60 minute read time.
Marketing plays a key role in any product launch. Regardless of the type of product you’re selling or the target audience you’re trying to reach, good marketing is essential to the success of your product. After all, even the most brilliant product will fail if no one knows about it. With so many different marketing strategies available, it can be tricky to know where to begin when launching a new product. That’s why we’ve put together this handy guide on how to market your product as effectively as possible. Read on to find out everything you need to know about product marketing and how you can leverage that knowledge when launching your next product.
Product Marketing Steps to Get Started
As marketers, we all know how important it is to stand out in the sea of products. But with so many advanced and targeted marketing strategies available today, that’s no easy feat. As a result, many product marketers are challenged to stand out from the crowd and drive their company’s sales forward. For product marketers who want to give their company’s products a competitive edge, there are several different marketing strategies you can use to help your products stand out from the rest. Read on for some helpful tips on how you can get started with product marketing as a newer marketer or an existing marketer looking to expand your product marketing efforts.
What is Product Marketing?
Product marketing refers to the activities that get your product in front of the right audience and increase sales. Product marketers are responsible for driving the company’s sales forward by creating a marketing strategy that focuses on a product or service. This includes choosing the right marketing channels, creating marketing content, and measuring return on investment (ROI). It is an important role that requires an in-depth knowledge of marketing and the different channels available. Product marketers need to be strategic thinkers who can effectively communicate their ideas to the company’s leadership team. Product marketing is usually a part of a company’s marketing strategy, as product marketing can include many elements that fall into other marketing departments, such as sales, marketing, and customer service. In some cases, product marketing may even be its own department, but this is not common. It is important to note that product marketing focuses on selling your product, while sales focus on closing the deal. While sales deal with the immediate transaction and getting paid, product marketing deals with the long-term strategy of building brand awareness, increasing sales, and increasing profits.
Build a solid product marketing foundation
The best way to get started with product marketing is to build a solid foundation. Begin by taking an in-depth look at your product and company, and then create a marketing strategy based on your findings. You can start by evaluating your product, including its strengths, weaknesses, and competition. Then, take a close look at your company to determine its strengths and weaknesses as well as its overall goals and vision. This will give you a good idea of what your company is aiming for and how product marketing can help you reach those goals. Once you have a good understanding of your product and company, it is time to create a marketing strategy. Start by identifying your target audience, including their demographics and psychographics.
Start with product research
Before you get started with any marketing strategies, it’s essential to conduct product research. The product research will help you determine your product’s key features, benefits, and potential drawbacks. It is also a great opportunity to get your team involved and start collaborating. Getting everyone on the same page and aligned with a marketing strategy will help to create a cohesive team that is ready to get to work. Once you have everyone on the same page, you can begin scheduling product research meetings with your team. These meetings should include representatives from each department within your company. Creating an open forum where everyone can share their findings and get feedback from other team members will help to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
Host a beta program
A beta program is a great way for product marketers to drive their company’s sales forward. It is a type of testing program where you invite customers to test your product before it is fully released. You can use a beta program to gather customer feedback, generate some buzz, and secure some early sales. Beta programs are usually hosted on an online platform and are often open to the public. Customer feedback is critical when it comes to product marketing, so a beta program is a great way to gather feedback from your target audience. It’s also a great way to generate some buzz and drum up some early sales. Early sales are great for increasing profits and putting your product in front of potential customers. After the beta program ends and your product is fully released, you will have a list of customers who have purchased your product, which can help you to generate more sales in the future.
Run an ad campaign
Ad campaigns are another great marketing strategy that product marketers can use to drive their company’s sales forward. There are many different types of ad campaigns, including social media campaigns and search engine ad campaigns. There are many different types of ad campaigns, and each one offers a different marketing approach. For example, search engine ads are great at targeting customers who are actively looking for products. Social media ads, on the other hand, are great for engaging customers who are already interested in your product. Regardless of which type of ad campaign you decide to host, it is important to have a focused and strategic approach. It is also important to track your ads’ performance and adjust your strategy as needed.
