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Are you about to launch a new Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product and feeling overwhelmed with where to start? You're not alone.
Many SaaS companies struggle with the product launch process, as it involves multiple stages, each with unique challenges. There's much to consider, from creating a product vision to beta testing and marketing strategy.
In this article, we'll take a deep dive into the different stages of a successful SaaS product launch and provide practical tips and best practices to ensure your product launch plan is successful. Let’s learn how to take your SaaS product from concept to launch!
Why is it important to have a product launch strategy?
Behind a successful product launch is a well-thought-out product launch strategy. Here’s why:
A product launch strategy builds anticipation and excitement around a new product. Generating buzz spreads awareness and generates interest among potential customers, which can translate into sales and revenue. It differentiates your product or service from your competitor’s. It highlights your product's unique features and benefits and positions it as the best solution in the market.
Another reason why a product launch strategy is important is that it can help you maximize sales and revenue by creating a sense of urgency among potential customers. By setting a deadline, limited availability, or a special launch deal, you can encourage customers to buy your product quickly.
You can identify and target the right audience with a launch strategy. By understanding your target market, you can tailor your messaging and marketing efforts to reach the people most likely interested in your product.
Moreover, a strong product launch strategy allows you to track the success of your launch and adjust your approach accordingly. By measuring key performance indicators, you can identify what worked well and what needs improvement, allowing you to refine your strategy for future product launches.
In summary, a well-planned product launch strategy is essential to ensure your product achieves the desired business outcomes.
The 3 phases of product launch strategy
The SaaS product launch strategy comprises three phases with different stages, as discussed below.
The pre-launch phase
It aims to create excitement for the upcoming product launch. It is the preparation phase for the product launch, where you understand the competition by conducting market research and identifying the target audience to determine the marketing and promotional strategies. Moreover, companies test the product, develop the pricing, and create marketing materials.
The launch phase
The launch phase is when the product is launched in the market. Companies reach potential customers over marketing and promotional channels. Various marketing techniques and tools are used to maximize the reach, including advertising, social media, email marketing, and public relations. You must also ensure that the product is readily available for purchase and that the customer service and support teams are prepared to handle any inquiries or issues. This phase aims to generate sales and establish the product in the market.
The post-launch phase
This phase focuses on building and maintaining the product's long-term success with customer loyalty. Companies put effort into product support to address customer concerns and look for feedback for product improvement. Moreover, companies also monitor their sales and invest in further marketing activities to acquire new customers while maintaining the existing ones.
See a detailed guide on what to do after you've launched your product.
Let’s see the checklist for the product launch stages that will ensure easy operations for your product:
1. It starts with a vision
A product launch starts with defining the overall vision and purpose of the product. It sets the foundation for the entire product launch process by establishing the product goals and objectives.
A company must define the problem or need that its product will address and how it will solve or meet the need. Determining the unique selling proposition (USP) to differentiate your product from the market also happens at this stage. Different departments, such as marketing, product development, and sales, collaborate at this stage.
A product vision ensures that the product launch is aligned with the overall business strategy. Specific goals, KPIs, and objectives are set for the product launch to measure its success at a later stage. In short, a product vision establishes a clear direction for product development and marketing.
2. Identify market gaps
The second stage of product launch is identifying market gaps by researching and analyzing the market data. The desired outcome of this step is to identify unmet customer needs or underserved market segments. It ensures that the product is designed and marketed to address a specific need or gap in the market rather than based on unrealistic desires.
A company conducts market research to collect data about customer needs, preferences, and pain points associated with existing products and buying behaviors. Customer surveys are conducted to gather this information, and sales data, trends, and competitors are also analyzed. Once the gaps are identified, the company develops the product features and marketing messages to appeal to the target customer’s needs and preferences effectively. And the company can differentiate its product from competitors and increase its chances of success in the market. Additionally, this stage may lead to refining the product vision set in the first stage.
Explore other Saas product metrics to track for success.
3. Understanding your target audience
After identifying the market gap, it's time to understand your target audience better. The third step of product launch builds on the market research conducted in the previous stage. A good product is based on customer personas describing the characteristics and behavior of their ideal customers.
