Why Explosive Growth Can Be a Recipe for Marketing Disaster

Launching a new business can be a nerve-wracking but exciting experience. Every business owner wants to see their product or service take off quickly, bringing in the crowds and corresponding revenue.

But there is such a thing as too much, too soon. Why is this? Often, brands don’t do the proper preparation for a major influx of early adopters. The more prepared for this type of response business is, the better the reception will be in the long run. In fact, quick, explosive growth can be a recipe for disaster if the brand is not adequately prepared. Let’s dive into why this happens.

Within the tech industry, new products are constantly being launched and promoted to the eager masses looking for the latest advancements. For this reason, many startups enter the market before they’re fully ready, hoping to capitalize on consumer behavior trends.

For example, a startup may have new artificial intelligence technology aimed at streamlining the customer experience for businesses. The technology uses predictive analysis to customize customer experiences and profiles, theoretically leading to more quality sales leads and conversions.

Businesses quickly jump on board, signing contracts to bring this technology into their stores with the hopes of boosting customer loyalty.

But there’s a problem.

The brand has a few kinks in the software that hadn’t been sufficiently ironed out ahead of the launch. Now, with a massive influx of new customers, the bug has exploded into a much bigger problem, compromising the quality of the software and turning off the early adopters.

Now, the business is scrambling to patch the glitch, but by having to retrace their steps and address the issue they are losing potential new customers and alienating those they’ve already gained.

What this brand should have done is to do the proper legwork and testing to ensure the software is primed and ready to be used right away. Of course, glitches and bugs can come up unexpectedly, but all steps must be taken to put forth the most complete product possible. Without doing this, the explosive growth and large numbers of early customers can be a detriment because of the potential for these customers to now have a poor experience.

It can be tempting to want to jump into the pool early, lest the brand misses out on vital momentum spurred on by a growing industry or current events. However, it’s much more beneficial for long term success for brands to ensure they have the best, most complete product to put on the market ahead of the launching period.

Explosive growth is a marker of success. But what a brand does after that explosive growth period is what matters. Having to go back and fix mistakes and patch up customer relationships early on will not do the company any good in the long term. Additionally, not having a strategy to capitalize on early momentum will do damage.

At the end of the day, success in marketing, particularly at the outset of a product’s lifecycle, comes down to being able to see and plan for the big picture. Don’t be tempted by explosive early growth; make sure the best product is ready to launch and have a plan in place to take advantage of the momentum and harness it for future benefit.