Summary
For product marketers to drive their company’s sales forward, they must stand out from the crowd. Although there are many advanced marketing strategies available today, product marketers can get started with product research, beta programs, and ad campaigns. Start by conducting product research, host a beta program, and run an ad campaign to begin marketing your product.
How to Market Your New Product
When you launch a new product, your main concern is to sell as many units as possible. This can be challenging for a variety of reasons. Your company may not have the marketing budget to get the word out about your new product in addition to it being an entirely new product that most people haven’t heard about before. Regardless of these challenges, you need to find ways to market your new product and drive sales as quickly as possible. Marketing is critical from the inception of a new product idea through its launch and into the future if you want it to remain successful. The marketing process begins long before a product hits store shelves with creating a marketing plan being one of the earlier steps. In this section, we will cover some initial ideas on how you can successfully market your new products while also providing actionable advice on how to do so effectively.
Define Your Marketing Strategy
The first step in any successful marketing campaign is to define your marketing strategy. This is a document that outlines all of the different ways that you will be marketing your product. You should list out the goals of your marketing campaign, the target audience, the channels you will use to reach your target audience, and the metrics you will be using to gauge the success of your marketing campaign. By creating a marketing strategy, you can then use that document to track the progress of your marketing efforts. This will help you to see what is working and what is not so that you can adjust your strategy accordingly and make sure you are only spending time and resources on successful methods.
Set A Marketing Budget
One of the first challenges you will face in marketing your new product is figuring out how much you will need to spend. You should sit down and create a budget that outlines how much you will spend on sales, marketing, and development of the new product. While marketing budgets differ from company to company, you should keep in mind that marketing expenses are an investment in your company. They should not be seen as an expense but rather an investment in your company. This is especially true in the case of new products since you want to make sure that you are creating a demand for your product as quickly as possible. As such, you will likely want to spend more money on marketing than you would on the product itself since it is critical to get sales as soon as possible.
Create a Buzz With Advertising and PR
The best way to create a buzz around your product is to hit the mainstream media. The best way to do this is to get in touch with your local media and see if they would be willing to write a story about your new product. If you can get a story written about your product in a major publication, you will be able to reach millions of people with your marketing efforts. Another effective way to create a buzz around your product is to do a PR campaign. For example, you can send out press releases about your new product and get it in the hands of as many journalists as possible. Many PR agencies will help you do this but are often expensive.
Networking Events and Conferences
Another great way to network with people in your industry and get the word out about your new product is to attend networking events and conferences. By attending events in your industry, you will be able to meet people who work in your industry who can potentially become long-term customers. You will also be able to get your product in front of people who can write about it and provide their opinions on it. This can be especially valuable if your product is a new type of product that people are not familiar with or don’t know much about. You can also reach out to the organizers of the event and offer to pay to become a sponsor. Sponsorships at events can be expensive but are a great way to get your name in front of attendees and drive sales.
Showcasing The Product Through Influencers
Another great way to showcase your product and get sales very quickly is to approach influential people in your industry and see if they would be willing to showcase your product. For example, if you are producing a new type of computer, you could get it in the hands of tech influencers such as YouTubers and see if they would be willing to do a video unboxing of your product. You can also get your product in the hands of beauty and fashion influencers who may be willing to showcase your product. If your product is a new type of makeup, for example, you can get it in the hands of beauty influencers who can showcase it on their social media channels or blogs. This can be an effective strategy because it will tap into the existing audiences of these influencers. As such, the people who follow these influencers will likely be the first to see your product and will be more likely to purchase it since they trust the opinion of the influencers who are showcasing it.
Summary
Launching a new product can be challenging but it is also an essential part of any growing business. You need to find ways to market your new product effectively so that you can drive sales quickly. While there are many different ways to do this, the best way to market your new product is to create a product that people want to buy. This means that you will want to make sure your product solves a problem and is high quality. You will also want to make sure that you spend time marketing your new product before it is even released. By creating a marketing strategy and getting feedback on your product before it is released, you will be able to create a product that people want to buy as soon as it is released.
