clashgraphics.com gathered the following information about what a launch plan is, what one consists of, its importance to your launch, and how to use a product launch plan to your advantage.

What Is a Product Launch Plan?

While a product launch is a concerted group effort to bring a product to market, a product launch plan helps you order necessary events leading up to and potentially past a product launch date. The objective should be to make sure everyone involved in the product’s development and marketing, business partners, and customers are knowledgeable about your new product, how it solves their problem, and when it arrives on the market.

How Do You Plan New Product Launch?

Your product launch plan should clearly establish what needs to be done, by when, and by whom. It not only outlines a pathway for task execution but also provides a snapshot of the product and its launch. A well-written product launch plan should include or address the following:

Executive Summary

This is where you summarize information about the product, the launch plan, project finances, and how success will eventually be measured. Your executive summary should address the following more in-depth:

• Summarize your campaign goals
• Company messages
• Goals for this launch
• What metrics will be used to measure the launch success
• Identify product features, functions, and system requirements

Tip: While the executive summary appears first in your presentation, it is more easily composed after the rest of your plan has been outlined and written.

Product Description

Write a brief (2 to 3 paragraph) product description including:

• What the product is
• Benefits
• What customer problem it solves

Target Audience

• Define your targeted customer
• Define the product persona
• Define your targeted market segment(s)
• Define your targeted business segment(s)

Responsibilities

• Who within the organization is assigned to what portion, phase, or segment of the product launch?

Important Dates & Milestones

All critical dates and milestone targets should be chronologically listed and include events like:

• Product Finalization
• Product Naming
• Budget Allocation
• Product Positioning
• Press Releases/Activity

Results Metrics

Include which metrics will be used to determine whether or not the launch was a success like:

• Revenue targets
• Number of associates/partners carrying the product
• Online traffic/conversions

Tip: Establish attainable goals and celebrate them with your team.

Marketing Strategy

Given the budget and target audience for this product launch, what marketing vehicles will best work for you?

• Brochures
• USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)
• Tradeshows
• Press Events/Releases
• Company web pages
• Email messaging

Tip: When applicable, use or modify your company’s successful marketing assets implemented under previous product launches.

“Must Meet” Milestones

Include a timeline of all activities within your launch plan that must happen and their expected dates.

Launch Budget

What is your launch plan’s budget? Develop and include a pie chart showing how the launch budget will be allocated, accompanied by a detailed table.

While you could create a spreadsheet to manually recreate all of this, there are online resources you can use like this template in Asana: asana.com/templates/for/marketing/product-marketing-launch

Why Is a Product Launch Plan Important?

Within even the most organized and experienced companies, mistakes can and do happen. A product launch plan helps reduce the potential for errors as well as:

• Helping you remember and keep track of each critical step and crucial asset during your product release process.
• Being better prepared to navigate undesired results and/or situations.
• Since all team members have access to the same document, they can perform more cohesively, avoiding duplicate efforts and confusion of responsibilities.

Note: A product launch plan allows you to make larger tasks more manageable by breaking them into smaller tasks that can be distributed among team members.

Tip: Besides the organizational benefits a product launch plan brings to the table, a well-structured plan can help you secure greater project funding from your business partners and associates.

Planning for a Product Launch

In this article, you discovered what a product launch plan is, what can be found in a launch plan, and why they are essential.

Creating a product launch plan or employing a pre-established template will help you organize, assign, and follow project tasks from concept to completion and eventual launch.

Neglecting to use a product launch plan can leave your team and launch vulnerable to forgotten deadlines, misunderstood tasks, botched assignments, duplicated work, missed opportunities, and embarrassing setbacks.

Sources:
web.uri.edu/risbdc/
faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~mela/marketing460/
faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~mela/marketing460/AtAGlance_2004/Launch_Plan_Template_fin.pdf
home.ubalt.edu/ntsbpitt/SpreeMPE.htm
web.uri.edu/risbdc/files/How-to-Launch-Like-a-Pro-for-More-Sales.pdf

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