Nice product. How’re you gonna market it?
If you mentioned something vague about social media, we’re gonna stop you right there. You’ve put a ton of time and energy into building something awesome, and that product deserves to make the right kind of splash. Here are our tips for making people reach for your product and not your competitors.
Give the People What They Want
First up, who is your product for? Because these are the people you need to be selling to. Product marketing isn’t just about brand awareness (although that’s a bonus.) It’s about getting the word out about a specific item or service. You’ve done your research and developed your customer personas, right? If not, now’s the time to make that happen.
Figure out what your customers are looking for and what problems they want to be solved, and identify how your product is the bee’s knees for your target cohort. Don’t try to sell to everyone – that’s expensive and ineffective. Figure out who’s most likely to become your #1 fan, and go after them in the ways they want to be reached.
Hey You: Why You?
You know who you’re targeting, and you know why they’ll love you. But why you and not that other brand? Unless you’re one of those lookalike brands on Amazon with an alphabet soup name, there’s a difference between you and your competitors, right? Figure out what that is, and get clear on how you’ll communicate that through your messaging, packaging, and marketing campaigns (both internal and external.)
Are you the green alternative? Highlight that. Are you uniquely compatible with some other product that your target audience uses? Maybe you’re a B-Corp, family-owned, your product is super durable, or you source your ingredients locally.
Shout out those differences, but don’t get tricksy and try to claim that you’re something you’re not. Today’s consumers are savvier than ever, and if your brand claims to be green while selling single-use plastic items, they’ll see right through the marketing talk. Be real, and be honest.
Stand Apart (But Not Too Far Apart)
A winning product stands out on the shelf – or among all those Instagram ads. Product differentiation absolutely matters, and your goal is to separate yourself from the competition. Maybe that means getting creative with packaging, going bold on the color palette, or taking your copy places no brand has dared to tread.
But while you want to be the cool kid in your category, you don’t want to step so far out of the norm that people won’t know what to make of you. Don’t be the bottled water company people confuse with milk. You want to break the rules – but just enough that you’re still clearly part of your target category. Let your prospective customers compare your apple with other apples, not with oranges. Be distinctive, not just…weird.
More is Better: Build a Product Ecosystem
You’re doing great! But one product does not make a successful business (unless you’re Microsoft). Keep building your relationship with your customers by creating a product ecosystem of complementary goods and services. If you sell phone cases, add tablet cases or stands. If you roast coffee, offer a subscription service or a line of coffee-related items like kettles and grinders. For physical products, offer customizable options with different colors, finishes, add-ons, or engraving. And don’t forget to include marketing materials that highlight your product range – and which make it easy for people to buy those items. Lego is a star at doing this.
It’s way easier (and more cost effective) to keep a happy customer than it is to convert a new one, so keep giving your audience reasons to return.
Be Everywhere: Market Strategically
The final piece to the product marketing puzzle is your strategies for getting the word out. For most brands, this will be a combination of content marketing, paid ads, influencer marketing, comarketing, events, and strategic distribution. What’s crucial here is setting goals, measuring, and course correcting. Figure out what you want a campaign to achieve, measure the results, and then figure out whether it makes sense to double down or try something else. And don’t forget to think evergreen: every new product launch is an opportunity to drive interest in your backlist, so design your marketing content accordingly.
Need to Make Your Product Pop?
Looking to make your product pop? StellaPop is in your corner. We’re all about powerful branding and marketing campaigns that catch eyeballs, capture attention, and drive purchasing behaviors. If you’ve spent years developing that product or service, don’t let it sink with a so-so marketing campaign – go for gold with us instead.