The Product Marketing Strategy You Need to Know
Today’s market is saturated with so many products that it can feel impossible to stand out from the crowd. Yet, brands continue to find new ways to do just that by striking a balance between innovation and marketing. After all, innovative products don’t stand a chance without smart marketing techniques behind them. To create a successful product launch, you need to have an effective marketing strategy in place before you begin production on your new product line. One of the most important steps in this process is creating a detailed and well-documented product marketing strategy. From planning the launch to determining your target audience and analyzing your competition, developing an effective product marketing strategy will help you take things one step at a time while avoiding any potential pitfalls along the way. Keep reading for more information on what exactly goes into a product marketing strategy and how you can implement these strategies in your brand as soon
What is a Product Marketing Strategy?
A marketing strategy is a strategic business plan that outlines the business goals and objectives of a company, along with the approach and methodology it will use to achieve these goals. The marketing strategy also refers to the specific decisions and actions that an organization uses to create a differential advantage for its products in a competitive marketplace. Creating a marketing strategy is the first step in creating a successful marketing campaign. A marketing strategy includes a company’s position in the market, product offerings, pricing, the target market, and more. A company’s marketing strategy will evolve as it responds to its competitors and the ever-changing marketplace.
Why is a Product Marketing Strategy Important?
A marketing strategy serves as the backbone of your product launch, outlining all of your goals and objectives from the very beginning. You should create your marketing strategy before you start to create or manufacture your product as a way to troubleshoot any potential issues before they arise. A marketing strategy takes a step-by-step approach, allowing you to break down each phase of the launch into manageable chunks. This will help keep you on track and give you a roadmap for reaching the finish line. In addition to outlining your goals, a marketing strategy will help you determine your budget, target audience, and potential strategies for standing out from the crowd. Once you’ve created a marketing strategy, you can easily refer back to it any time you begin to feel overwhelmed or have any second thoughts. Your marketing strategy is there to help you stay focused and on track.
How to Create a Product Marketing Strategy?
Creating a product marketing strategy will help you determine the best way to promote your new product. Multiple factors go into creating a thorough marketing strategy, including:
- Positioning within the Market – Your marketing strategy should begin with a thorough analysis of your market and where your product will be placed within it. This will allow you to better understand your competition and how you can stand out from the crowd.
- Product offerings – What are you selling and what are the benefits that come with it? What makes it different from the rest? What do your customers want and how will your product meet those expectations?
- Pricing – How are you going to price your product and why? – Target market – Who will be buying your product and how do you plan on catering to their needs?
- Distribution – Where will your product be sold?
- Promotion – What are you doing to promote your product and why?
- Customer service – What are you doing to maintain a positive customer service experience?
Summary
Your product marketing strategy is the first step toward launching a successful product. It will help you determine the best way to promote your product and reach your target audience. Creating a thorough marketing strategy will also help you identify any potential issues that may arise along the way. Start by assessing your current marketing strategy and creating a plan for success. When your product is ready to launch, you’ll be prepared and confident that you’ve done everything in your power to create a successful product launch.
Maximum ROI for Your Product Marketing Campaigns
When launching new product marketing campaigns, it’s tempting to focus solely on boosting short-term sales by cutting prices, giving away freebies, and other types of price-based marketing strategies. After all, if you can sell more products today with a minimal investment in new marketing initiatives, why not go for it? The problem is that investing only in short-term tactics can have a negative long-term impact on your business. You might gain some initial traction with heavy discounts or free giveaways, but over the long term your competitors will see that as a sign of weakness and mark you down as an easy target for future attacks. In the end, this means that you’ll be left with less profit margin on every sale moving forward. To avoid this trap, you must look at your product marketing from a Return On Investment (ROI) perspective. Here are three ways to generate maximum ROI for your upcoming product launch campaigns:
Plan your marketing campaign around a specific ROI goal
Whenever you’re planning a new product launch marketing campaign, start by setting a specific dollar amount as your campaign’s ROI goal. This will help you stay focused on your ROI target and avoid getting caught up in the hype of a new product launch. You can use this ROI goal to guide your marketing decisions, helping you make informed decisions about where to spend money and how to maximize the return from each marketing investment. It’s also important to note that your ROI goal can change depending on your overall marketing strategy. For example, if you’re planning to launch a new product in a seasonal market where demand is low, you might need to set a higher ROI goal to get the attention of your audience. In this situation, you’ll likely need to spend a bit more to generate enough sales to break even.
