What to expect when launching a product?
For the more experienced of you, hen you launch a product what do you expect? Especially if you dont have many contacts. Do you expect fast growth? Do you expect your target users to understand the product and use it?
Acquiring listeners for soundportals.live has not been too difficult but getting creators has been incredibly difficult, even worse is they dont offer feedback to improve it.
Expect nothing and be grateful for any kind of traction.
There are so many launches these days, I think to stand out you need to show that you are in it for the long haul.
I have many stories of launching things that I was sure would be a huge success and then totally flopped. And I also have many stories of launching things that I thought wouldn't make any differences and actually killed it!
One example: Late 2018, one of our team pitched the idea of adding downloadable charts to our product. I wasn't sure it would add a huge amount of value but said he should go for it anyway. When we announced the update, usage of our product rose by 300% in a month.
The most important thing to remember is that for the majority of companies, long term sustainable growth is better than rapid uncontrollable growth. Aim to add a manageable number of customers each month and focus on the things that are important: revenue, retention and usage.
Don't get carried away by setting up unwieldy goals for yourself.
IMO it’s more important to be consistent. I’m focusing on sharing my work multiple times a week as opposed to spending a ton of time preparing for a big, splashy launch.
Perhaps a story will help illustrate... I consult for a consumer hardware company. The marketing team spent year preparing for CES. We spent a bunch on money, got a bunch of press, and what did we get in return? One sale. One measly sale. Now that was day one, and thankfully we’ve gotten a lot more orders since then, but the launch had little to do with it. What ended up working in the long run was constantly iterating on the product, optimizing our traffic channels and getting into big box retail stores.
Now, of course there are benefits of a launch mostly around brand recognition and press... so I’m not saying you shouldn’t do a big launch, just be prepared to get back to work when the high wears off.
@entrepreneurs - You asked - Do you expect your target users to understand the product and use it? - The answer is No - People judge your product in a matter of seconds, right of the bat they need to know what the product is about and what you expect from them. Humans no longer have time to waste ( most of us anyway). I've noticed that your UI needs some work. Your website doesn't tell us what this is all about - What is the listener is getting and why a creator should join you?
In my experience, launching to big platforms, HackerNews/ProductHunt/Reddit etc. can go great or so so. It just happens to depend on who see's your post that day, whether it ranks highly and how tailored it is to the specific group. So, big launches are like rolling the dice. You should do them, but only as a part of your strategic plan.
Businesses are made through consistent sales, marketing effort, and a good product. The big launch is kind of just hopefully finding some additional people to join, but it doesn't make or break your business.
crickets