Launching a new product into the market comes with many challenges, especially for startups. For existing businesses and known brands, introducing a new product or service is a lot easier and less challenging since many people already know about the business. However, for startups, it is a different story entirely. Startup product marketing is usually difficult for obvious reasons – lack of awareness, lack of public trust, limited budget, etc.
In this article, we will provide you with tips on how startups can market their products. However, before we go into that, let’s talk about what product marketing means.
What is product marketing?
You hear many people use the term ‘product marketing’ but only a few actually know what it means. Product marketing simply refers to the process of getting a product to market. In other words, it has to do with introducing a product to the public. The major goal of product marketing is to get people to buy and use the product. Product marketing doesn’t stop at getting a product to market, it goes beyond that. It encompasses getting a target audience to know about the product, how to use the product, and more. An effective product marketing campaign should have the following:
Target an audience. An effective product marketing campaign should be able to reach a particular target audience.
Produce content. A good campaign should produce marketing tools like review opportunities, press releases, and more.
Use multiple avenues. An effective campaign should use various media platforms like email marketing, search engine optimization, traditional ad campaigns, affiliate marketing, and social media campaigns.
Tips on how to market a new product or service
There are tons of options available when it comes to startup product marketing. However, different businesses require different marketing options. What works for one business may not work for another. Startups in particular are very peculiar, they require the best and most effective product marketing options. Let’s take a look at some of the most effective ways startups can market their products or services.
Special introductory offer
Who wouldn’t like to get the best deals on their purchases? Your guess is as good as ours – NOBODY! Everyone is looking for ways to cut down costs on purchases, once they come across a good deal, they jump at it. You can use this to your advantage as a startup owner. Offer special introductory deals on your products or services to attract potential customers. This can help build fast recognition for your new brand. You can offer special deals on products in the following ways:
- Voucher with purchase
- Discounted pricing
- Buy 1 or 2 and get an additional one for free
- Free special gift for customers who spend up to a particular amount
Product SEO
This product marketing method is particularly good for new businesses in the eCommerce sector. Implementing search engine optimization (SEO) on your website’s product pages can help give your products or services the much-needed push and visibility.
Using SEO on product pages will help boost the ranking of your products on search engine results pages. With improved ranking comes more visibility for your products. Whenever a user searches for related products, your product pages will come up in the search results. Even though SEO takes a while before you start seeing results, it is very effective in the long run.
Share customer reviews
One of the most effective ways of marketing your new product or service is to let others do the talking for you. Reports have shown that 84% of buyers trust online reviews. This goes to show how effective online reviews can be for promoting a new product or service. You can ask those who have previously purchased your product or service to drop an online review. Since many people trust online reviews, they will be motivated by the reviews from previous buyers to try your product or service.
With this, you don’t have to do much talking and convincing about your products, you let others do it for you.
Use email marketing
Many consumers tend to open emails received from businesses. Email marketing is a fantastic way to generate new leads for your new products. The first thing you need to do is to build your email list. To do this, you can place a newsletter signup form on your website to collect the email addresses of visitors to your site. Once you have enough email addresses, you can conduct an email campaign.
For best results when running an email campaign, you need to include offers or promotions in the subject line of your email. Doing this will help increase open rates. Many recipients will want to read your email if the subject line is catchy. Also, in the content of your email, focus more on the value people will derive from the product. Don’t bore them excessively with the features of the product.
Run social media ads
Social media platforms attract over a billion users every day. Many people can’t go a day without checking either their Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or Snapchat account. It has simply become a daily ritual for many. You can use this to your advantage. The majority of social media platforms offer paid ads for businesses. These social media ads serve different purposes. Whether you’re looking to create awareness for a new product or looking to drive traffic to your website, there is an ad type for you. Furthermore, these paid ads are designed with audience targeting options that allow you to reach any specific group.
If your new product is designed for a specific group of people, social media ads would help you reach them easily. Social media ads are instantaneous in terms of results. In other words, they produce fast results. These types of ads are also measurable. You can see how people are reacting and engaging with your ads at every point in time. Finally, social media ads are very flexible and give great returns on investment. You can never go wrong with these ad types.
Post on social media platforms
If you are operating on a limited budget or cannot afford social media ads, you can simply use your business social media accounts to spread the word about your new product. However, for this to be effective, you must have a large follower base. The more followers you have, the better your results would be. Publish new posts about the product on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms, let people know what they would derive from buying the product. Do this consistently over some time to create awareness for the product or service.
Organize a social media contest
Running a social media contest will provide you with an easy way to connect with your customers. Aside from that, it also helps you to bring more prospects for your business. You can even use this to drive traffic to your website.
Write a blog post
When promoting a new product or service, writing a blog post about it can help. In the post, make sure you talk about the benefits and features of the product. Share links to the blog post via your emails and social media channels
Conclusion
Startup product marketing doesn’t necessarily have to be a daunting task. You just need to make sure you use the right product marketing techniques. The right techniques will help build awareness for your products fast. The above-mentioned product marketing techniques can help give your new product or service the needed push and awareness.
So which of the above-mentioned product marketing technique is the most effective for a new product or service? The truth is, they are all effective. However, for best results, you should combine multiple techniques. Don’t just rely on a single technique.
