The product life cycle is the succession of several stages that a product will go through during its existence. It is starting from the development process and ending in the decline phase. The product life cycle is commonly broken up into 6 different stages. Many business owners and marketers can use this product life cycle for making any important decisions about their businesses.
They can also use this cycle for determining the right strategies on advertising budgets, finding the right packaging, and also finding the right product prices. If you want to market your products or services well, you need to adapt to the stage where your product is in. Here are these six stages of the product life cycle.
- Development
The development stage is the first stage of the product life cycle. It is the research phase before the product can be introduced to the marketplace. This is the time when companies can bring in some investors, test product effectiveness, develop prototypes, and also strategize their launching strategies. Companies tend to spend a lot of money during this stage without bringing a lot of revenue because the product is not sold yet. For a completely new product, the development stage will be the hardest part of the product life cycle.
- Introduction
During this stage, the product will be launched in the marketplace for the first time. Your marketing team will begin building product awareness for reaching potential customers. When the product is introduced for the first time, sales are usually low. This phase will be focused on advertising and also marketing campaigns. Many companies can work on testing some distribution channels for educating some potential customers. Education will play an important role in this stage.
- Growth
During this growth stage, many customers have already accepted the product in the market. They usually start trusting the product they buy. The demand and profit are growing significantly during this stage. This is the time when the market for the product is expanding and developing significantly. The main strategy that you can use during this stage is establishing a brand presence, so your customers can choose your product over the other competitors’ products. You can also start advertising any products you have during this stage.
- Maturity
The maturity stage is the period when the sales start to level off from their rapid growth period. Many companies start to reduce their prices, so they can stay competitive against any other competitors. This is the phase when your company starts to become more efficient. You can learn from any mistakes you made in the introduction and also growth stages. Marketing campaigns will be focused on differentiation rather than brand awareness. This will be the most profitable stage for most companies. During this stage, you have to ensure that you have the best strategies for protecting your company for the next stage.
- Saturation
During the product saturation stage, many competitors are taking a portion of the market. You will have a decline in sales because some of your customers are moving to the other products from your competitors. You will find a lto of competitors on the market during this phase. At this point, you may want to focus on differentiation in brand awareness, features, price, and also customer service. The competition will be the highest at this stage, so it is very critical to emphasize the uniqueness and other benefits you can offer to your customers. If the innovation at the product level is not possible, you can invest your effort in customer service. You can also use customer testimonials to back up your marketing effort.
- Decline
If your product cannot become the preferred brand in the industry, you will experience a decline. Your sales will decrease when the competition is increasing at this stage. This situation will be hard to overcome, especially if you are not ready for facing this stage. Additionally, when new trends emerge, your customers will shift to the other products from your competitors. If you want to stay ahead of the competitors, you may want to implement some new advertising strategies, add new features to your product, reduce prices, increase the value proposition, adjust brand packaging, and do some other improvements for attracting your customers.