If you have a great new product, you have the beginnings of a business. However, it's just as important to market a product properly as it is to develop it. According to Richard Levy, inventor of the popular toy Furby, 90 percent of an invention's success is marketing it and getting it out. Many new business owners sometimes place too much emphasis on their product's superior features and spend too little money and energy on letting the world know about their product through effective marketing. Don't make this same mistake in your company or your product may not have the success that you desire.
Market and Competitive Research
Products in the market compete against items made by competitors and against alternative products that address the same need. In order to successfully market your product, you need to know what you are up against. Ask yourself who your competitors are and find out their corporate and product strengths and weaknesses. Research how they and their products are perceived by your target market. Be familiar with their pricing relative to yours and what sales channels they use.
Research your target market so that you know reach them and appeal to them. Profile your target market along demographic and "psychographic" lines so that you have a good grasp on who they are and how they feel and think, according to Entrepreneur.com.
The Right Marketing Message
Once you understand your target market's needs, you need to craft a marketing message that will clearly show your demographic audience how your product fulfills their needs or solves their problems. The marketing message starts with the company and product name, continues with the tag line or slogan and flows into all of your marketing communication.
In order to get the right marketing message, brainstorm about all of your company's and product's features, benefits and advantages. Also, write down the problems that it will solve for the customer and the emotions that are associated with it.
Next, distill your brainstorming session into an elevator pitch, which is what you would say if you meet a prospective client in an elevator and you only have the time between floors to describe what you do in a compelling way. All other marketing pieces will expand on the same message, adding more detail about the company, the product's features and benefits and other relevant information, like testimonials.
The Right Media
Spread your marketing message. Your market research will inform you about who your target market is and where they congregate. Your type of product, price point and budget will give you an idea of the kinds of media that you will use. If your products are luxury yachts, limit your marketing to direct mail in exclusive neighborhoods and magazines targeted at the wealthy. On the other hand, if you are selling a kitchen gadget for healthy cooking, use a combination of infomercials, retail sales distribution and online marketing.
Once you start advertising and marketing, evaluate the effectiveness of each ad and media type. If one kind of marketing is outperforming another, it makes sense to spend more on the effective one and less or nothing on the one that's not working. By continually monitoring your marketing results, you can fine tune your message and media buys to reach and motivate more prospective customers of your product.
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