Thanks to the rise of private label manufacturing, launching a product line has never been easier. Don’t get us wrong – it will still require plenty of hard work on your part, but the entire process becomes much more streamlined and, as a result, less stressful. With a private label manufacturer by your side, you’ll be able to entrust the manufacturing aspect of your business to a team that has all of the necessary knowledge, experience, and connections, leaving you to focus on the areas in which you excel.
Wondering how to get started? Read on as FLPL talks through the various steps involved in launching a private label line.
Decide on Your Niche
The first step, before getting involved with a private label manufacturer, is to decide on your niche. Start by identifying your passions, as well as where your expertise lies, and then try to find a way to meld the two.
Once you have a few ideas, it’s time to get researching. Make sure that there’s a demand for your niche and start thinking about who your target audience will be. Speak to those potential customers to find out what they think of your ideas.
You’ll also need to look into your competitors. Learn more about what they’re doing and ensure that your products are different in some way. Sure, you could simply compete in price but it always pays to have your own unique selling point. Differentiating yourself from the competition is what will give your product line the longevity it needs to truly succeed.
Find a Private Label Manufacturer to Work With
Now that you know which niche you’re going to be launching your products for, it’s time to find a private label manufacturer that has experience in that area. Some will specialize in food and drink while others, like FLPL, focus on beauty and wellness. With private label manufacturing now becoming so popular, there’s a good chance that you’ll have a few different options to go with, no matter what your niche may be.
How do you pick a private label manufacturer to work with?
Take a look at their track record. Look at the different brands they’ve worked with in the past, as well as the products that they’ve manufactured for them. With a bit of research, you’ll also be able to find out more about that company’s reputation. You want to see a commitment to quality – high standards are crucial if you’re going to be trusting this company to create your products for you.
Once you’ve put together a shortlist, speak to each one. Discuss lead times (you don’t want to have to wait too long before receiving your products), scalability options (you want a company that can help you to grow), the manufacturing process, and, of course, pricing. This should all help to narrow things down further, enabling you to pick the perfect private label manufacturer for the products you plan on launching.
Start Developing Your Products
Now for the fun part – it’s time to start developing your products! The first step is to decide on the products that you want to create. It’s all well and good coming up with an idea to, say, create gentle skincare products for people with eczema, but what type of products are you actually going to produce? Are you going to specialize in one type of product, such as a range of different face creams? Or are you going to create a line that offers a full skincare routine? A good private label manufacturer will help you to make the right choices.
Once you’ve chosen the types of products you want to create, you’ll then need to hone in on ingredients. FLPL makes this easy with an extensive ingredient catalog that clients can browse. From hydrating superstars, like sodium hyaluronate and algae extract, to cutting-edge antioxidants, such as resveratrol and retinol, we offer the best of the best to ensure that your products truly stand out.
After this step, you’ll need to leave things with us for a while. We’ll create samples of your products for you to test and approve. Once this is done, we’ll liaise with our network of factories and arrange for your products to be manufactured on a larger scale.
Create Your Packaging
Once you’ve decided on your products, it’s then time to choose the packaging that they’ll be going into. Packaging is important for a few different reasons…
The obvious one is that it protects your products from damage. This not only applies to damage in transit but also in terms of retaining the efficacy of the ingredients within. Some ingredients are sensitive to things like light and oxygen, so your packaging will need to take this into account.
Your packaging is also a great way to enhance your brand image. Yes, it should be functional but you can also use it as a tool to reflect your brand’s values. It helps with marketing too – well-designed packaging will easily stand out on the shelf and cause potential customers to gravitate toward it.
Work on Your Branding and Marketing
Both branding and marketing are crucial when it comes to the success of the product line you’re launching. Branding is what gives your brand a unique identity. It will make your brand, as well as your product line, recognizable to consumers, encouraging them to give your products a try. Make sure that consumers are able to relate to your brand and this will, as research confirms, boost loyalty, making them more likely to turn into repeat customers.
When it comes to your branding, some of the key elements to focus on at the beginning are:
- A logo
- A tagline
- Your chosen color palette
- Imagery that depicts your brand’s aesthetic
- Typography
- Your brand voice
Once this is in place, you can then make a proper start on your marketing plans. After all, even if your branding is perfectly on point, your target audience will have no way of knowing that your brand even exists unless you do some marketing. This will increase brand/product awareness while connecting you with your audience in a way that helps to drive sales.
Of course, when working on your branding and marketing, it’s important to also take a look at what your competitors are doing. You want your efforts to be better than theirs! Sure, some of your larger competitors may have a full marketing team behind them but team up with FLPL and you’ll also have the same at your disposal. Our art and marketing team can work with you on everything from your branding elements to your marketing strategy, helping to ensure that you make all of the right decisions.
Prepare Your Sales Channels
Now that you’ve started to implement your marketing strategy and hopefully have people clamoring for your goods, you’ll need to think about how you’re going to actually sell your products.
Direct sales will give you the biggest profit. However, this means that you’ll need your own e-commerce website, the setting up and running of which can be quite time-consuming. The good news is that if you need a helping hand, FLPL can provide it. Not only will we create your website for you but we will also help to manage it. We can also talk about your other direct sales options, be it your own brick-and-mortar store, social shopping, or anything else.
If you’d prefer to go down the indirect sales route and have a retailer sell your products, we can help you to organize this too. The downside to this is that it can seriously eat away at your profits since your chosen retailer will also want to take a hefty cut.
Launch Your New Line
Once all of the above is sorted, you’ll be ready to think about officially launching your products! Start by picking a launch day. Choose a date that aligns with your target audience. For example, if your target audience involves people who work 9-5 Monday to Friday, launching on a Monday morning will likely not be as lucrative as a weekend launch.
After picking your launch date, work on building momentum. Use your various marketing channels to create excitement about your launch. A launch event can also be a good way to effectively engage your target audience.
Analyze and Adjust
As soon as you start selling your products, the analysis needs to begin. Ideally, you want to gather as much feedback as possible. Engage with your customers directly to find out their thoughts about the new products they’ve purchased. This will give you valuable insights that will help to pave the way for success.
In addition to speaking to your customers, spend time doing some data analysis. Identify which products are doing better than others and then try to figure out why. If you’re using a few different sales channels, see which one is working best for you. Again, try to identify the reason for this. You may want to focus on that channel in the future, putting more time and money into it since it brings you the greatest returns.
All of this will allow you to make any necessary changes to your brand to ensure success. Whether this means tweaking a few of your products, launching an additional line of products, or adjusting your pricing strategy, the analysis that you do at this stage is vital for your brand’s future. Again, analysis and brand development are things that FLPL can help with if you don’t have much experience in this area.
Launching a Private Label Line With FLPL
As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when launching a new line of private label products. The good news, however, is that you won’t be on your own. Find yourself a private label manufacturer that offers a full spectrum of services, just like FLPL does, and you’ll have expert guidance throughout your private label journey.
