Owners get excited about developing new products.  I see it enough that I can make this generalization. It is exciting to create something and see it come to fruition in the form of a new product. 

What can get lost is that the time devoted to product development is time not devoted to planning how to sell the new product or devoting energy and resources to selling existing products.  These sales, unless you are operating without the goal of maximizing sales, pay for the product development itself.  These sales pay for everything you want to do. 

Danger 1: Being Shortsighted During Product Development 

Let’s say you are in the mix getting a product past design, into the final stages, at which time it will arrive to you in a box.  Your baby will arrive (yes, this is tongue in cheek).  Now what?

Many business owners make no marketing or sales plans for the new product.  Once you have a design, consider how many months (and in some cases years) have passed with no plan being develop for what would happen when you actually have inventory or are in production. 

Don’t be shortsighted.  As part of your product development process, get a plan on paper.  Tweak it, change it, rewrite it.  What needs to be done first?  Will there be social media?  Is there a target market you need to be reaching out to and developing for sales?  And do you have the product ready to go in all possible digital sales platforms to sell it? 

Danger 2: Running Out of Funds

Want to be left out in the cold when you need to market and promote your product?  Then spend all of your available funds on the product itself.  It’s a killer.  It also happens all the time.  Without any sales planning done in advance, owners have no idea how much money they will need to market and sell the product and find that there won’t be enough money to adequately market and sell the product.   

If there is no money left, you will have to go out for a loan, and are already behind your time curve.  You might then make less sound choices because you are stressed out about the money and trying to make it as quickly as possible.  This also happens all the time. Bad financial planning starts with not having a plan, and digital marketing done well can be lucrative; done poorly and growth can be stymied considerably.

Danger 3: Neglecting your Marketing Needed to Promote the New Product and Your Business

A case study might tell this story better, but along the lines of Dangers No. 1 and No. 2, a few questions that won’t be answered well if focused totally on product development:

1. Do you have the images of the new product in place, product descriptions, pricing, plans for inventory and cash flow? 
2. Have you planned a launch? 
3. Have you already built the marketing pillars needed for when the new product launches? 
4. What happens if the product doesn’t sell?  What steps do you have planned in that (all-too-frequent) worst-case scenario?

Use a Top Digital Marketing Provider While You are Product Development Focused

Berz Digital Marketing services can help you either build a plan/strategy which will be in place well before your product launches so you can hit the ground running.  Maybe your new product is visual and social media marketing is where you will make your bread; maybe it is a PPC or Google Adwords campaignwhere you are looking for product visibility; or maybe you aren’t sure, and just should probably contact us for a free consultation to see what will best fit your goals and vision.  Call today!