Use Influencer Marketing to generate greater ROI
Another way to boost your ROI when launching a new product is to partner with influencers to promote your product in exchange for a free product sample, a commission on sales, or some other type of compensation. By partnering with the right influencers, you’ll be able to tap into their existing audiences and get more bang for your buck when it comes to product launch campaigns. You can find influencers by searching on sites like Instagram or Twitter, or you can use a tool like Brand-e to make the process easier. The key to success with influencer marketing is to choose the right influencers, understand what compensation they’re looking for, and ensure that your product launch campaigns mesh well with the influencers’ existing audiences. If you can make all this happen, you’ll likely see a significant jump in your ROI from product launch campaigns.
Use Events to boost ROI and increase awareness
Thirdly, you’ll also want to look into the benefits of holding an event to launch your new product. Product launch events can be a great way to generate a lot of attention for your new product and help you maximize your ROI by driving sales and increasing your brand’s visibility. By holding a large event and making product announcements at that event, you’ll be able to reach a massive audience at once. This also creates a lot of buzz around your product, which can help to drive more sales long after the event is over through product word of mouth. Product launch events don’t have to be massive, expensive affairs either. You can keep costs low by holding your event in an inexpensive venue and by partnering with nearby businesses to help sponsor the event. You can also keep the event free or low-cost by offering freebies or discounts to attendees, and by making the event a multi-day affair that provides plenty of free or low-cost activities to keep attendees entertained. The best part about events is that you can use them to generate buzz around your product before it even launches, helping to drive a ton of awareness around your product before it goes to market. This can help you reach a wider audience, boost your ROI, and set your product up for long-term success.
Summary
Product marketing campaigns are an excellent way to introduce new products to your audience, generate revenue, and boost your sales. However, you’ll want to make sure that you’re generating the maximum ROI possible from your product marketing campaigns. To do this, you’ll want to start by planning your campaign around a specific ROI goal. You can also boost your ROI by partnering with influencers or holding an event to launch your new product.
Product Marketing Tools
Let’s face it: being a product marketer is challenging. In this role, you need to be able to sell your products, target your audience, and remain cognizant of the changing landscape of digital marketing. You may also need to get creative with the tools you have, especially if you’re working with a limited budget or resources. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools out there that will make your job much easier. So what do you need to know? Keep reading for an in-depth look at product marketing tools every marketer needs to know.
What is product marketing?
Product marketing refers to the process of creating demand and interest for a product. It may also refer to the process of managing a product’s lifecycle, from ideation and development to launch and beyond. In the first case, product marketing is a subset of marketing. In the latter case, it encompasses marketing, customer service, and sales.
Market Research Tools
You’ll want to get an idea of what your customers want, as well as how they engage with your brand. These tools can help you do that:
- Google Surveys – Google Surveys is a free online survey tool for collecting information from a wide variety of audiences. It’s a great way to gauge the effectiveness of your current marketing and messaging and to learn more about your customers. With Surveys, you can create surveys administered online, or through a mobile app. It’s compatible with a wide variety of devices and operating systems.
- Qualaroo – Qualaroo is a survey tool that allows you to track user behavior and get insights about your customers. You can use it to create customized polls that appear on visitors’ screens. You can also use it to add a feedback form to your website. This is an excellent way to get direct customer input so that you can adjust your marketing strategies to suit the needs of your audience.
- Hotjar – Hotjar is a full-service analytics and feedback software that you can use to measure user behavior on your website. It comes with a visual heat map feature that allows you to view a visual breakdown of your customers’ engagement with your site. You can also use Hotjar to create custom surveys to get direct feedback from your audience. This is a great way to engage with your customers and get the information you need to make your marketing strategies more effective.
- Typeform – Typeform is an online survey application that you can use to collect data from your customers. It’s a great way to get information about your products and your customer’s experience with your brand. You can use Typeform to create a variety of different surveys, with a wide range of different types of questions. It’s an excellent way to get the data you need to make your marketing strategies more effective.
