7 easy-to-miss signs that your product launch is in trouble.

I've orchestrated countless launches for digital products and services throughout my career. And I have to say, they didn't all 'stick the landing.'

Here are a few warning signs that I wish I had recognized when I first started:

1) Shifting Expectations: solve this by ensuring understanding of and buy-in for sales expectations. Key stakeholders should be signing off, or at least offering input and sanity checks.

2) Lack of Product Clarity: make sure you have a release plan that nails down features at launch. Without it, key stakeholders won't know what to expect.

3) Failure to Account for Timing: plan your product release window with care. Based on the planned release date, can prospects spend funds from budgets OR get it in the next cycle's budget? Without this understanding, you'll face a lot of second-guessing around your new product's viability.

4) Not Realistically Assessing Product Readiness: there will always be pressure for a quick rollout. But a robust demo and soft launch is often a better approach than rolling out a product that needs extra time.

5) Messaging and Positioning Chaos: is the launch press release in a sea of track changes? When there are disconnects about the product, target audience, and positioning, take the time to get everyone on the same page.

6) Marketing Plan is a Moving Target: if marketing objectives and activities are not clearly articulated, watch out. This leads to infighting and dissatisfaction that wreak havoc on a product launch.

7) Underestimating Competitive Offerings or Responses: many companies insist that they don't have competition. Or they dismiss competitors without getting adequate data and customer perspectives. This can create significant issues in product development, positioning, and sales efforts.

What's missing? What warning signs do you look for to keep your product launches from going off the rails?

#productlaunch #productmarketing #productledgrowt