ebook Product 2 Market How to Market a New Product and Introduce New Features

Transcription

1 ebook Product 2 Market How to Market a New Product and Introduce New Features

2 Table of Contents Chapter 1: 5 Effective Ways to Launch a New Product Chapter 2: How to Properly Market a New Feature Chapter 3: Product Marketing for Boosting Lead Generation Chapter 4: Positioning Your Product in a Competitive Market Chapter 5: Case Study: WalkMe Product Marketing

3 Chapter 1: 5 Effective Ways to Launch a New Product The online environment can be a very good launching pad for new products and services, provided you know how to use them. Here are 5 of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to launch new product online: 1. Use Social Media Effectively Today, most online marketing campaigns rely on the use of social media: it is cheap, efficient and it allows businesses to reach millions of people through one channel. Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr and Google+ are some of the most efficient social media outlets, as they allow you to launch a new product simply, keep an eye of the mentions of your product or service, and respond to customer queries and so on. Social media can benefit your business on several different levels: not only can it help you make a product more visible and increase sales, but it also allows you to build a social presence and to manage the reputation of your business. Nonetheless, relying on social networking platforms alone will not do too much good, as this tactic must be used along with other online marketing strategies for the best results. 2. Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Optimization (commonly referred to as SEO) is also extremely popular, given that it is free of cost and it can help you increase the ranking of your website quickly and efficiently. This strategy involves the use of several different optimization techniques that will increase the visibility of the product you are trying to market. Search engine optimization involves the use of keywords in key spots (in the title of the product, the product description, first and last paragraph etc., link building strategies, guest blogging and such. As a matter of fact, few people know that social media marketing is also a part of the SEO process, as every link you share on Facebook,

4 Twitter and other social platforms can help you increase the ranking of your website. However, it is important to focus only on legitimate SEO techniques (white hat techniques) such as the ones mentioned above, and to avoid bad SEO techniques (black had techniques) like keyword stuffing, otherwise Google will punish your website or product and lower its ranking. 3. Make The Product Appealing Unless you come up with a truly innovative product that will shock your audience, you will need to put time and effort into making it as appealing as possible. Think of something that will add a touch of uniqueness to your product, such as a funny video or an advertising technique that stuns the audience. It is important to do something unusual, something your audience does not see every day if you want to make your product very popular starting with the release cycle. 4. Offer Giveaways And Promotional Products Focus on the strengths of your product or service: what makes it different than the product of your competitor? Find the strong points and market them in such a way that they will benefit your business. At the same time, many brands offer free trials and downloads, free tutorials, demos and other promotional products that stimulate the audience and keep customers interested in what you have to offer. This can create an initial interest in the product while after testing the service, the user becomes a newfound customer. 5. Use Pay-Per-Click Advertising Unlike the two other techniques mentioned above, which involve little to no investment, Pay-Per-Click (or simply PPC) does involve an investment, but the good news is that you will get a return on investment (ROI) before you even know it. PPC is one of the most efficient online advertising/marketing solutions, given the fact that it benefits both the advertiser and the one who is being marketed to: the business benefits from brand recognition and increased sales while the publisher receives a certain sum of money for every ad click. Moreover, implementing PPC on a website takes no more than several minutes, and the benefit of PPC is that it only displays

5 targeted ads; ads that are relevant to the overall content of the website in question. Chapter 2: How to Properly Market a New Feature We live in a world where technology advances at an extremely fast pace, and businesses struggle to keep up. As a result, businesses continue to add new features and functions to their products without proper marketing. These features could boost productivity, improve services or improve customer satisfaction, but without suitable introduction and marketing they ll go unused. Implementing a new feature is anything but easy, as the businesses need to educate both their customers and their employees on how to use them. Here is a brief overview of the most effective tactics to market a new feature: 1. Informative s Companies should never underestimate the power of . It still remains one of the fastest, efficient, reliable, and cost-effective ways to introduce a new feature. In an instant you can reach your entire user base. The only issue with this strategy is encouraging your customers to open and read the content. A 7% open rate won t really introduce your new feature. Make sure to pay special attention to the subject line and provide step-by-step instructions within the body of the . An informative will clearly and simply explain the new feature and why it improves the overall product. 2. WalkMe and Other Tutorials While it is true that s can work magic, people respond better when they re actually shown how to use a new feature. This also conveniently fixes the read-rate problem about reaching your customers. Nonetheless, for a tutorial to reach its purpose it must be properly designed and implemented only this way it can truly teach the user how to use the feature right away.

