You are ready to launch, but you are wondering what are your next steps? We talked to Fred Carey, CEO of IdeaPros, and Chris Pesek, President of Peak Degrees, about everything that comes after you launch your product or app.
Arm Yourself With Patience
Even though you have worked hard to launch your product or app, the hardest part is yet to come. It takes energy and time especially if you have a limited budget. If you have the money, as soon as your product is ready to launch, you can start with pre-orders and advertising. But, most entrepreneurs don’t have the money and have to go through a lot of frustration to get their product to market.
Create a Digital Presence
“Everything is happening online.” – Chris Pesek
Your brand has to be discoverable and available for people to see. Once you are ready to go, you will want to reach the world in a digital form. The first thing you do is build a website. A website with great content is the foundation of your product and brand. Describe your product, how it works, and make it available for sale.
Then start driving traffic to it through Facebook and Google ads and other websites as well. Entrepreneurs often want to go directly into retail, which potentially leads to your product sitting on a shelf. But when you create an online demand, you will convince the retailers more easily to consider you for their store.
Be sure to include Google Analytics and a Facebook Pixel into your website. When users visit your website, you have more information about their gender, age, interests, as well as who converts and purchases your product. With all that data, you can spend your money wiser. When it comes to Google ads, you want to know what keywords people search on Google so you can spend more money on them to drive traffic back to your website.
Use All The Channels
The main channel is the e-commerce website that you can build on with Shopify, Squarespace, WordPress, or any other platform with a shopping cart. You should be able to receive a payment. Another channel is Amazon. You can partner with them to get distribution and visibility. You can also license your product out to a big company that will build your distribution.
Products that need demonstration to sell are perfect for live shopping channels, such as QVC and HSN. When people can relate to the person demonstrating your product, the sales will go up. You can’t pick up the product, touch, and hold it so when somebody is talking about it, demoing, and holding it, they’re able to connect with the viewer.
“When people are buying online, it is all about trust.” – Chris Pesek
Amazon achieves trust with reviews. You can achieve it through influencer marketing campaigns.
Practical Examples from IdeaPros’ Partners
Raw Beauty Co. is a skincare line cosmetics and IdeaPros’ partner. The main driver for sales would probably be a big name influencer that people trust to stand behind the product. From there, you can use your website and Amazon to distribute the product.
“The main thing is to make sure that your brand is consistent across the board.” – Chris Pesek
Your message should be the same on your website, Amazon, or any other channels you use.
Fritz Toffee is a food item that we want as many people as possible to try because this will lead to more people purchasing and repurchasing the product.
Both products are contenders for live shopping and with a celebrity endorsement, it would be easier to get on these networks.
When it comes to Goliath Sports High Rise Chair, it could be licensed to a large distributor that would be the face of it and would take all the hard work off their plate. On the other side, they could license it through sports teams in the NFL by putting teams’ logos on it.
Whatever we choose, the main question to ask ourselves when making the decision is: “will this drive sales?” There’s always a way. It may not be the way that you thought it was going to be, but if you are persistent and you keep the ball rolling, you’re eventually going to get there.
The “Idea Pros” at IdeaPros have the resources, experience, and tools to help you at this step or any step in the entrepreneurial journey.
We partner with entrepreneurs at any stage and who are ready to invest their ideas. Apply for an interview and let’s explore partnering together.