Onward we go with this wonderful topic of marketing! In the last post I discussed marketing for service companies. I described how I identified who my customer was for Dog Walker NYC, where I could be found by them, how to get them over to my website (away from competition) and how to get them to contact me for more info.
Unfortunately it isn't always so easy if you're selling a product no one needs. I should really put some time into describing what I mean by "need" - I'll have to create a post specifically on its nature. As one of my professors at Berklee College of Music put it: "people need food to live, people do not need music to live". Some may disagree with his point but hopefully you get the idea. Consumers are not going to buy your art, hand bag, blanket etc. because they have to have it to keep living.
People do however look for things they love. Maybe it enriches their life, maybe they feel like it says something about who they are. Either way, you as the producer/distributor/creator or your product should put some time into figuring out who is most likely to relate to your product. Other people with a less direct interest could be turned on to it down the road if it crosses over into a mainstream trend, but in the beginning most products are only important to a handful of people.
Ekaweeka may not be the best example of a product in need of marketing. Ekaweeka is mostly a service, but as far as getting people interested, it has been much more along the lines of that product which only serves a handful of people. Since Ekaweeka only serves certain people, and since it is in a highly competitive market, we have to be very aware of who we serve and only focus our efforts on communicating with that audience. So hopefully you know who your product/business serves best and with that in mind, how exactly can you get their attention. The biggest problem with this kind of marketing - that is - marketing to people who don't NEED your product is many companies often tell you to use/try it. Some people might be amenable but most don't like to be told what to do especially if you stand to make a profit from their cooperation. This is where permission based marketing comes into play. People do like to take a swing at stuff especially if they have some kind of interest in it to begin with, but it has to be on their terms.
I need to wrap this up before it feels more like a novella then a blog post, so this will be continued in part 2.b, but get your marketing campaign into brainstorm phase. Know who is most likely to be interested in your product. Then figure out how you can ask them to try it out. If you get their permission they will be much more likely to want to give it a shot - especially if you have asked for some feedback, people love to share their opinion. And the best part about getting feedback is - they will see you are interested in making the product better for them and your product will be loved more when it has been cultivated by the very people it is for.