6 WalkMe is a great choice in terms of informative, step-by-step tutorials. The software will clearly demonstrate how to properly use a new feature. Also, with the condition tool inside WalkMe, users can be notified on their first visit. The same technique is used by Google when they introduce new features inside Gmail. On the other hand, the tutorial can also come with a call-to-action, a message that will persuade the user to find out more about the feature in question. Informing the user about the new feature may not be enough, as they must understand the usefulness of the feature. This is where WalkMe steps in and thoroughly explains to the user what the new feature involves and how it can add value to the product or service. 3. Highlight Last, but not least, another efficient and straightforward way to inform a user about a new feature is to simply highlight it. Pop-up notifications are very useful, although they can be disregarded and/or only a small number of users explore the notifications and become familiar with the new feature. This does involve more effort from the user, but the final result is worth it, especially if the pop-up also comes with a brief yet straightforward training program. CH. 3 How To Look At The Competition And Position Your Online Product Accordingly Today s market is not only very complex, but highly competitive as well. This is one of the main reasons why more than half of newly founded businesses fail within the first few years. It is essential to come up with an innovative product and to market it the best way you can. In the end, what is the purpose of launching a product on the market if nobody knows it is there? The secret is to advertise it correctly and to be one step ahead of your competition. You can only achieve this through high-quality product positioning and effective competitive analysis. Analyzing your main competitors can turn out to be more productive than some might think. You can understand where their business is

7 headed, how they advertise their products, how they reward loyal customers and so on. Analyzing your competition and using the data to redefine your marketing strategy can launch you forward and gain a serious market advantage. It is not uncommon for tech companies, for instance, to analyze the marketing efforts and the new features of their products in order to come up with something better and more efficient. Regardless of your business niche, the chances are other business sell as a similar product as yours. Having said that, how do you get your product noticed and how do you persuade your audience to pick your product and not your competitions? If you sell skateboards, for instance, then your target market consists mainly of teenagers who are passionate about skating. It is important to identify the strongest feature of your product and to exploit it to the maximum. This will get you additional visibility and credibility. Feature vs. Feature It is natural for businesses to struggle and then, in turn, to develop new and more efficient features. However, if your competition breaks the ice with a cutting-edge function which has gained the media s attention, you can use that in your best interest. How does the media frame the release of this new feature? How do customers receive the new feature? How did it impact the market? I commonly check the actual press release of the new feature. This shows exactly how the company wants to frame it and the pain-point they believe it fixes. The words and phrases the company use will often give away how they think of the new feature and where they re going next. It Is All About Sending A Message And How You Send It! Messaging is by far the most notable aspect all marketers should focus on. Sending a message is an art and not everybody can do it well. After all, you need a specific talent to make a product original even though it may not have any particular feature that differentiates it from similar products. Customer-focused messaging certainly plays a pivotal role here; however, creating and producing the message itself is anything but easy.

8 Before you move on to designing the ideal marketing message, you need to gather ample unbiased feedback from customers. Launching surveys or questions on social media is fairly simple and productive method for this. This will allow you to learn more about the features your customers are looking for and the aspects they would like you to improve. Creating an effective marketing message relies heavily on a focused message which clearly differentiates your company from competitors. A Closer Look at Competition You never go to war without knowing your enemy, and the same applies to the business industry. Being up-to-date with the latest investments and changes made by your competitors is essential. You should read news and publications, subscribe to newsletters and do anything you need to stay updated with the status of your competition. This, coupled with noteworthy industry analysis should be enough to help you boost your sales, your visibility and your trustworthiness as a business. In order to analyze and monitor your competitors, you must first understand there are three main types of competitors you need to be aware of: direct competitors - sell exactly the same products as you do, under different names. These are the most combative competitors and I highly suggest strongly monitoring them. indirect competitors - also sell the same products or services as you, the only difference is their end purpose differs from yours. replacement competitors - something your customers could choose rather than focusing on your product. They can be just as challenging as the direct competitors, but tend to be an industry as a whole. This is why you must keep in touch with your customers and understand their buying behavior.

9 Chapter 3: Product Marketing for Boosting Lead Generation In product marketing, lead generation is the drive of customer interest in the products or services provided by your business. Leads can be generated in a wealth of different ways, from the use of newsletters, blogs, through events, and more. Product marketing tends to encompass all of the above and has become one of the most efficient ways to generate buyer interest. The end purpose of every business is to generate as many leads as possible: the more leads, the more chances to increase sales. Lead Generation & Product Marketing Product marketing can be a complex process, especially in this highly competitive market. The product marketer can advertise a product in several different ways, such as: webinars social media events feature lists blog posts The product marketer plays a vital role in this entire process. Between clear messaging and positioning, the success of the lead generation efforts can strongly depend on the marketing strategy. Two of the most popular and cost-efficient ways to contribute to these lead gen efforts are white papers and webinars. Webinars are particularly effective, for two reasons: they are easy to create and they live a long time; you can use the recordings for a variety of marketing promotions. The white paper, on the other hand, is a document that offers some value to a potential customer. Successful white papers don t outright sell your product; instead they discuss a relatable problem that your product can solve. Usually white papers need to be authored by an influential or industry-leading professional to gain the necessary credibility. The purpose of both of these techniques (and

