KEY CONCEPTS AND PREMISES
There are essentially two primary ways to develop and market a product and make it profitable in any industry, including software. For our purposes here, they will simply be referred to as “model A” and “model B.”
Model A
The target audience / potential customer community is first determined before the product is created (or at least finished). Their wants and needs are analyzed, often by communicating with them directly. The product is then developed to meet those specific wants and needs. In this model, the target audience / potential customer community is aware of exactly what the product is before launch. When it launches, they already understand the product and ideally many of them have expressed “buy-in,” which dramatically increases the ease and potential success of marketing and sales.
Model B
A product is created on its own merits or inherited / acquired before a target audience is identified. After the product is complete, a marketing and sales team is brought in to determine the potential customer base with the obvious intention to sell the product and make the project profitable.
Let’s use the analogy of car manufacturing to illustrate what I mean. In model A, ABC Motors determines that mothers with three or more children are their desired target audience / potential customer community. As such, they figure that a minivan or medium-sized SUV is the product that would be most appealing to these potential customers. They build or utilize a community of mothers with children and get their feedback as the product is in development (especially using online and/or social media tools). The minivan or SUV is tailored to their interests, and a buzz is already created among the potential customers about this new family-based vehicle that is specifically designed for their wants and needs. This community of potential customers, many of whom are now excited for the vehicle product to come out, anticipate the launch of the car, and ideally many of them purchase it not long after.
In model B, ABC Motors creates a minivan based on what they believe to be the best family-based vehicle. Once the minivan is completed, they then use their product marketing and business development personnel to determine who might be interested in buying this new minivan. The personnel are now tasked with sorting through all the data of who buys cars (and who doesn’t), in order to determine what segment of the car buying sector might be interested in this new minivan. Once they have identified a probable target audience, they then further research the trends, characteristics, demographics, etc., of that target audience / potential customer community, and create marketing materials and a sales plan to reach them.
Most businesses, especially start-ups, follow model B rather than model A. In my experience (and according to the business development and marketing professionals that I have worked with and/or ascribe to), model A is more efficient and less risky because you know from the beginning exactly who your customers are and exactly what they want or need. This allows you to develop all of your products and marketing accordingly. And in some cases you can even create buy-in and buzz with potential customers before your product is even complete and launched. To be clear, model B absolutely can be successful. However, it is more complicated and therefore the business development and marketing requires more effort. For that reason, I highly recommend that all businesses incorporate some version of model A, or at least a hybrid of A and B, if at all possible.
So how does a company make a product successful using model B? If a company creates or otherwise possesses a product without having a highly-defined target audience / potential customer community beforehand, I would assert that there is realistically only one way to make that product marketable and successful.
The marketing and business development personnel need to sit down with the developers and engineers who created it and invest hours, days, or even weeks to understand every function of that product.
It is generally just not possible to successfully market a product without knowing either everything about the target audience / potential customer community, or everything about the product. Ideally, as much as possible about both should be known as soon as possible. But in the absence of knowing ahead of time who the target audience / potential customer community is, then at the very least the product needs to be understood.
Using our analogy with ABC Motors, let’s say the vehicle was developed and the marketing team was tasked to determine who would be interested in purchasing it. At that point the marketing team needs to know all of the details and features of the product. Is it a minivan, SUV, sedan, sports car, etc? Two-doors, four-doors, sliding doors, etc.? How is it on gasoline efficiency? Does it have four-wheel drive? Etc., etc., etc. What if ABC Motors says, “We have created a car. Marketing team, analyze the entire market of car buyers and break them down into data points and a smorgasbord of categories so that we can then determine where this car fits in.” In this case this latter method is far more complicated and far less efficient (which basically means time-consuming and therefore unnecessarily expensive). In contrast, a better method would be for the marketing team to get all the details of the vehicle, (and if they are smart take it for a test drive), and then dive into determining who the target audience / potential customer community is. So in that case they establish that ABC Motors’ new vehicle is a medium-sized minivan with a lot of room for passengers and gets much higher than average gas mileage. Such being the case, the marketing team can then begin asking the necessary questions to determine the target audience / potential customer community, such as:
Who needs a vehicle that can comfortably carry as many as six passengers?
Who would consider the asset of better gas mileage to be important to them in a purchasing decision?
Just on the basis of these two questions, the marketing team can immediately determine that the answers to both of these questions would be middle-income families who either live in an area with high gas prices and/or who are environmentally sensitive. Thus, the marketing and business development team would probably consider creating marketing materials and strategies to appeal to families (especially busy mothers) in a place like southern California. In contrast, the marketing team therefore does not need to spend any time or effort (and company money) on analyzing irrelevant target audiences / potential customer communities, such as divorced male business professionals who just might be going through a midlife crisis. This latter group would be keen on buying the newest flashy sports car, and wouldn’t be caught dead in a minivan, no matter how great the gas mileage is.
But… a strong word of caution…
When using this methodology to determine the target audience / potential customer community for an already existing / nearly finished product, there is a fact of life that is extremely important to understand. In fact, in my experience and observation this simple reality is probably one of the number one reasons that so many start-ups fail.
