According to the Harvard Business Review, only 3% of new consumer packaged goods exceed the benchmarks set for a successful launch. Lack of a successful launch strategy for a technology company can reduce your profitability by as much as 35%.
From an outbound or downstream marketing perspective, the biggest problem with a new product launch is education (sometimes referred to as enablement). Of course, I’m assuming you’ve already done the important inbound/upstream marketing:
Your customers and prospects are as individually different as the colors in a rainbow. If you understand how to target and communicate to them based on those differences, your response rates will be just as beautiful. If you try to mix your messages for the masses, the colors will run together and you’ll have a less-than-beautiful muddy mess.
Last week I fired off a post suggestion that we should all be looking at data segmentation in our lists to improve response rates. I had some great feedback on the post from readers wanting more detail, including this email from a friend:
I completely agree that segmentation will improve response rates. What do you suggest we look at as segments?
So here are some thoughts to get you going.
Why do some companies buckle under the intense pressures of hyper-growth while others thrive? The answer is that successful Enterprise Velocity companies have an engine, a deep corporate DNA that threads throughout the entire organization. That culture is created and sustained through a commitment to constant training.
Customer surveys are hard to implement and if you do it wrong, you don’t end up with actionable data. Sure, it may be nice from a PR perspective that 95% of your customers get what they expect out of your support line; however, that doesn’t mean they feel any loyalty toward you at all. Giving them what they expect just means you didn’t upset them enough to leave.
Surveys fail for any number of reasons.
Synchronicity.
For some reason, I’ve had five conversations in the last few weeks with clients about marketing as a percentage of X, where X might be revenue, EBITDA, new sales, or another measure.
So if you’re wondering about this, I thought I’d share my rules of thumb.
There’s an interesting opportunity that you may want to explore.
During my time at Accellos and over the last decade, I saw the market for software solutions change dramatically. We’re seeing new competition, new solutions, new buying patterns and most importantly new growth for the first time in years.
That is why I’m posting this today.
A while ago I was playing a mens doubles tennis match against a duo that was collectively 150 pounds heavier than my partner and me. The points on our side of the net were won with a lot of running, tight angles, drop shots and finesse. The points on their side of the net were won with blistering forehands aimed right at our faces. I think I still have a mark on my forehead that says “ProPenn 4.”
At the end of the very close match–each set went to a tie break–one of their players said, “That was like a battle of the piano players versus the piano movers.”
That’s kind of like lead nurturing.
