Like people, products have a life cycle that is referred to as the product life cycle. What is the product life cycle? The product life cycle is the length of time from when a product is introduced to consumers until it is removed from the market. It is not possible to become a professional marketer without knowing the concept of the product life cycle.
Product life cycles help people in management and marketing make decisions about when to advertise, how much to charge, whether to expand into new markets, redesign packaging, run promotions, increase or decrease costs, and more.
The product life cycle can be broken down into four stages. The four stages that make up a product’s life cycle are:
- Introduction stage
- Growth stage
- Maturity stage
- Decline stage
Before mentioning the four stages of the product life cycle, we need to know that a new product needs to go through design, research, and development. If the product is likely to be profitable after all of these steps, it is imported into the market. The product’s life cycle begins at this point.
Let’s continue to learn about the four stages of the product life cycle.
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Introduction Stage
In this stage, the product is introduced to the market for the first time. Sales are typically slow at this stage because demand has just been created. As the product is new to the consumers, they probably don’t know the benefits of the product or what it can do. Therefore, the product owner must inform the public about the product. To raise customer awareness at the Introduction stage, the distributor runs marketing campaigns and commercials.
Growth Stage
If the product has been successfully introduced to the market, it will reach the next stage, the growth stage. Sales and profitability increase at this stage. Production will be increased to keep up with the rising demand, and the product will be widely available on the market. In other words, consumers begin to recognize the brand.
As the product gets more well-known on the market, similar products from other companies will also start to show up. If the product faces serious competition, it might need to make significant advertising investments. Branding is very important if you want customers to keep believing in your product.
Maturity Stage
After battling through the growth stage, the product will enter the maturity stage. In the product life cycle, the maturity stage is the most successful stage. Production and marketing costs will go down. But the product owners still need to innovate the product to gain a stronger market position because the competition for royal customers between you and your competitors is at the highest level.
At this stage, marketing companies are mainly focused on differentiating the product from competitors. Trying to manage profitability, keep sales from dropping, and maintain customer brand loyalty are the key factors in the maturity stage.
Decline Stage
The decline stage is the end of the product life cycle for a product. If the product cannot survive in the maturity stage, it will go down to the decline stage. Product sales and profitability begin to decline during the decline stage as more innovative products become available that can fully satisfy customers’ wants better than yours. At this stage, marketing activities are limited and concentrated on maintaining loyal customers. In the end, the product will eventually leave the market unless the company is able to innovate and create new demand. There isn’t a product that can stay on the market forever.
The product life cycle is a very effective marketing tool that can help businesses make informed decisions about when to launch new products, how to price them, and how to allocate marketing resources. I hope you succeed and become the market leader.