What people should want and what they actually want are not always the same thing.
Let me give you an example. Years ago just after my active duty military service in the Israel Defense Force I was asked to consult on the development of a security and defense product. The problem to be solved was that cargo ships and oil tankers were being attacked by pirates in east Africa, southeast Asia, and other parts of the world. The ships and even the crew were then held hostage at gunpoint in terrible conditions until the shipping company utilized their insurance policy to pay the ransoms. In response, a start-up company created a security barrier for maritime shipping that was permanent in nature and designed to replace the current barriers that were disposable, ineffective, and just flat-out expensive. The idea was that pirates can’t take over a ship if they can’t get on board it in the first place. And since ultimately these said pirates were opportunists, just the visible deterrent of the barrier alone was of immense value.
The business model was solid. The barrier product was designed to last for at least five years, and could be sold for as little as $200,000 per ship and still be highly profitable. In that five year cycle the shipping companies were spending at least $1,000,000 on their original, inferior solutions. Thus, the barrier company would have been able to provide a product that was much cheaper and much more effective, and they had a lot of room to dramatically inflate the price and still be cheaper than the less effective options.
So this sounds like it would have been a grand slam and it’s time to break out the champagne in celebration, right? Well, not quite…
The product developer and marketing specialist (not me) that the project brought on was a US Marine special forces veteran who had worked in maritime security. He knew all about counter-piracy and whatnot, but he was not initially aware of the nuances of the mid-level executives of the shipping companies themselves that were the “gateways” to getting the security barriers on the ships.
The reality of the situation was that the shipping companies as well as the insurance companies working with them were multi-billion dollar companies. That meant that a lot of money (and perk benefits) were floating around. The insurance brokers were extravagantly wining and dining the shipping executives to maintain the status quo of outrageously expensive insurance policies that were only justifiable as long as the problem of ships getting captured by pirates persisted. In other words, the mid-level shipping executives were far more interested in just doing what they had always done and getting showered with lavish perks from the insurance companies than they were saving the multi-billion dollar shipping companies that they worked for millions of dollars (which they would have seen little to none of). And if that meant that one hundred million dollar ships and even the crews running them had to be ransomed from murderous pirates, well, then so be it.
That’s shocking and even appalling. But that was the ugly reality of it. And therefore a product that was designed to be both way better and way cheaper than the existing solution was unexpectedly determined to be unmarketable to that target audience / potential customer community. A drastic shift in strategy was necessary, but most start-ups with limited funding don’t survive these types of unexpected setbacks.
So how is this scenario avoided? Even if a company is presently using the aforementioned model B, at least some elements of model A should be incorporated as much as possible.
Using our analogy of ABC Motors, our product marketing team has determined that they and the business development strategists want to first target large families and small businesses in southern California and similar places. It is extremely important to interact with that community and communicate, getting their feedback. Just because these California mothers should want this amazing new minivan with great gas mileage doesn’t mean that they actually will want it. But why wouldn’t they? Well, perhaps the marketing team misidentified the interests, needs, or “pain points,” of these mothers in California. The marketing strategists projected that good gas mileage would be the most important factor for this target audience / potential customer community. But maybe these California mothers really choose their family vehicle based on children’s car seat considerations (safety, ease of getting the seat in and out of the vehicle, etc.) A competing minivan that is great with car seats but gets mediocre gas mileage in that case would probably outsell ABC Motors’ new minivan. In that case, the product development engineers would have invested an immense amount of time, effort, and money developing a feature (low gas mileage) that ultimately wasn’t a primary consideration.
The only way to truly know what people want is to ask them. And they are usually more than happy to tell you. Examining data, analytics, metrics is absolutely crucial, but I would contend that it must be done in coordination with direct feedback from your potential customer community. Otherwise, you might be surprised to find what people actually want.
As a side note, this same methodology also goes for internal operations as well. I once managed several teams of bank employees who were also responsible for sales. One of the bank branches I inherited was failing (the lowest ranked out of twenty branches in a multi-state region). I communicated with the bank employees to determine the issue. In speaking with them carefully, I soon understood two deficiencies. First, the bank did not have universal sales training for the employees; whatever methodology that the employees had learned in a previous job is what they used. Needless to say, sales approaches were disjoined at best and therefore poor in results. More surprisingly, I was astonished to learn that these bank employees (mostly college-aged young people) were not motivated by cash bonuses. They were, however, motivated by food. I was completely flabbergasted to realize that my employees would openly say with a straight face that they would rather work for an occasional five dollar pint of gourmet ice cream than a bonus of more than one hundred dollars at the end of the month. (Apparently for these young people that feeling of “tangible realization” that came from me waving a pint of ice cream in front of their face as a pending reward and then putting it in the freezer until the sales came in was more valuable to them than a one hundred dollar bonus, even though they could have bought twenty pints of ice cream with it.) At any rate, I incorporated a series of ice cream prizes and branch-wide lunches at the end of successful sales months. Within six months these failing branches then led the multi-state region in achievement of sales goals.
