What are uncommon reasons a product launch would fail or underperform?

There are common reasons like sub-optimal messaging or pricing, but what overlooked areas in the product launch process, if not addressed, can lead to failure, and how can product marketers de-risk those situations?

Answer

4 Answers

Launch Channels Launch Strategy

Morgan (Molnar) Lehmann

SurveyMonkey Senior Director, Head of Corporate Marketing | Formerly SurveyMonkey, Nielsen • 4y

I loooove this question! A few reasons product launches may fail or underperform come to mind, all of which I've experienced personally and learned from. Let's assume for a second that you have product-market fit, meaning the product features, pricing, and messaging all resonate with target buyers. Yay! But a quarter goes by and you miss your pipeline/adoption/bookings targets, and aren't on pace to meet longer term goals. Uh oh... Here are a few things to look into: 1. Your goals were unrealist ...Read More

800 Views
Lindsey Weinig

Twilio Director of Product Marketing • 2y

Unfortunately there are many reasons a product launch can fail or underperform: Doesn't solve a felt problem by the target audience Solves a problem for a different target audience Is not differentiated enough in a competitive market Is not priced correctly Doesn't function as expected (bad UX, unreliable, etc.) Target audience doesn't know about it (isn't marketed well or discoverable) In my experience the most likely reason a product launch fails or underperforms is when it is solving an inter ...Read More

1,530 Views
Ashley Faus

Atlassian Head of Lifecycle Marketing, Portfolio • 3y

I'm coming from a software-as-a-service (SaaS) lens, but the sign-up flow + onboarding experience can make or break a launch. You can have the best messaging, the best features, and the best price... but if it's hard to sign up for and use the product? FAIL. Sign-up flows that force you to invite team members or connect all of your product are often confusing for users. Onboarding that requires you to read tons of pages or feels like a one-way door is daunting. If I push this button, does that m ...Read More

1,944 Views
Julia Szatar

Stealth Founder | Formerly Loom, Tavus, Wizeline, Government • 4y

One example is not identifying a potential risk and failing to address it proactively, then having it flare up during the launch.

We've had this happen before when we had a lot of pressure to move fast. We kind of knew about the risk in the back of our minds but forgot to address it / flag it early.

Since then I've added a "risks" section in our product launch template and we take the time to call them out early and proactively address them with the product team and exec team where relevant.

1,190 Views