You launched your product, now what?

You launched your product, now what?
Photo by SpaceX / Unsplash

I'm a senior product manager (+8 years of experience) and entrepreneur.

I want to share a few tips for those who launched their first product, are receiving the first users and feedback, and are wondering what to do next.

Here’s How to Keep Your Product Thriving:

  • Listen to customer feedback (it’s gold)
  • Test small
  • Improve the product based on signals
  • Market your changes like a pro

1. Listen to Customer Feedback

Customer Feedback

  • You can interview your customers or use some forms.
  • Dig into their current behavior with questions like:
    "How did you buy your last pair of jeans?"
  • Avoid entering imaginary scenarios as we're very good at deceiving ourselves.
  • Try to understand their thoughts about the features they love, the issues they face, and what’s missing.
  • If you already have support tickets, identify recurring complaints or feature requests.
  • The most powerful and cheap tool is to stay close to your customers.
    Have a goal to talk with AT LEAST one customer weekly.

Product Metrics

  • Use product engagement metrics, like retention rates, to understand if the users are coming back.
    • If they sign up, use just a little bit, and don't come back, you have a problem.
  • If you don't know about it, Google "product stickiness metrics." It's a great indicator!
  • You can use user behavior data too, and collect using tools like Hotjar or Mixpanel.
  • Identify patterns—especially the painful ones, like drop-off points in the flow (e.g., sign-ups but no engagement).

2. Test Small & 3. Improve the Product Based on Signals

  • So you find an opportunity in your customer discovery process!
  • If it's a small and inexpensive improvement, like adding a new email to your onboarding sequence, go ahead!
  • If it's a big mega blaster feature, like a new AI (everything is now, no problem kk), STOP!
    What you want is to reduce risk and uncertainty.

Steps to follow:

  • Define your feature scope;
  • Identify the assumptions with the least evidence and the most risk;
  • Create small prototypes for those assumptions;
  • Test with your customers;
  • Collect feedback;
  • If you have a good signal, go ahead and improve your prototype.
  • If it's uncertain, repeat the process.
  • Repeat this until the next iteration is almost the same effort as developing the whole feature.
Note: This process is more important when you have a big team and big costs involved. If you are a solopreneur or a small team and can build an entire product using AI tools in a few weeks, the analysis is different.

4. Market Your Changes Like a Pro

  • A common mistake—made in big startups too—is to forget to market the product changes, especially to your customer database.
  • Have a monthly product updates email. There are plenty of ideas from big famous products that you can "steal."
  • Is it a big new? Do a webinar for your customers. You can use this to attract new potential customers too.
  • Don’t let your product get stuck in “Launch Day” mode!