A customer profile covers demographics such as age, gender, income, education, and psychographic information, such as interests, values, beliefs, and attitudes. A detailed buyer persona informs the decisions regarding product features, marketing messages, channels for customer outreach, and sales & distribution strategy.
You can conduct customer surveys, focus groups, and more to create a buyer persona. By tailoring your product and marketing strategy to meet the specific needs of your ideal customer, you can earn customer trust and brand loyalty.
4. Solve an industry problem
Once you have identified a market gap and deeply understood your target audience, you can develop a product that solves a problem or addresses your industry's needs. Create a product roadmap, define product features and requirements, and develop a prototype.
Allow access to the roadmap of all the involved teams. Set and communicate realistic deadlines, such as the engineering team for product development, the marketing team for creativity & communication, and the sales team for necessary training and assets. A product roadmap will align the efforts of all teams so that you stay organized and on schedule for the launch day.
5. Beta-test your product
The next stage is to acquire users and test your product with beta users to gather feedback and refine the product before launch. In this release process, a pre-launch product version is given to a selected group of customers or users to test and provide feedback. Beta testing aims to identify issues and bugs with the product before it is released to the public.
It also allows you to get feedback on the product from your target audience, which can help you refine the product and make any necessary changes. Track if any issues arise and analyze user behavior and feedback during testing. It gives you valuable insights into the real-life use of your product so you can make necessary changes to the product before the official launch. This process ensures you meet the needs and expectations of your target audience or even exceed them.
6. Create marketing strategy
Developing a great solution as a SaaS product is not enough; you must promote and sell it effectively for a successful launch.
Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy covering a range of marketing tactics, such as advertising, social media, email marketing, content marketing, and events. Keep the budget, launch date, and timeline of other milestones in check. You can use a mix of paid and organic marketing.
Different tools are available in the market that complements a product launch, such as customer relationship management (CRM) tools to manage customer interaction, email marketing tool for running email campaigns, social media management tools for engagement across multiple platforms, and analytics tools to analyze website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates. You may not need all of these, so choose the ones your business needs based on the nature of your product.
Read more on why product analytics are important
In addition to promoting the product, the marketing strategy should also focus on creating a brand identity and building a relationship with customers. It can be achieved through consistent messaging, storytelling, and engaging with customers on social media and other channels.
7. Launch and test
Finally, you have a market-ready product; it's time to launch so it can reach the people who need it. Make the product available to customers and optimize it with feedback on its performance, usability, and overall satisfaction.
During this stage, the company should closely monitor customer feedback and make necessary product or marketing strategy adjustments. It is also important to track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as sales numbers, customer acquisition, and retention rates to gauge the launch's success.
You can make the launch more enticing by offering a limited special offer, such as a lifetime deal for subscription-based SaaS tools. You can collaborate with industry experts to help your customer build trust in your brand and encourage product sales or try-outs.
To facilitate the launch and testing process, leverage the tools to gather and analyze customer behavior and sentiment data, identify improvement areas, and optimize marketing and sales strategies to improve the chances of success during the launch phase.
Product launch: A Usermaven's case study
Usermaven is a privacy-friendly website and product analytics tool designed for product and marketing teams. It had a successful launch generating hundreds of dollars in revenue within the first few weeks.
1. Market gap - It all started with the frustration of not finding a simple yet powerful analytics solution that offered advanced capabilities without requiring a computer science degree.
2. Market solution - To test the validity of the product, Usermaven’s team reached out to external users. They started gathering beta-users with a simple landing page, social media, industry reach-out, slack groups, and platforms like Producthunt ship, Betalist, and Indiehackers. The feedback and real usage patterns provided valuable insights into how the product will perform once it is officially released.
3. Special launch deal - Usermaven was launched with a lifetime deal (LTD) to generate enough revenue for further development and marketing for a stable year or more. The Usermaven team didn’t rely on third-party platforms to run an LTD campaign. They did it independently by setting up a landing page with CTAs, demo videos, adding a deal timer, testimonials from beta users, pricing, about, and FAQs section.
4. Clear goals and KPIs: The initial goal was to sell around 300 slots and make $100,000+.
But, Usermaven ended up making $120,261 from 373 customers. It shows the importance of setting clear goals and objectives before hitting the product launch journey.