10 any other techniques aimed at product marketing) is to help the sales team as much as possible. If a potential customer downloads a white paper aimed a specific pain-point, your sales team will automatically know what angle to discuss. Using content marketing techniques such as blogs can also be a great way for lead generation. However, the hardest part is obtaining reader information. Some blogs have an optional newsletter opt-in which provides a gateway to attain contact information. Blogs, as a whole, are comprehensive, easy to navigate and they deliver to the user the information they are looking for within seconds. Quality content will help with several product marketing responsibilities (more than lead generation) such as positioning and the allure of a market leader. Again, the content lives on the blog forever. A detailed product review can be seen by thousands of people throughout the years. A Closer Look at the Benefits of Content Marketing Content marketing has a series of important benefits and one of the most notable benefits is it can easily help you, the business owner, to attract positive ROI quickly and relatively effortlessly. Besides this, content marketing is not as obtrusive as other advertising or marketing techniques, which can be aggressive and bothersome (such as pop-ups, blinking banner ads, ads embedded in videos, etc.). These ads have a seriously negative impact on the user and market, more than you would initially think. Cleary they can bother the user. However, they will also promote the user to disable cookies and/or use a pop-up blocker which can cripple future marketing techniques such as retargeting. Conversely, content marketing contains useful material readers will look forward to. With quality blogs, webinars, and white papers, your content will spread virally throughout the industry compounding your original reach. Additional Ways to Market a Product and To Generate Leads In addition to webinars, blogging and social media, large organizations use a variety of other tools to market their products to reach a wide audience. Despite the fact that product marketing alone will not generate the entire amount of leads necessary, it does play a vital role in the overall process. The secret lies in the content rather

11 than in the marketing technique. Quality content appeals to the audience, draws their attention and makes them want to find out more. PR articles self-running shows podcasts trade shows brochures data sheets All these are alternative ways to market a product and to generate high-quality leads but without the efforts of a skilled marketing team, all these tactics would be in vain.

12 Chapter 4: Positioning Your Product in a Competitive Market Today s market is not only very complex, but highly competitive as well. This is one of the main reasons why more than half of newly founded businesses fail within the first few years. It is essential to come up with an innovative product and to market it the best way you can. In the end, what is the purpose of launching a product on the market if nobody knows it is there? The secret is to advertise it correctly and to be one step ahead of your competition. You can only achieve this through high-quality product positioning and effective competitive analysis. Analyzing your main competitors can turn out to be more productive than some might think. You can understand where their business is headed, how they advertise their products, how they reward loyal customers and so on. Analyzing your competition and using the data to redefine your marketing strategy can launch you forward and gain a serious market advantage. It is not uncommon for tech companies, for instance, to analyze the marketing efforts and the new features of their products in order to come up with something better and more efficient. Regardless of your business niche, the chances are other business sell as a similar product as yours. Having said that, how do you get your product noticed and how do you persuade your audience to pick your product and not your competitions? If you sell skateboards, for instance, then your target market consists mainly of teenagers who are passionate about skating. It is important to identify the strongest feature of your product and to exploit it to the maximum. This will get you additional visibility and credibility. Feature vs. Feature It is natural for businesses to struggle and then, in turn, to develop new and more efficient features. However, if your competition breaks the ice with a cutting-edge function which has gained the media s attention, you can use that in your best interest. How does the media frame the release of this new feature? How do customers receive the

13 new feature? How did it impact the market? I commonly check the actual press release of the new feature. This shows exactly how the company wants to frame it and the pain-point they believe it fixes. The words and phrases the company use will often give away how they think of the new feature and where they re going next. It Is All About Sending A Message And How You Send It! Messaging is by far the most notable aspect all marketers should focus on. Sending a message is an art and not everybody can do it well. After all, you need a specific talent to make a product original even though it may not have any particular feature that differentiates it from similar products. Customer-focused messaging certainly plays a pivotal role here; however, creating and producing the message itself is anything but easy. Before you move on to designing the ideal marketing message, you need to gather ample unbiased feedback from customers. Launching surveys or questions on social media is fairly simple and productive method for this. This will allow you to learn more about the features your customers are looking for and the aspects they would like you to improve. Creating an effective marketing message relies heavily on a focused message which clearly differentiates your company from competitors. A Closer Look at Competition You never go to war without knowing your enemy, and the same applies to the business industry. Being up-to-date with the latest investments and changes made by your competitors is essential. You should read news and publications, subscribe to newsletters and do anything you need to stay updated with the status of your competition. This, coupled with noteworthy industry analysis should be enough to help you boost your sales, your visibility and your trustworthiness as a business. In order to analyze and monitor your competitors, you must first understand there are three main types of competitors you need to be aware of: direct competitors - sell exactly the same products as you do, under different names. These are the most combative competitors and I highly suggest strongly monitoring them.