- SurveyMonkey – SurveyMonkey is another online survey tool for collecting data about your customers and their experiences with your products. It’s a great way to get direct feedback about what your customers want and need and to make sure that your marketing strategies are profitable.
- Ethnio – Ethnio is a market research tool that allows you to run A/B tests and get customer feedback. You can use it to create surveys, as well as perform A/B tests on your website and marketing materials. It’s an excellent way to test different marketing strategies and see which ones are most effective. –
- Quora – Quora is a platform that allows people in your industry to share their knowledge and experience with others. You can use the site to get feedback on your products and marketing efforts from people in your industry. This can be a great way to get insight from people who have first-hand experience with your products and can give you feedback on what they would like to see more of in your marketing.
- Reddit – Similar to Quora, Reddit is a platform that allows people in your industry to engage in discussion and share information. You can use it to get feedback about your products and marketing efforts from people in your field. This can be a great place to get direct, honest feedback from people who have experience with your products and can give you a unique perspective on your marketing.
- Forums – Forums are another type of online community in which people in your industry can engage and share information. You can use these forums to get feedback on your products and marketing efforts. This is another great way to get direct, honest feedback from people who have experience with your products and can give you a unique perspective on your marketing.
- Social media – Social media is another great way to get feedback about your products and marketing efforts. You can use your various social media accounts to ask your customers questions about their experiences with your products. You can also use social media to post polls, as well as share content created by others in your industry. These are great ways to get valuable feedback from your customers and improve your marketing strategy.
- Customer service – Customer service is another great way to get valuable feedback about your products and marketing efforts. You can use your customer service department to get direct feedback from customers, and then use that information to improve your marketing.
Content Marketing Tools
Content marketing is a form of marketing that focuses on creating and distributing content to attract and engage a targeted audience. The goal of content marketing is to drive people towards your products or services. The following tools will help you create and distribute content that is engaging and effective.
- BuzzSumo – BuzzSumo is a content marketing tool that allows you to discover what content is most successful online. You can use it to research what content is being shared, liked, and commented on the most in your industry, as well as across social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. This is a great way to find out what topics are engaging your intended audience, and get inspiration for your content marketing efforts.
- Quora – Quora is another content marketing tool that allows you to create engaging content for your intended audience. It’s a question-and-answer website where people share their knowledge and expertise. You can use Quora to create engaging content that your audience will want to engage with and learn from. This is a great way to get easy-to-digest information out to people who may be interested in your products and services.
- BuzzStream – BuzzStream is a content marketing tool that allows you to manage and collaborate on content projects with your team members. It’s a great way to create and manage a consistent content marketing campaign, get feedback and suggestions from your team members, and make sure that everyone’s efforts are aligned with your goals and priorities.
- Medium – Medium is a content marketing tool that allows you to create and publish your content online. It’s a blogging and social networking platform designed for business professionals. You can use it to create engaging, useful content for your customers and target audience. This is a great way to get your voice out there in a consistent, engaging way that will help people see your brand in a new light.
- Canva – Canva is a content marketing tool that allows you to create engaging content with ease. It’s a design and publishing platform that allows you to create graphics, images, and other visual content. This is a great way to create content that is consistent with your brand and will get your message across to your customers in a meaningful way.
- Hootsuite – Hootsuite is a content marketing tool that allows you to manage your social media accounts and publish content on your various social media sites. It’s a great way to publish content to your various social media accounts at the same time, and schedule content for future publication. This is a great way to get your content published and out to your customers consistently and efficiently.
- Sprout Social – Sprout Social is a content marketing tool that allows you to manage and collaborate on content projects with your team members. It’s a great way to create and manage a consistent content marketing campaign, get feedback and suggestions from your team members, and make sure that everyone’s efforts are aligned with your goals and priorities.
- Sumo – Sumo is a content marketing tool that allows you to create engaging content. It’s a tool that helps you increase your website’s traffic and engagement, and convert more of your website visitors into customers. You can use it to create engaging images, GIFs, and other types of visual content that your audience is sure to enjoy.