You can read the complete case study here and observe how the different stages of a product launch journey play out to create a successful launch. Take notes and inspiration from the Usermaven launch success to fuel yours.
Product launch best practices
Having understood the importance of different product launch stages, let’s look at some best practices that are widely adopted for a successful product launch:
Showcase your product with a demo - Providing a demo allows your potential customers to see the product in action and understand its features & benefits. It delivers an engaging and interactive experience, increasing the likelihood of customers trying and purchasing your product.
Develop your brand story - Develop a brand story to build a compelling narrative that connects the product with the customers. A brand story communicates the product's values, mission, and unique features, making it stand out. A brand story can drive customer engagement and loyalty by creating an emotional connection with the target audience.
Create a solid customer onboarding experience - A clear onboarding process helps customers understand how to use the product, reducing confusion and frustration. It encourages them to explore the product and fully utilize its features. A smooth onboarding experience leads to customer retention and creates even more buzz with positive word-of-mouth.
Price strategically - Strategic pricing helps you position your product by differentiating from competitors and attracting the right customers. If you price your product too low, you may attract customers who are only looking for a bargain and aren't willing to pay for the full value of your product. On the other hand, if you price your product too high, you may turn off potential customers looking for something more affordable. A well-thought-out pricing strategy helps you maximize revenue by setting prices that reflect your product's value and your target audience's willingness to pay.
Use social media to build hype - By leveraging social media, you can reach a large audience quickly and inexpensively. You can build a community around a product launch. Companies can use social media like Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, and Twitter to create teasers, sneak peeks, and behind-the-scenes content to keep their audience engaged and excited about the upcoming launch. You can also run targeted ads and gather valuable customer feedback.
Are you ready to launch now?
In conclusion, launching a SaaS product can be daunting, but following the right steps and having a solid plan in place can make it successful.
Remember to focus on your product vision, understand your target audience, and solve industry problems. Beta-test your product, create a solid marketing strategy, and use social media to build hype. Doing so can ensure that your product launch is a success.
So, are you ready to launch your product now? Follow these stages, take the leap, and watch your product flourish in the market.
FAQs
What are the 3 major levels of a product?
The three levels of a product are the core product, the actual product, and the augmented product. By understanding these levels, companies can create a product that meets the needs and desires of their target market and provides a competitive advantage. The three main levels of a product are:
Core Product: The core product is the fundamental benefit or service that the product delivers to a customer after they purchase it. For example, the core product of a car is transportation.
Actual Product: The actual product is the physical or tangible aspect of the product that the customer receives. For example, the actual product of a car would include the make and model, the engine, the features, and the design.
Augmented Product: The augmented product includes additional benefits or services that accompany the actual product. These benefits can differentiate the product from competitors and increase customer satisfaction. For example, the augmented product of a car could include a warranty, roadside assistance, and maintenance services.
How much money do you need to launch a new product?
Launching a product ranges from $10,000 to more than $10 million. Generally, the cost falls between $20,000 to $500,000.
However, the amount of money required to launch a new product varies depending on several factors, such as the product type, the market, and the competition level. Many expenses are associated with launching a new product, including product development, manufacturing, marketing, advertising, distribution, etc. The major factors influencing the cost of a product launch are development costs, hosting & infrastructure costs, marketing & advertising expenses, and legal & administrative costs. The complexity of the product and the level of customization determine the total cost of launching a new product.
What is product hierarchy?
Product hierarchy is an organization of the company’s products into a structured and hierarchical order based on the importance and complexity of the product’s attributes. It refers to items that address various needs, from fundamental requirements to specific desires. Let’s look at the 7 levels of product hierarchy:
Core need refers to the fundamental need the product family satisfies.
Product family means all the products that fulfill a core need effectively.
Product class refers to a group of products within the product family that share functional coherence called a product category. For example, financial instruments.
Product line is a group of related products within a product class that performs similar functions, targets the same audience, shares marketing channels, or belongs to certain price ranges.
Product type is a group of items within a product line that possess one of several possible product forms.
Brand refers to the name associated with single or multiple items in a product line. It indicates the source or character of the items.
An item or product variant is a unique unit within a brand or product line that can be distinguished by appearance, size, or other attributes.
