Frequently Asked Product Launch Questions

A Buyer Persona is a fictional representation of a typical buyer in your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) that influences a buying decision. They are built using market facts which are combined to build a common definition of a buyer. This definition is used to drive positioning, messaging, sales tools, and other content. 

The Buyer Persona Canvas is a powerful tool to collect, organize and disseminate buyer persona insights to your organization including:

• Common job titles

• Goals and aspirations

• Primary job responsibilities

• Market segments

• Watering holes (where they hang out)

• Spending authority

• Top five problems or challenges

• A day in the life

See: How to Use ChatGPT or Gemini to Jumpstart Your Buyer Persona Development

See: Ideal Customer Profiles, Buyer Personas, and Market Segments Simplified

Worksheet: Buyer Persona Canvas

The objectives of a product launch define the success criteria for the launch. Each launch objective must include a metric, a quantity, and a timeframe. 

Launch objectives fit into one of four categories: Win new customers, Keep the customers you win, Grow the customers you keep, and Steal customers from competitors. 

KPIs are used to objectively track launch performance toward achieving launch objectives. They are used to proactively make adjustments to launch tactics as needed. 

See: Launch Objectives: The Key to a Truly Successful Product Launch

See: Defining Launch Objectives: Win, Keep and Grow

See: What is the Objective of a Product Launch?

Worksheet: Launch Objectives Worksheet

Worksheet: Launch Canvas

A customer persona is another term for a buyer persona. It is a representation of a customer, that is, someone who has already purchased your product. A customer persona contains demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral information much like a buyer persona, but focuses on existing customers to better serve those customers and increase the likelihood of renewals.

A go-to-market strategy is a plan to achieve the business goals of a product or service by aligning all available internal and external resources. It is associated mostly with selling and promotion. A "route to market" is a path taken in a go to market strategy that focuses sales and marketing resources to increase efficiency.

A go-to-market strategy is also referred to as a GTM strategy. 

Worksheet: Go-to-Market Strategy Canvas

Worksheet: Go-to-Market Strategy Decision Matrix

A product launch is a coordinated, cross-functional initiative to bring a product or major feature to market for the express purpose of building momentum toward achieving company goals. 

Things to consider:

• It is a team effort requiring coordination across many functional areas within an organization.

• A successful product launch is defined by measurable launch objectives that must include a metric, a quantity, and a timeframe to define launch success. And establishing the KPIs to objectively measure progress toward your launch objectives. 

• Market insight is critical to building an effective launch strategy. This includes defining an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), defining the Buying Center and Buyer Personas, and choosing the target Market Segments where you are most likely to find your ICP.

• Creating product positioning and a message that resonates with the ICP.

• Creating pricing and packaging options that maximize revenue and match buying criteria.

• Identifying the most efficient path to achieving your launch objectives with a launch strategy by leveraging your advantages and overcoming your obstacles. 

• Identifying the launch readiness gaps that need to be filled to achieve launch readiness and develop the plans to close those gaps.

• Measuring launch effectiveness by monitoring launch KPIs and adjusting launch efforts as needed.

• Conducting a launch retrospective to identify areas of improvement for future go-to-market efforts.

Worksheet: Launch Canvas

Before explaining a unique value proposition (UVP) we need to understand a value proposition. Simply put, a value proposition is a promise to deliver a set of benefits to a customer. A unique value proposition is a promise to deliver a set of benefits to a customer that no one else can, and that's what makes it unique. 

Uniqueness can come in many forms. It can be price, technology, features, reputation, expertise, corporate values, and breadth of offerings as examples. 

See: What is a Unique Value Proposition?

Worksheet: Positioning Canvas

Launch readiness is the ability for every functional area of an organization to be prepared to market, sell, deliver, onboard, and support a product. Launch readiness focuses on organizational capabilities rather than deliverables. 

See: Is Your Company Launch Ready? The Four Dimensions of Product Launch Readiness

See: Tracking Launch Readiness with the Launch Readiness Tracker

See: Product Launch Readiness: How Launch Capabilities Lead to Better Product Launch Outcomes

Worksheet: Launch Readiness Tracker by Functional Area

Worksheet: Readiness Capabilities Canvas