14 indirect competitors - also sell the same products or services as you, the only difference is their end purpose differs from yours. replacement competitors - something your customers could choose rather than focusing on your product. They can be just as challenging as the direct competitors, but tend to be an industry as a whole. This is why you must keep in touch with your customers and understand their buying behavior. Chapter 5: Case Study WalkMe Product Marketing As we began to do the product marketing for WalkMe, we had several issues we needed to properly convey to our target. This, as you can imagine, resulted in a lot of trial and error in our messaging and positioning. WalkMe was an industry first to market solution, which subsequently meant we had to pay particularly close attention to our educational messaging to accurately explain the product and features. Let me take you through our messaging process and carefully explain the thought process. 1. Features As marketers, we run the risk of becoming too close to the product, making it harder to take a step back and view it from a first-time users perspective. We thought WalkMe was simple and obvious enough that people would understand the basic premise and thus we devoted our messaging on key features. However, we drastically underestimated the learning curve it would take for potential customers to realize what a robust tool WalkMe can be. For instance, we have a multi-language feature which automatically translates your walkthroughs. We advertised it just as that without going into what value the tool can bring. There was no mention that this tool could help companies penetrate emerging markets or localize their website instantly.

15 On our website, we simply listed out the features in bullet points with minimal explanation. We quickly realized this wasn t portraying WalkMe as an all-encompassing tool, but rather more like a value menu list at a fast food restaurant. Potential customers would have endless questions about features we thought needed no explanation. It s important to take a step back and look at every product with fresh eyes. 2. Values After we realized feature messaging wasn t the right way to go about appealing to potential buyers, we changed gears and focused on the values of WalkMe. Our thought process was, if they realize the value and ROI of WalkMe, they will have to buy. We concentrated our messaging on WalkMe being a great value as a customer support tool, but also helping onboard and train new users as well. This approach proved much more successful than only focusing on features. However, customers still had a lingering question, How? WalkMe is a valuable customer support tool that will lower your costs. How? WalkMe will help onboard new users. How? WalkMe is a great training tool for new employees. How? 3. Features + Values The answer to all the above how questions, we had to go back to discussing WalkMe features. Therefore, we figured the best messaging is an approach that binds features and value messaging. Our website now shows the features with the values in a sort of mathematical formula. Use Feature A to produce Value B. Ex. Use WalkMe s search widget to provide an all-encompassing support hub and keep your customers on your site. Since implementing the new messaging in all of our marketing material we have noticed a considerable increase in inbound sales requests. This surge is likely due to clear messaging combined with a concise value proposition. Buyers can easily gauge how WalkMe will solve one or more pain-points and choose to learn more.

16 With product marketing there s no turnkey activation or blanket template which will work for every company. You need to carefully analyze your product, what pain-points it solves, and how to properly articulate this to your target audience. It s imperative to put yourself in their shoes as you take an unbiased view towards your messaging. About WalkMe WalkMe helps customer support managers to increase self-service adoption, reduce incoming support requests, and lower service costs. Leveraging the WalkMe interactive self-guidance technology, support managers can insure their customers have a simple, smooth & burden-free online experience, eliminating customer confusion and frustration. Through a series of interactive tip balloons overlaid on the screen, tasks are broken down into short, step-by-step guided instructions, which help customers act, react and progress during their online experience. As a result, customer support managers can empower their customers to self-task successfully even through the most complex processes. Moreover, WalkMe reduces your customers frustration of waiting for assistance, shortens the time it takes for support personnel to handle an incoming request and strengthens your company s support reputation. About the Author Kevin Goldberg is the Marketing Director and Product Marketing Specialist at WalkMe. Kevin is also the lead author and editor of a product marketing blog "Product 2 Market". The popular blog has become an open discussion of current strategies, tips, and best practices.

17 Mr. Goldberg is also a regular contributor to leading marketing publications and has been featured in Wired, Business 2 Community, TMCnet, and Yahoo. You can follow him on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn here.