One of the more difficult tasks for a company is launching new products and initiatives. It’s easier to focus on designing and building products than getting them successfully into the market.

Launching your new products and services is critical to the overall success of your organization. How do you launch that winning product?

You’ve done all the hard work to complete the product release—market research, design, the development and testing—it feels like the work is done. Not so fast! You need to launch.

If you’ve been around product management, marketing, development or creation in any way, you’re aware of the need to launch your products. You also know that launching a product is difficult and product launches often fail.

Launching products or services takes dedicated focus, work and perseverance to meet your goals and be pleased with the results. How you launch is very dependent on your market and products, and therefore will differ, even from other companies in your industry. The following three articles, from top sources, give advice on how to launch like the winners:

Six secrets to a winning product launch from Pragmatic Marketing. This article goes deep into the details of product launch. It’s written by David Daniels, one of the product launch experts in the software industry. “You have to know that your product is solving a real problem that buyers are willing to pay you to solve.” David and I discuss product launch and other product marketing topic in the following podcast:

 

Launching products has changed dramatically over the past few years, and Fast Company has kept up with the trends. In this article, David Lavenda shares 10 steps for successfully launching a new product or service. “Get a head start and begin preparing long before you plan to launch.”

HubSpot has become the leader in inbound marketing and sales preparation. In this blog post, Marcus Andrews goes in-depth on 18 tips for planning a flawless product launch. “If you have big news, you need a big plan.”

Take time to dig deep and determine where you need to focus for your next product launch. Your customers—and especially your CEO—will appreciate your efforts.

Questions: How successful have you been at product launches? What two or three things do you need to improve your launches? Please leave a comment in the space below.

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The Product Management Perspective: The launch is a critical aspect of product management. You are involved through the entire product process—from concept through launch. Your leadership and influence are critical to the success of your launches. If you have not worked into this important responsibility, get started now.