Bottom Line Up Front: If you’re looking to optimize your profits this year, Product Marketing is the strategy for you. InkSoft co-Founder JP Hunt breaks down the core principles — and gives you a whole lot of real-world implementation techniques — in this Webinar.
We’re in the business of decorated apparel. Of customizing branded goods for organizations of all kinds, in all industries.
We’re in the business of turning an idea, a vision, into a product.
But if you think that we’re only in the business of product, you’re dead wrong.
Sure, your offerings might be t-shirts and water bottles. Sure, your pitches might focus on the technical benefits of one physical material, or one printing technique. But the truth is, your customers aren’t coming to you — they’re not listening to you — because of the products.
They’re coming to you, and they’re listening to you, because of what those products represent.
A way to increase brand exposure. A way to boost morale. A way to further their brand identity, foster their brand community, and achieve more organic marketing opportunities than ever before.
In our newest Webinar, InkSoft co-Founder JP Hunt breaks down the truth behind value. The truth behind not just offering your customers a product, but offering them a solution. Because that’s what each of you do — whether you realize it or not.
Product Marketing is the strategy of optimizing your profits through building out the value of your products. It doesn’t require you to only deal in luxury, and it doesn’t require you to throw exaggerated, sales-esque verbiage into the air over and over again.
What it does require you to do is rethink your own business. Reframe your own products. And spend more time reflecting on what it is — really — that you’re offering your customers.
Because they all come to you for a reason. And with Product Marketing, you’re better equipped to leverage it. .
The Webinar Recap
The first Product Marketing Webinar of a promised many, Hunt kicks off the hour-long program by introducing it as the foundation to understanding the strategy as a whole.
It’s the full, overarching picture — which means it touches on just about everything, in broad strokes. (The zoomed-in details? Those will come in future Webinars.)
The Webinar was grounded in six key angles:
- Creating more value in products
- Creating urgency in selling
- Harnessing the power of storytelling
- Pricing strategies to preserve profits
- Developing a winning product mix
- Product positioning
And, as always, the theoretical was coupled with real-world examples, actionable tips, and clear-cut approaches for quick and easy implementation. For the full package, head here to access the Webinar now.
Otherwise, join us for the summarized brief below — we’ll get you the bare basics, whetting your appetite until you have sixty minutes for the real thing.
Bare Basics: Product Marketing
The bottom line of Product Marketing is this: when you find the point of convergence with your Sales efforts, your Marketing efforts, and your Product efforts, that’s your strategy.
That’s the epicenter of your value-building, and that’s the intersection where your storytelling flourishes.
In order to achieve the highest, most consistent, and most relevant degree of value, you’ve got to make sure each of those efforts — Sales, Marketing, and Product — is aligned. You’ve got to make sure they’re speaking directly to your target audience, and you’ve got to make sure they make sense for your distinct value proposition.
In other words: do your efforts match up with what makes your business unique? Do they align with what your target customer is looking for? And do they make you stand out in the crowded marketplace?
When you wield your Product Marketing strategy the right way, you check all of those boxes — and then some. You reach your fullest sales potential, you optimize your profitability, and you do all of that while impressing your customers.
So, with all of that said, let’s dive into some of the big angles.
- Creating more value in products
This doesn’t mean changing anything about the physical product, and it doesn’t mean fabricating nonsense in order to get your customers to pay more. So what does it mean? It means that you stop thinking about your products as just products, and start thinking about them in terms of what they provide — beyond the physical sense.
Ask yourselves these questions: What creates value for your customers? What value do you deliver? How can you add value better than the alternatives?
If you’re selling branded t-shirts to a nonprofit organization, really think hard about that value. First, there’s brand exposure — everyone who signs up for a (virtual) event receives a t-shirt. Second, there’s reward-driven marketing — those who fundraise below $500 get a white t-shirt, and those who raise over $500 get a yellow t-shirt, increasing desire to raise more. Third, there’s a vehement expansion in digital marketing opportunities — as all participants are encouraged to snap pictures of themselves at the event (even if remote), wearing the t-shirts, with the right hashtags.
All of that’s to say — for the umpteenth time — that you’re selling more than just a t-shirt. You’re selling marketing power. You’re selling fundraising power. And when you showcase that intrinsic product value to your customers, they’ll be more than willing to pay a higher price.
To get the full breakdown, including more tips & techniques for this very angle, check out the Webinar.