- Buzzfeed – Buzzfeed is a content marketing tool that allows you to create engaging and interesting content for your customers. It’s an online publishing platform that allows you to create content in a variety of different formats, including quizzes, videos, and more. This is a great way to create content that is engaging and interesting to your customers, and that will help you reach your sales goals.
Product Marketing Case Studies That Will Inspire You
As an over-saturated market continues to push consumers to be more discerning, companies have had to up their game when it comes to product marketing. To keep products distinguishable, marketers have been coming up with new strategies that are as creative as they are effective. You’ll find some of the most creative product marketing examples here. Read on for case studies from different industries and how they implemented successful product marketing strategies.
Dropbox: Integrating Content Marketing With Advertising
In 2012, file storage and collaboration company Dropbox launched Dropbox Carousel, a new photo service. To successfully market and launch its new product, Dropbox took a content-first approach. Dropbox started by hosting exclusive events for journalists where they could test out the product. They then invited the journalists to write about their experiences. By taking an integrated content marketing approach, Dropbox was able to attract journalists and influencers who wrote about their new product and helped them generate buzz for the product before it even launched. This strategy not only helped Dropbox build brand awareness but also positioned its product as a superior choice over the competition.
Nest Labs: Focusing on User Experience and Aesthetics
Homes and home automation company Nest, which was acquired by Google in 2014, was able to position its product as a superior choice and increase sales by focusing on aesthetics and the user experience. Early adopters and industry experts had high expectations for the product, which made it difficult for Nest to get product reviews that focused on the benefits of their product. As a result, the company tried to focus more on the features of the product and less on how the product would improve customers’ lives. With their next product, the Nest Thermostat E, Nest took a different approach by focusing on the user experience. They rolled out an integrated marketing campaign that focused on the benefit their product offered customers. Nest used language like “save energy, save money,” and “look great” to position their product as a superior choice for customers. This not only helped increase sales for the product but also positioned Nest as a strong brand in the home automation industry.
Google: Knowing Your Customer Inside Out
In 2016, Google released the Pixel, a premium smartphone. While they didn’t have any direct competitors, they saw an opportunity to further position their product as a premium smartphone worth buying. To do this, they had to know their customer inside out. Google capitalized on an opportunity to position its product as a superior choice by incorporating customer data into its marketing strategy. They discovered that customers who purchased premium smartphones were more likely to search for images of the product and research features before making a decision on which model to buy. So they decided to put that data to good use. They created a multi-channel marketing strategy that included search ads, online ad campaigns, and YouTube influencer marketing. Google used customer data to target the ads, which allowed them to increase ad spending without sacrificing customer acquisition. By using this customer data, Google was able to successfully position its product as a premium smartphone worth buying.
Facebook: Utilizing User Data to Drive Content Marketing
Many people have probably heard of the Messenger app, but not many know that it’s a stand-alone app that is not associated with Facebook. To build brand awareness and drive content marketing, Facebook decided to reposition the app as a core part of its platform. To reposition the app, Facebook focused on driving content marketing strategies. They used different types of content (e.g. news articles, photos, videos, polls) to generate engagement around the app. By doing so, they were able to drive brand awareness for the app and drive app installs. Facebook was able to successfully reposition its app by utilizing user data to drive content marketing. They were able to drive brand awareness for their app and see significant growth in app installs because they understood the type of content that their audience would engage with. By utilizing user data, Facebook was able to successfully reposition the Messenger app.
Intel: Incorporating Influencer Marketing with PR
Technology brand Intel was having a hard time differentiating its product and driving content marketing. They wanted to increase their brand awareness and create brand affinity, but they didn’t know how to do it. To overcome their challenges, Intel decided to incorporate influencer marketing with public relations. They wanted to focus on influential journalists and industry experts who had strong relationships with their audience. While PR is typically a one-way channel, influencer marketing is a two-way channel that helps build brand affinity and drive engagement and sales. Intel was able to increase its brand awareness by partnering with journalists and industry experts who had large audiences. By partnering with journalists, Intel was able to increase its brand awareness and drive content marketing.
