“Nobody sent Steve Jobs an email 10 years ago saying that they needed an iPhone or an iPad.” – Dominique Turpin.
At the heart of business, one of the key drivers behind innovation lies marketing. The statement above encapsulates the cycle of conception, realisation and dissemination. In other words, coming up with an idea, making it real and then getting everyone to believe how great it is. Then, go back to thinking of how it can be improved and starting again.
The third part of the cycle is arguably the most important. You can’t sell a product when nobody else thinks it’s a great idea. You have to create the desire, the hype and the need for your product, particularly if you have conceived something innovative and unique.
The aim of business is to sell to customers who don’t actually want nor need what you are selling until you successfully inform them that they cannot live without it. This blank canvas can be daunting as you attempt to market your products and services to an audience that doesn’t need it.
Make them need you
You need to create need for your company’s service because until you do, it won’t exist. The best products and services were not predicted by consumers and were not marketed to suit meet existing demand. Steve Jobs masterminded the iPhone and iPad without a hint from customers that they needed them: they didn’t need them. Innovation is not about meeting needs, it is about creating them.
Identify a problem frequently experienced by your target audience. How does what you are selling solve this problem? Identify the benefits of your offer. People will not pay for products or services they don’t need, but they will pay for something that will make their lives easier.
In applying this kind of thinking to your marketing and sales strategies, you establish your product as something that people – your target audience – do need.
It’s not about you
The key thing to remember when it comes to marketing your product is that you need to get over yourself. Your product is boring and no one wants to hear about it.
In retaliation for the public basically rejecting your product as irrelevant before they even hear about it, you must appeal to their baser instincts: greed, pride, wants and materialism. Make them believe that they need what you are selling by talking about how it will benefit the person using it. This way, you define your target audience. You already know what these people find annoying, boring and uncool because you can match these criteria to the benefits of your product.
Make it sexy
Some industries such as IT or Call Answering services are boring, unsexy and do not, generally speaking, make headlines. But when marketed to the right audience using the right approach, they become a necessity.
For a business owner who is fed up of dealing with technical issues, the idea of having a dedicated team on hand to handle those technology related challenges becomes very interesting. Suddenly something they found very annoying to have to deal with becomes about saving money and time without sacrificing professionalism.
Focusing on your audience’s needs, rather than promoting your services, also helps you project a customer-focused image. Placing emphasis on customer experience and highlighting your dedication to those who buy from you also makes you more appealing as a brand, as well as a vendor.
Your customers don’t know what they want, except that they want benefits and looking after. If you can offer them that, you can sell them anything.
Do you have any technology related challenge? Let us know! We’re more than happy to help and share our expertise.
This article was brought to you in collaboration with alldayPA, a UK-based 24 hour call answering service provider, answering your calls in your company name 365 days a year.