Posted By
Jamie Beckland on 09/02/2010
In
defining a digital marketing strategy for your business, you need to make sure
the product itself can pass muster. I’m not trying to shunt responsibility from
digital marketers, but the reality is that you have to have something with a
clear customer benefit in order to make marketing that sings. Therefore, the
real question is, “How does a product become compelling?”
The
first thing is to be sure your product solves a problem. That problem needs to
be large enough that it affects many people. This is a simple framework, but
it’s surprising how often it’s overlooked. Since solutions are often designed
by committee, the tendency is to bloat the solution to fit all possible
scenarios. But no successful company was ever built by boiling the ocean. Focus
on just boiling a teakettle.
Iterative
solution design is the key to this process. Agile software development and SaaS
solutions are good examples of iterative approaches. Consumer products also
iterate. If you remember the original Swiffer, it was a simple, rather utilitarian
tool for dry dirt only. The new Swiffer mop expands on that original idea. The
user adds a bottle of cleaning solution, which solves a different problem than
does the original Swiffer: hauling around gross dirty buckets of water.
So, at
the heart of a compelling product is an understanding
of your customer and their needs. That understanding is also key to a
successful digital marketing strategy. That’s why direct customer research is
an important first step. White Horse often does primary user research with
clients to better understand how users perceive their products or services and
how to successfully differentiate them.
Brands
that invest in understanding customer needs are at a distinct advantage in
producing successful digital marketing strategies. Search-oriented behavior
explains this well. Users go to Google to find the best answer to a question
they have or a problem they are trying to solve. If your product is a natural
fit, organic search ranking will prove that handily—validating a research-based
approach.
Tags: User Personas, Online Brand Development, Usability Evaluations, User Research
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