By Michael Passanante

Ok, you’ve got a new product to launch.

You’re ready to put together an EXPLOSIVEmarketing plan

But wait…

If your product or service has an issue, your marketing initiatives might never get momentum

In the next few slides, I’m going to walk you through seven common product issues you can check before you create or mobilize your marketing plan

Remember, all of the good marketing in the world can’t make up for a product that doesn’t measure up

The product is only marginally better or equal to current solutions

• Building in strong differentiators upfront can lead to greater success over the long term

• What does your offering do that can help customers reduce costs, save time, or improve efficiency over what they are currently doing

• Consider the entire customer experience and endeavor to be the best at all touch points

The main benefit is not immediately obvious

• Do you know who your offering will benefit and why?

• Does your offering require a long explanation for someone to “get it”?

• Can you deliver a 20-second elevator pitch that describes the main benefit of your offering? Can your team do the same?

It takes too long to experience the benefits

• Customers generally desire rapid, positive impact from products and services they purchase

• Consider how your product can deliver value quickly and over the long term

• Customers should be able to easily measure the ROI from your offering

Too many steps or work-arounds are required for the product to be useful

• Develop products that are intuitive to use out-of-the-box

• The product that creates the shortest path to customers experiencing the benefit will have a distinct advantage over competitors

• Make it easy for customers to configure your offering or get the help they need to get off the ground quickly

The product is missing a major feature

• Ensure your offering delivers what is required to be at least a minimum viable product in your market

• Discern between nice-to-haves and must-haves for your target personas

• Employ market research, beta testers, and trial users to uncover deal breakers before you launch

The product is unreliable

• Your product must at least perform as advertised

• But…your entire process should work well too including shipping, billing, customer support and more

• Reliability issues are frustrating and can become the topic of social media rants and negative customer reviews

You’ve underestimated embedded market behavior

• Your customers may have sentimental attachments or unspoken allegiances to other products or processes that need to be addressed

• Are you prepared to make emotional arguments and not just empirical comparisons?

• Do other offerings make your potential customers “feel” a certain way and could your offering diminish that feeling if they switch?

Grab my book on Amazon for:• A deep dive on these seven issues plus;

• Expert guidance on how to build explosive marketing and promotional plans and;

• Methods and techniques for training, mobilizing, and sustaining enthusiasm across your sales team for your new product

michael@launchcatalyst.net linkedin.com/in/michaelpassanante Twitter: @launch_catalyst