It starts with having a great product, but learning how to position that product and creating the right messaging behind it are keys to business growth and success. Businesses also need to ensure that they have the right combination of products to help their customers solve the problems or needs they are facing. An effective product marketing strategy can help a business guide and inform product development as well as its ongoing sales strategy, even years after a product’s initial debut.
Where past strategies have focused on low-cost product marketing models, new research suggests that buyers make purchasing decisions on a variety of factors. Partnering with an outsourcing company like DFS allows you to expand your product offerings and services, and provide more options for your customer. DFS advisors can also provide the knowledge needed to expand into new product lines and easily access professionally produced marketing materials to help you close deals.
Print businesses and resellers can drive sustainable business growth when they have an extensive knowledge of their products and can articulate to customers the qualities that make them stand out from their competitors.
What is product marketing?
Product marketing can encompass every aspect of bringing a product to market and making it sellable. That may include product development, positioning and messaging, and ensuring customers understand the product. Product marketing aims to drive the demand for a product by understanding a buyer’s need or problem and positioning the product as the solution.
Step 1: Know Your Audience – Customer and Market Research
The base of an effective product marketing strategy is a solid understanding of your customer and the overall market. Start by looking at your current customers and ask yourself some questions:
- Who are these current customers?
- Why do they buy from you?
- Which of your customers brings in the most business?
- What characteristics or interests do they have in common?
In addition to understanding your customers, you should also take time to conduct market research. This will likely include information regarding not only your target customers but potential competitors and the overall business landscape. Your market research may include the following areas:
- Demand
- Market size
- Market saturation
- Economic indicators
- Location
- Pricing
This objective data can help you to better define your target audience and allow you to start to measure and analyze better ways to engage them. When you know your audience you are in a better position to make the best decisions for your business.
Step 2: Product Positioning and Messaging
Using the information you learned about your audience and the overall market, you will be in a better position to create messaging that resonates with your target audience. Product position and messaging involves determining how to clearly articulate to your audience why they should choose your business to solve their need or problem. This part of a product marketing strategy is important because it helps you to connect on an emotional level with your customers, creating a narrative that positions your product as a solution to their problems.
To help with this messaging you might write out a list of each feature of your product or service and a list of the benefits it provides. There are both tangible benefits, such as quality or on-time delivery, and intangible benefits, such as your company history and brand reputation, that may compel customers to buy from you.
Use these benefits in your positioning to help your company stand out from your competitors and build loyalty with customers. Keep in mind that customers don’t just buy products, they buy solutions that will make their business more successful. Even among products that have the exact same features, customers are frequently willing to pay a higher price for a product that they perceive to have greater benefits associated with it.
Step 3: Focus on the Customer Experience
Product marketing puts customers at the center of a company’s marketing strategy, and a positive customer experience is crucial to driving sustainable growth. When customers have a positive experience with your business it can boost customer loyalty, increase your company’s reputation, and even help you attract new customers.
While there is often a temptation to constantly focus on offering customers the lowest cost, for many buyers, the customer experience could outweigh the price in purchasing decisions. This means that you’re likely better off charging more to develop a solid customer service plan, rather than constantly trying to cut costs. Beyond that, more profitable customer relationships are built when you sell value over price because your customers aren’t just buying a product, they are buying the results the product will give them.
DFS can help print businesses and resellers deliver better service to their customers by allowing them to offer a wider variety of different types of printed materials and be seen as a solutions provider. Let DFS help you pursue new business opportunities and drive long-term business success. Contact us today to be matched with a DFS business advisor.
Key Takeaways
- Product marketing aims to drive the demand for a product by understanding a buyer’s need or problem and positioning the product as the solution.
- The base of an effective product marketing strategy is a solid understanding of your customer and the overall market.
- Product position and messaging involves determining how to clearly articulate to your audience why they should choose your business to solve their need or problem.
- Product marketing puts customers at the center of a company’s marketing strategy, and a positive customer experience is crucial to driving sustainable growth.
