If operators want their service to be like a really cool party that people keep coming back to, they need a vision to guide their planned launches. With that explicit strategic direction in hand, they then need a clear picture of the market.

Elizabeth McPhillips, product manager at Ericsson's Managed Services Hosting, says: "By performing market research before developing and launching a service, you'll be able to identify user needs, define your addressable market, and segment the users, while analyzing the market window and competitive landscape. This will then provide key input for all marketing activities undertaken during the launch, as well as improving design and usability."

Operators must then ensure proper usability of the service. Device readiness, visibility of the service, and optimal design should be ensured prior to the launch, according to McPhillips.

The convenience of mobile terminals means that users want to use them immediately. As has been shown in several cases in a variety of places, traffic is largely driven by the number of available preconfigured devices.  "Ordering a service and waiting around to be provisioned are not part of the mobile mindset. Your handset must come ready for data download, or able to support exceedingly easy setup," she says.

Just as visibility is key in directing customers to the correct aisle in a store, good placement of a service in a portal is a deciding factor in getting customers to use the service.

"Consider usage scenarios - how and when the service will be used - and design the whole package accordingly," says Filip Veli Gültekin, post-sales business manager in Ericsson's Managed Services Hosting. "Second, consider developing and producing branded handsets that not only guarantee specifications are set based on the service concept, but also allow for increased value-chain control."

After the launch of a data service, operators can use data mining tools to better understand their customers and the impact of marketing activities, and to gather knowledge to drive future decisions.

"For example, analyzing per-category hits per portal page will let you see the best place to position promotion materials," Gültekin says. "Investigating failed search attempts will help determine which new content to bring in. Analyzing overall user behavior will support the creation of target groups."

Read more about how to assure a successful service launch in Elizabeth McPhillips and  Filip Veli Gültekin's article "Ensuring your customers show up at the party, and come back for more," in Ericsson Business Review 1, 2008, pages 56-60. (pdf)