- Creating more urgency in selling
Urgency is like its own superpower — when it’s used correctly. It can drive demand, it can drive purchase commitment, and it can drive brand intrigue; when customers are moved to action, odds are they’re also moved to tell their network (coworkers/friends/family) about the brand that has them excited.
The number one question you should be asking yourself here is: How are people persuaded to make decisions?
Here are some prompts for you to consider:
- Authority: As consumers, we follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts.
- Consensus: As consumers, we trust — and follow — the choices that those around us are making. Especially when they voice their satisfaction.
- Scarcity: As consumers, we’re not more evolved than our primal brain — if we fear that we’re about to miss out on an opportunity that will bring us pleasure, we act before that can happen.
Let’s apply those prompts to a selling example. You’re pitching a new corporate prospect on a product bundle you’ve designed for Working-From-Home employees, as a way to boost morale (and enhance brand identity, brand exposure, and brand community concurrently). You’ve refined and showcased the intrinsic value in the products, and now you’re looking to propel the prospect — who seems interested — into action.
First, lay down your authority. “For the past 6 months, we’ve taken note of the bundles that offer the most value — both from a product standpoint, and from a marketing standpoint. Based on our 30 years of industry experience, this is the bundle we’d recommend to enhance virtual workplace morale — while boosting your marketing prowess.”
Second, bring in the consensus. “Not only does this bundle win the most votes from industry experts like us, but it’s also been the undisputed customer favorite.” Pick out specific pieces of feedback or public testimonials that prove your point, or show off some social media posts that have employees wearing the swag. The more social proof you can integrate here, the better.
Third, apply scarcity. Let the prospect know that you’re almost out of the products needed for the recommended bundle — and that if they don’t order imminently, the next guy will take it. Let them know that they can always access the less popular bundle — or wait until you get the products back in stock again.
That’s our bare-bones summary of Angle #2 — and believe us when we say, we haven’t even skimmed the surface. For the full lowdown (including some thought-leadership arguments, real-world examples — ahem, Yeezy’s — and tips for deploying InkSoft features), check out the Webinar now.
- Harnessing the power of storytelling
When you think “˜storytelling,’ product storytelling may not be the first use-case you fall on. But it’s a big one — and it packs a huge punch for what your business can achieve profit-wise. So listen close.
Today (more than ever), consumers are used to getting their facts online. They’re used to browsing, learning, and deciding whether or not to act based on — get this — the first 15 seconds they spend scanning the content.
What does that mean for you? That you better know your products’ stories — and be able to showcase them — quickly, succinctly, and accurately. And in a way that incites action.
Here are the questions you should be asking: Why was this product made? What needs was it designed to fill? Who was it made for? What makes it unique — and better than any alternatives available?
In your pitches, in your proposals, and in your Online Stores, your messaging serves a purpose beyond just providing the technical information. It’s there to reveal the human side of things — the story that makes each product more unique, and more value-heavy, than the last.
Because as we know, the product is never just the product. The product is the solution. And your product stories — whether a 50 word description, a 10-minute verbal pitch, or a full proposal deck — are your chance to show it off.
For a detailed listing of what your messaging should and shouldn’t be doing, how to get to know your audience, and the biggest mistakes to avoid, listen to the full Webinar now.
The Wrap Up — For Now
But wait — we only covered three of the six angles! We only touched on the basics, and we didn’t begin to get to all of the tips, techniques, and real-world applications that the strategy calls for!
That’s true. But it’s also true that inside the Webinar, all of the insight — all of the facts, the arguments, and the approaches — are waiting. Explained with passion by JP Hunt (who actually has a Marketing Degree himself), this Webinar is the real deal.
It’ll illuminate, it’ll answer your questions, and it’ll get you thinking creatively. And it’ll do all of that in just 60 minutes.
You heard about the first three angles:
- Creating more value in products
- Creating urgency in selling
- Harnessing the power of storytelling
Now let’s get to the rest of them:
- Pricing strategies to preserve profits
- Developing a winning product mix
- Product positioning
They’re all set to go — whenever you are. So take our word for it: this is one Webinar that you don’t want to miss. It’ll change how you think about your products, how you run your business, and how you qualify your sales.
And the best part? It’ll impact your profitability — as soon as you start implementing the techniques into practice.
So get listening. Get thinking. And get reframing. With Product Marketing by your side, your potential is limitless.
Watch it here.
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