Procter & Gamble: Finding the Right Partners to Execute Product Marketing Strategy
Health care brand Gillette was having a hard time conveying the benefits of their product and increasing their brand awareness. Gillette wanted to introduce the Gillette Shaving Collection, but they didn’t know the best way to do it. To overcome their challenges, Gillette decided to find the right partners who could help them execute their product marketing strategy. Gillette partnered with media company Unilever (who acquired the brand in 2017) to create a brand campaign. Gillette and Unilever created a campaign where they invited influencers (e.g. YouTube creators, Twitch streamers, Instagrammers) to be “hair removal specialists” and groom their beards indoors. By partnering with the right brands, Gillette was able to successfully introduce their Gillette Shaving Collection and increase brand awareness. By finding the right brands, Gillette was able to successfully execute its product marketing strategy and increase brand awareness.
Summary
Product marketing is becoming increasingly more important as the consumer landscape continues to change. With increased competition and an over-saturated market, companies need to work harder to stand out from the crowd. Product marketing campaigns can help you achieve this, by providing a better insight into what your company does, who it’s for, and why your product is different from the rest.
SaaS Product Marketing
SaaS companies need to market their products continuously. Marketing activities like website creation, SEO, and content marketing are important, but your SaaS product marketing strategy should go further than that. It needs to be more detailed and actionable so you can target the right users at the right time with the right message. To create a winning SaaS product marketing strategy, you must understand your target audience, identify their needs and how your product fulfills those needs, develop an overall brand identity for your company and its products, and define the roles of each team member in the process and establish measurable goals for measuring success. With this in mind, here are ways you can improve your SaaS product marketing strategy to give you the best possible chance of success with minimum effort.
Define your target audience
Before you can create a winning product marketing strategy, you must identify your target audience. This will help you identify the needs of your customers and the language they use to search for solutions. Next, you need to create personas that represent your ideal customers. Personas are made up of demographics, psychographics, and behavioral traits. Demographics include location, age, and gender. Behavioral traits are user activities and attitudes that are influenced by the environment. Psychographics are long-lasting mental traits that affect the way people process information. If you don’t know who your target audience is, you won’t know what to say to them. You won’t know what type of content they want to consume, how they like to be contacted, or how they make purchasing decisions. Collecting information about your target audience doesn’t have to be a one-off process. You can revise your data as often as needed to keep it current.
Create a user journey map
A user journey map is a visual representation of your ideal customer’s path to discovery, consideration, and purchase. It allows you to see the various stages of your customers’ paths to conversion and where there are any bottlenecks. Your product marketing strategy should extend beyond the product to include the customer’s journey to purchase. This journey includes their search for information, their path to discovery of your product, their consideration of various products and brands, and their decision-making process. A user journey map can include things like customer behavior, customer pain points, customer search terms, customer conversion rates and paths, customer acquisition channels, customer retention rates, customer segmentation, customer satisfaction surveys, and product usage data.
Establish measurable goals
You should have a list of measurable goals for your product marketing strategy. These will enable you to measure the success of your efforts and see where improvements can be made. You should set goals for brand awareness, leads generated, customer satisfaction, product adoption, and features used. For example, if you want more leads, your goal should be to generate 100 leads every month. When you reach 100 leads, it’s time to set a new goal. You should also have short-term and long-term goals. Short-term goals should be quantifiable while long-term goals should be measurable in terms of the impact they have on your business.
Produce high-quality content
Content is king when it comes to SaaS product marketing strategy. Customers today are much more likely to buy from a company if they have already had positive experiences through their interactions with that company. You can do this by creating and sharing top-notch content that your target audience finds useful. The type of content you produce depends on your audience, your product, and your brand. You can create text articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, images, e-books, newsletters, or any other type of content you think will resonate with your audience. Top-notch content is the best investment you can make in your product marketing strategy. Investing in content creation will help you attract more leads, increase your product adoption rate, and improve your product conversions.
