The 3 Critical Roles in a Successful Product Launch

The 3 Critical Roles in a Successful Product Launch

A product launch has a lot of moving parts.
In fact, if I were to break down the typical product launch into all the possible roles for every possible scenario, there would be well over 80 different roles listed here and it would take up several pages.
Fortunately, they can all be lumped under the umbrella of three primary roles within a large scale joint venture (JV) product launch. If you’re doing a simple seed launch or internal launch, you’ll only need to be familiar with the first two.

Product Launch Role #1: The Creative

The writing and creation of all the prelaunch content, the emails, the copy, the videos – essentially, all of the marketing creative required for the launch.
Chances are, you’re going to be heavily involved in the creative piece, even if you’re not writing the copy yourself. Frankly, most people can simply write their own material better than a professional copywriter, because they understand their product or service intimately and can articulate their message better.
So you’ll either need to have some marketing chops yourself or you’re going to need help from someone who does. When our leader Jeff Walker is in a launch, that’s what he’s doing 80% of the time.

Product Launch Role #2: Project Planning

All of the project planning and administration to make sure stuff is getting done.
It includes getting the prelaunch content pages and sales pages built, setting up the product delivery and/or membership areas, testing the links, approving the comments, setting up the shopping cart and testing out the order process, building the site out, putting tracking in place, watching the analytics, customer service and support issues, etc.
Basically, we’re talking about all the logistical and technical here, and it’s the easiest role to outsource or put a team in place for. Depending on the size and complexity of the product launch, this role may be filled by one person or an entire team.

Product Launch Role #3: Affiliate Wrangling

This role doesn’t exist in an internal launch, because you are launching direct to your own lists with no outside support. That’s why internal launches are so much easier to manage.
In a full-blown product launch supported by affiliates, however, this role is crucial… and it’s as much about motivation as it is administration.
On the one hand, it encompasses getting affiliates on board to promote the launch, communicating with them regularly, and making sure they have all the support they need. This includes the logistics of making sure they’re signed up and have the right link… being able to respond to them quickly when questions arise… following who has mailed, who is going to mail, and who needs to be prodded to mail… plus, staying in close touch with the top affiliates and partners.
On the other hand, it’s about getting them riled up and excited about promoting your launch. If you’re going to do a big JV launch, you’ve got to get all of your partners fully on board well before the start of your prelaunch.
To do that, you’ve got to know what motivates them and understand how to use that knowledge to sustain their excitement throughout the entirety of the launch.