All entrepreneurs look forward to the day their product is launched on the market as this represents the reward of all the work and effort. However, everyone is faced with the question “When is the right time to launch?”.

Nowadays, a “launch” does not mean the moment of definition of the product or service, but a small event along the way. This is because startups launch the first versions of their products early in order to get as much feedback as possible before actually releasing the final result. Now, this release is not so much for the public as they have already had the opportunity to try it out. It's a “marketing launch” and this should be done after they have discovered the sustainable business resulting from the first launch.

It is very common for entrepreneurs to get excited and start their marketing launch long before they are even remotely ready. This often results in an inability to respond to all requests, giving a bad first impression.

Below are 9 tips to ensure a successful product launch to the market.

the first version release as soon as possible

The advantages of testing the product or service as early as possible with potential customers have already been presented in other articles. Once the entrepreneur has a basic version, but enough for people to try and get some value, he should gather as much feedback as possible and develop the final product iteratively.

This phase can take a few weeks, months, or even years before marketing launches. The important thing is not to compulsively speed up this process as early releases can ruin all the work done so far.

The entrepreneur must start with a small but significant number of customers and make them test and validate all the features and characteristics of the product or service, so that, when the time comes to make it official, there is no risk of it not being according to what customers are looking for.

product feedback of obtaining and marketing

Feedback is one of the most important things an entrepreneur can look for before launching, whether it's the product or service itself, or the target audience.

The first type of opinion is fundamental for improving and optimizing the product, fixing bugs, user experience problems, implementing suggestions, among others. The other type of feedback is also essential for marketing teams to establish a customer persona, such as the expressions used by them, where they get value from the product, among others.

Another topic to take into account is who are the first customers that the entrepreneur will get feedback from. The biggest mistake they can make is choosing only people they trust to test their product or service. A more honest, raw and severe exposition of the project is needed to ensure that this feedback is not biased.

Choose the day of release

The entrepreneur has to realize that there is no ideal date to launch a product or service. The only possible tip is for the entrepreneur and the work team to choose a date that they feel comfortable with. Once the date has been set, it is essential that it be met.

Obviously, it is not recommended to launch the product/service on the same day that big brands, like Apple, do it.

Elaboration of the marketing plan

Launching a product or service on the market implies prior preparation on the part of the entrepreneur. Through a marketing plan, it can list all the aspects to take into account such as designs, choice of platforms for dissemination, among many others.

To allow the entrepreneur to get the most out of it, he should prepare this document together with his work team and a team specialized in marketing, if he considers it more advantageous.

Goal Setting

Despite all the prior preparation on the part of the team, launch day may not go as well as it hopes. Much of your success also depends on luck and you need to set goals as realistic as possible.

No matter what the entrepreneur is launching, the objective of this is always to attract customers who surrender to their product or service. For this, it is necessary to obtain feedback from customers, especially from those who tried or stopped using the product or service.

It is essential that there is a learning exercise on the part of the work team in the first months after the launch about what went well, for example, through an email questionnaire to customers who continue to enjoy the project and what went wrong, adopting the same strategy is now aimed at individuals who are no longer customers, in order to determine why they did not convert.

Keep motivated team

In this launch process, the entrepreneur must not forget the team that made this day possible. The launch day is full of stress and enthusiasm and it is necessary that, regardless of the result, the team doesn't let itself down or doesn't get too excited. As a leader, the entrepreneur must ensure that there is not too much demand on the team and that emotions do not get in the way of decision making.