Not every business enjoys the luxury of selling a product with obvious benefits. After all, it’s easier to market certain items than it is others. That’s partially because everyone can see the value of, say for instance, a new car. (You get better gas mileage with a new car, don’t have to take the bus, can go really fast, can take the road trip of your dreams in it, etc.) Conversely, it’s a lot more difficult to demonstrate the appeal of a new muffler. If you don’t know anything about how your engine operates, you’d have no idea the benefits a new muffler provides to the overall functionality of your vehicle. However, as every good entrepreneur appreciates, a major part of successfully marketing your business is simply letting your customers know what your product does –– and how it can help them. With that in mind, today we’re going to explore four ways companies can market cutting-edge, abstruse, or just plain weird products and ensure that your consumer base appreciates them as much as you do:
Bring in a Professional
Guest-posting has long been lauded as a fantastic way to make sure your website remains vibrant and well-read within your industry. Indeed, bringing in a trusted professional voice to write on your site is a tremendous method to increase the readership on your blog. Additionally, you can also use an expert to introduce or explain how a new product works. Sometimes they’ll be able to offer a level of sophistication to their description that you couldn’t reach on your own. This is especially beneficial for tech-related products that may include intricate parts or features.
Write a Case Study
Assuming your product or service really does offer game-changing possibilities, one of the best ways to let the world know about it is to give your current customers a platform to speak out. For instance: who better than a teacher to extol the virtues of a digital grading platform? Including client testimonials on your website or your social media pages is a good start, but if you really want to attract qualified leads, consider writing a case study about a particularly successful customer-interaction. Well-crafted case studies provide a leads with a resource they can use to develop a deeper understanding of your product, service, and industry. Plus, case studies allow companies to speak with greater freedom about the efficacy of a certain product. Rather than trying to get an ornate point across in a 100 character advertisement, case studies enable a business to address the technical aspects of their work in detail.
Make a Video
Videos are like manna from heaven for B2B businesses struggling to demonstrate the power of their new product. At a certain point, words alone often fail to adequately express how well an obscure product truly functions. You could write fifteen blogs about how 384 well plates will improve the efficiency of a testing center; or you could simply release one video displaying how a scientist uses them to conduct a drug test. Remember, showing is almost always better than telling when it comes to marketing.
Highlight the Solutions
Rather than attempting to explain how your product works, sometimes the better marketing tactic might be to focus on why a given product makes a customer’s life easier. Take a look back to older products for inspiration. Did anyone really understand how a fax machine functioned? No. Yet, nearly every office for thirty-plus years had one. Why? Because they were useful. If you’ve got a complex product, don’t even bother focusing on how it solves a problem. Instead, just emphasize the solution it presents. At the end of the day, no one really cares how a plane gets off the ground. So long as they get where they’re going on time, no one will question the methodology. Think of your product in the same way and you’ll likely strike onto a successful marketing strategy sooner than later.
Kidal Delonix is a contributor to Mr. Hoffman's blog. The views and opinions are entirely his/her own and may not reflect Mr Hoffman's views.