Establish lead generation strategies
Lead generation strategies help you collect leads and direct them towards conversion. This is an important part of your product marketing strategy. There are various ways you can generate leads for your product, such as:
- Hosting events to attract new leads and educate existing customers
- Conducting surveys to identify pain points and gather feedback
- Creating content that educates customers about their challenges and how your product can help them
- Creating a referral program to incentivize existing customers to refer new customers to your product
- Creating a rewards program that allows customers to get discounts or other incentives for referring new customers to your product
- Running a contest to encourage customers to perform specific tasks that help promote your product
- Creating a robust customer support program to encourage customers to reach out to you for assistance
Ad campaign to test demand
A surefire way to know whether or not your product marketing strategy is working is to run an ad campaign to test demand for your product. Before you begin, it’s important to choose the right marketing channels for your product. You should know the type of people who use your product, the language they use to search for solutions, and how much they’re willing to spend on your product. You should also know the type of content your audience likes to consume, and you should be familiar with the different marketing channels. You can use the following channels to test demand for your product:
- Facebook ads
- Google search ads
- LinkedIn ads
- Retargeting ads
- Email marketing campaigns
Summary
Your SaaS product marketing strategy doesn’t end with product creation. As your company grows, your strategy must grow with it. You must continually update your strategy to reflect changes in your company, your product, your customers, and the market as a whole. Once you’ve created an effective product marketing strategy, you can start drawing more people towards your product. You can increase your conversion rates and get more sales by following these tips.
B2B Product Marketing
When it comes to B2B marketing, product marketing is a key part of the process. You need to understand your target market, identify their problems and find ways to solve them with your company’s products. It’s not as easy as it seems though… It’s much different than B2C marketing. While you want consumers to buy your products and services as a consumer, they aren’t the end users of your products — businesses are. The steps you take and the strategies you employ need to be tailored for business-to-business audiences instead of individuals. In this section, we will share six tips for effective B2B product marketing that will help get your business on their minds so they can buy from you more often in the future!
Educate Your Audience
Before you start promoting your products, it’s important to first educate your audience about the problems you’re solving with your products. If you do this, you’ll make it easier for your prospects and customers to see how your products can solve their problems and make their lives better. You can do this in many ways:
- Create buyer personas for your B2B customers. This will help you understand them better and know what their problems are.
- Create an educational piece about the problems you solve.
- Create a product guide that explains how to use your products.
- Create a white paper about your industry.
Define Your Brand Voice and Persona
You have a brand persona, right? This is the personality of your brand as seen through your marketing efforts: your website, your social media content, your emails and more. But, do you have a brand voice?
- A brand voice is the actual words you use, not just the marketing visuals.
- It can be challenging to nail down your brand voice, especially if you’re a B2B business.
- Your brand voice needs to fit with your industry’s key terms and jargon, but avoid sounding too salesy.
Use B2B Marketing Data
You need B2B marketing data to know how your campaigns are performing and how you can improve them for better results. This data will help you answer questions such as:
- You’re not conducting research just for kicks. You want to know what your audience wants, what to avoid marketing-wise, where your shortcomings lie, etc.
- You want to know what works for your target market: what marketing channels they use, what language they prefer to read, what websites they visit, how often they engage with your content, how much time they spend on each page, etc.
- Only by collecting this data will you be able to create more effective marketing campaigns, have better website copy and content, and make decisions based on data-backed facts.
Show How You’re Different
You may be wondering how to show your prospects you’re different. Here’s what we mean:
- You need to demonstrate that you are an expert in your industry and an authority in your niche.
- You want to show what sets you apart from your competitors.
- You want prospects and customers to know why they should buy from you and not them.
- You want to show that you bring added value to their lives.
Be Transparent
You probably won’t find a B2B marketer who isn’t transparent. You want to be transparent in your product marketing and all other areas of your business. Being transparent is one way to instantly win over your prospects and customers.
- You want to be honest about your company’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the products and services you offer.
- You don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver. You want to keep your promises and expectations high.
- You want to show that you’re trustworthy and that your products are trustworthy.
Provide Value
One of the best ways to stand out in B2B marketing is to provide value to your prospects and customers. Provide information that will help them succeed with their businesses, make more money, save time, etc.
- You can do this in your marketing, on your website and in your emails.
- You want to show them why they should trust you with their business and their money.
- You want to give them the information they need to succeed.
SEEK SIGMA assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this site. The information contained in this site is provided on an "as is" basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness.