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"RE-MARKETING" – WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE TO START OVER

Marketers are human and make mistakes just like other humans, despite all claims to the contrary. Sometimes you can have all the market research in the world, and a proven strategy and get to market at the right time with tested messages and a competitive edge and still you just don't reach the target market and sales lag or are nonexistent. If your product or service is still viable, then it might just be time for a "do-over". I call this "re-marketing" (because it sounds better than a "do-over").

Go Back to the Beginning
The first step is to figure out what went wrong. What were your initial assumptions based on the market research and analysis? List your initial assumptions, and examine each one to see which of them are incorrect and which still hold true. Then list the major industry/market events and news that happened since you did the research and marketing plan. Perhaps the analysis was off or because of market or economic factors. Adoption rate of new products may be slower than what was predicted. Maybe the economy was affecting customers' willingness to purchase. Your pricing may have been too high for what the market was willing to pay. If your market research is no longer valid because too much time has past or your market is very dynamic, you may need to do a market research update.

Talk to Sales People and Channel Partners
The most meaningful clues about what happened will come from your sales channels because they were charged with getting the product out there to customers and bringing revenue in; they had to fight the battle and they know what resistance they encountered. Probe them for sales objections, how long the sales cycle is, and customer feedback about the product and company. The most useful information will be negative information (product doesn't have functionality I need, price is too high, I like Competitor B's product better because it's faster). This is good information, and it will help you figure out how to reintroduce your product.

Revisit the Competitive Environment, Positioning and Messaging
Competitors don't stand still; what were they doing over the past few months or year while your company was struggling to sell the new product? This is potentially a depressing exercise if your competitors did better, but may provide insight if your competitors didn't do that well, either. That could mean that your product may still be positioned appropriately, but market or economic factors are at play (and not something you can control).

Messages are another story. Maybe your key messages are not resonating with people. For example, they may just not understand what the product is or does, in 20 words or less. They also need to understand how to use the product is and how it will benefit them. Find your list of messages you used to launch the product initially, and then start contacting some customers (if any) or leads for that product and ask them how they like the product, how they are using it and how it's helping. If you hear some of the same words back at you that are on your message list, keep those messages; they're working! But if people just aren't grasping the other messages, it's time to come up with new messages that are clearer, shorter, more concise, or more closely related to the customer problem as your initial research indicated.

Evaluate Effectiveness of Marketing Programs
Go through every marketing program listed in your marketing plan and evaluate the impact. Were there trade shows you attended that didn't product any leads? It may be time to look for different venues. Were your website hits sufficient, or have they tapered off? Update your web content or even your website design to keep visitors coming back and clicking through. Are customers using datasheets and white papers you produced? Sometimes if a company has a lot of products and is heavily into their branding scheme, all their datasheets will look so much alike that it creates customer confusion and makes it look like the company has no new products. Mix it up a little! Move the product picture to a different spot on the page, or introduce new graphics. That will get more attention. If customers aren't requesting or downloading the white papers, try generating some new ones or beef up the titles and descriptions.

Consider more PR
Public relations can make a difference when you are trying to re-market your product. Perhaps you didn’t do much of a PR campaign initially or none at all; if so, this is a golden opportunity to get a PR firm involved so your company can get some ink. A well-placed article or product review will drive up web traffic, which drives up customer interest, and increases general awareness of the company and its products.

Plan the Re-launch as if it were a Major Company Launch
Now that you've had a chance to find out what went wrong, you can turn this around by doing a re-launch of your product, whether or not it has different features or functionality than when it was originally launched (although additional features or different packaging might be highly desirable). Develop a plan as if it was a major launch of a new product, and give this launch the time, attention, and resources it needs to succeed. As you roll out the product again with revised messages, refocused marketing programs and PR, keep your sales channels in the loop on a regular basis. They can provide immediate feedback on what's working and what needs to be fixed. This is your second chance, so make sure to remain flexible and listen to this feedback. Sometimes even a second effort is not enough to rescue a doomed product, and the situation can't be fixed with re-marketing. But, if you go through these exercises as you attempt a re-launch, you will gain a lot of knowledge about your company, market and customers that you can apply to the company's future products.