Are you planning to launch your product on marketplace so that as many potential customers as possible see it, get interested and start using it on a regular basis? Then you need to do some serious preparation.
We’ve put together a step-by-step launch guide for you based on our own experience. We hope you find this article useful.
1. Do market research and collect references
Gathering up-to-date reliable information is always the primary step that should be taken before starting any action.
The simplest and at the same time effective method is to search for larger competitors. Thus, we selected a number of sites that seemed relevant to our product, searched them for the presence of competitors and evaluated the success of this presence. This allowed us to predict in advance the potential return on launch.
Being a B2B product for subscription model businesses mainly for the SaaS industry, we selected DeaFuel, Stacksocial, Pitchground, DealMirror, AppSumo, StartUp Deals, Dealify, SaaSMantra, JoinSecret, DigitalThink, JV SaaS. We also considered sites for advertising already launched listings on SaaSPirate and GrabLTD marketplaces, however, the amount of remuneration for them through the referral program turned out to be more than our business expected at that moment and we had to abandon this idea.
2. Define your target audience and launch goals
Choose a marketplace to launch according to your core consumer base and the results you want to get from it.
Here are the pre-launch goals we set for ourselves as an example.
- Find the first customers from the US and Europe. Therefore, it was important to us that potential customers from these territories were active users of the chosen marketplace. By the end of the launch on AppSumo, we managed to fulfill this goal and expand the geography of our clients. People who don’t have Stripe working in their country or don’t have a solution that would help them automate invoicing or subscription management started to get in touch. This includes Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Latin America, Pakistan, India, etc.
- Gather useful feedback from a large number of users from different locations and industries that can be used in developing features. We received important feedback not only from those who have started working with the product, but also simply from interested users of the marketplace. For example, many customers started sharing their expectations about upcoming developments in our Roadmap. Or one of the interested sumo-ling recommended adding video format of onboarding guide, which we promptly listened to and did.
- And of course, generating the expected revenue. The chosen marketplace should bring a good traction, which will allow you to reach the realistic amount of revenue you have planned for the company’s results, even if you launch the product at a reduced price.
3. Prepare your website
In today’s world, creating a website for a company is almost the first thing you should do, as it is the face of the product. But are you sure that your website is user-friendly, clear and contains all the necessary information?
Your website landing page forms the first impression of your product. That’s why it is so important that it is both informative and a visually pleasing reflection of the essence of the product.
The pricing, rates, tetns and additional services page should be well structured, relevant and demonstrate the value of your offer to the potential customer.
Make sure the FAQ answers popular and in-demand customer questions about your product and provides useful additional information to help the customer make a decision in favor of your product. Collect questions from custdev meetings, comments, etc. and build your mini knowledge base.
In order that the client can clearly see the potential of your product, it is useful to tell about further product development plans. A structured roadmap that reflects the status of tasks and their priority will help you here. Also the ability to receive feedback will be a great advantage as it helps to allocate the best prioritization of future features. And customers can even offer you ideas for developing their desired features themselves. We killed 2 birds with one stone by using Changelogfy service.
Even if you are confident in your site, a little audit never hurts, right? So, for example, we did an experiment and asked our family, friends and non-industry acquaintances to review our site and give feedback. As a result, we optimized several pages of the site, making them easier to perceive and adding the information necessary for a better understanding of the product.
4. Form Social Proof
What do you do when you have an interest in anything? Google it, right? That’s what your potential customers will do to check the credibility of your product online and the opinion of other users about it.
Launching on review platforms can also be quite a long and complicated process, so try to apply to the resources you think are relevant as soon as possible. If you get your application approved, then you need to prepare materials for the listing, and these are product description, pictures, videos. This was actually the easiest part, but the complications start when you need to get reviews.
The easiest way is to write the reviews yourself. Well, what’s the big deal? After all, you know your product better than anyone else, you will be able to present your product in a favorable light and convince everyone to buy it. Well, you won’t! If your customer has even the slightest experience, it won’t be difficult to distinguish between a real review from another customer and a fake one. So you’ll just embarrass your business and instead of the expected trust in you, you’ll get a negative impression of your product.
So ask your existing customers to leave a review about your product. Maybe even offer bonuses, discounts, etc. for those who write. The most important thing is that the reviews should be honest and real. Even if they seem negative and make you look not at your best, they will still be better than perfect fake reviews and will resonate more with future customers.
5. Prepare your launch materials
Every marketplace you cooperate with will provide you with some form of materials requirement list.
For example, preparing for a launch on AppSumo was more like a leisurely intellectual quest, where you fill out and save each step in order. And if something is unclear, you can quickly and easily get the necessary information in their Help Center.
The SaaSMantra flow was quite different. First a small demo from the manager, then a form with questions, preparing and posting screenshots on Google drive and even preparing a video of the founder’s speech.
Of course, if you are launching on more than one marketplace, it is recommended that the materials are not identical.
So, to prepare your materials, clearly define your offer to the marketplace. Provide your launch with favorable and attractive packaging that will show the value of your product, its effectiveness and benefit to the customer. As much as possible, avoid caveats and ambiguity. So, we had a bad experience because of our oversight. If you are interested, you can read about it in our other article on launching on marketplace.
Determine the price of your product. Launching on a marketplace implies a significant reduction in your standard price. So, consider factors such as production costs, value, availability in your target market and so on. It’s also worth researching competitors’ prices on similar marketplaces to determine a competitive and profitable pricing strategy.
Come up with a catchline or tagline that is both catchy and reflects the essence of your product. This is the first thing your future customers will see and judge whether it’s worth their time to learn more.
Create quality and engaging images and videos (if needed). Show the elements of your product that will generate the most interest and attract marketplace users.
6. Get your product ready
Prepare yourself for the possibility that you may need to revise your product to meet the requirements of the marketplace. Find out about them in advance so that you can prepare the required materials and allocate your team’s time to make the appropriate changes.
For example, for AppSumo customers, we needed to refine Redemption Flow. This is the path of a customer with a coupon from their AppSumo personal account to your product’s account. This included creating a separate special landing page, developing a coupon validation process, ensuring that we collected a minimum of customer information, and much more. If you’re interested, you can read more here.
7. Define your marketing strategy
Believe us, for the first few days after the launch, if everything goes well, you won’t even have time to sleep. Most marketplaces only offer a launch platform without any promotion from their side. Or, as it was in our case with SaaSMantra, promotion was included in the contract, but in fact it was not fulfilled at all. Therefore, it is prudent to take care of sales channels and advertising well in advance.
Prepare a media plan for at least 10 working days with several publications per day. Select relevant sites in advance, register, join groups and be sure to agree on the publication of posts. Thus, the best results were brought to us by LTD communities on Facebook. And if you intend to publish articles about your product on paid platforms like Techtimes and Techcrunch, set aside time to approve the terms of the contract, prepare the article brief and images, write and approve the article.
Make a detailed launch plan, outlining all the necessary activities, timelines and responsibilities. Coordinate the team from developers to customer support and ensure you have as smooth a launch as possible.
Wrap Up
Have you completed all 7 steps? Then we can congratulate you on the successful launch of your product on the marketplace! We hope that you found our tips useful and that they helped your business grow.
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