EXAMPLE CASE STUDY FOR A SOFTWARE PRODUCT AND SAMPLE PLAN OF ACTION
Let’s say a software company has developed a unique and valuable community engagement and tracking software product. They utilized model B, and focused on the development of the software before properly considering who the final user would be and who would purchase it. (This theoretical example would also apply to a company that inherited a software product in the acquisition of another company, etc.) The software company now seeks to determine who would be interested in purchasing it, and how to market and sell to that “target audience / potential customer community,” as I call it. These are a few initial thoughts on developing a viable plan of action.
- The software engineers would sit down with the marketing professionals and discuss the software in great detail.
- A highly detailed and clear list of functions and benefits of using the software would be created together in collaboration.
- This list is vital to determine who on the user end would benefit most from the software, which would enable the marketing professionals to analyze that list and brainstorm who might be most interested in those functions (and ultimately use and purchase the software).
- The marketing professionals would begin writing down options for target audiences / potential customer communities, and then further narrow that list down to varying priorities.
- The marketing professionals would then begin active research on those target audiences / potential customer communities through every avenue available, ranging from online materials to direct personal consultation with members of that target audience / potential customer community.
- Once the marketing professionals have a grasp on the dynamics and specifics of this target audience / potential customer community, they would then work to create dialogue and rapport with that community through various channels (including but not limited to social media).
- The marketing professionals and business development / sales teams would then analyze that dialogue to generate strategies on how to move forward in every category from graphic design of marketing materials to creating a list of leads for both B2B and B2C sales.
- The marketing, business development, and sales teams would move forward with striving to generate revenue, working in tandem with one another and carefully observing the analytics and data to determine what marketing strategies and sales methodologies are most effective.
As is obvious, much more information about the software product in this theoretical case study would be needed before properly narrowing down possible target audiences / potential customer communities. But in the context that it is online community engagement tracking software, here are four immediate suggestions:
- Small businesses actively seeking growth
- Non-profit organizations trying to maximize their fundraising
- Government agencies and their public relations departments connecting with their citizens
- Political campaigns trying to track and analyze where to focus their push
All of these industries have in common that the vast majority of community engagement and tracking for operational and marketing purposes will be done by a community relations and/or social media manager. All four of these possible target audiences / potential customer communities would likely be very interested in a product that streamlines and enhances their ability to interact with their own audience / customers, and gives them additional knowledge and tools as to how to leverage it. Few to none of the people who are responsible for community engagement, however, will have a wallet-opening response to any kind of marketing that is presented in a complex or overwhelming kind of way, even if you can manage to secure an in-depth B2B presentation or demo.
That brings us to an additional challenge that seems to be common for any product or company that is dominated by engineers (software and otherwise). Every engineer that I have ever met speaks “Engineer-ese”; they literally live it and breathe it. Obviously there is immense value to that, but there is one huge drawback.
The only people who speak “Engineer-ese” are engineers. To everyone else, it’s a foreign language.
What does that mean? For most potential customers if product marketing is written in “Engineer-ese” it might as well be written in archaic Latin. Archaic Latin has great value as the origin of many European languages as well as the dialect of science, intellectual studies, etc. But how many people would click on a post on social media or dive into a promotional e-mail written in Latin? I would presume not many. That means that people who otherwise would open up their wallet (or business expense account) and purchase a software product don’t, simply because they don’t understand the “Engineer-ese” language describing it.
Similarly, it should be noted that marketing and business development are not an engineering-type of field. Engineers work with hard systems like complex coding, mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc. While there are principles that are universal and best practices to be adopted and obviously a right versus a wrong way of developing marketing and business strategies, the fact of the matter is that (very unfortunately) there is simply no “code,” “algorithm,” or “equation” to it (at least, not like what engineers might be accustomed to). The point is that I would suggest that very different approaches and tools are used for engineering fields than are for marketing and business development. Marketing, like art, communicates directly to the psychology and emotions of the potential buyer. There is simply no mathematical principle (or other engineering system) to describe how and why thousands of people line up every single day to view Michelangelo’s masterpiece on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. It can be comprehended as to why, and even analyzed and thoroughly described with corresponding data points, but it can’t be properly explained in “Engineer-ese.”
Any company dominated by engineers must have marketing, communications, and business development professionals on board who can translate that “Engineer-ese” into a language that the target audience / potential customer communities can comprehend. And in the present era, attention spans are very short, meaning that the initial grab must be brief. Most companies selling products need to realize that their target audience / potential customer community has a short attention span, no matter who they are.
In today’s digital age of content overload and short attention spans, product marketing must be able to clearly communicate what a product is, how it works, and how it is beneficial to the consumer in literally seconds, or at the very, very most a few minutes. And it needs to be done at a level that a person with a high school diploma or GED can easily understand.
Now this is a unique challenge for engineer-based companies. Most engineers that I have known would be utterly horrified at the idea of describing their pride and joy that they took years to develop in less than two minutes at a high school level. In fact, this proposition would be so painful to them, that they would probably rather choose to gouge their own left eye with a rusty fork.
But the simple reality of the matter is that when marketing materials are distributed on the internet, or when a sales team begins reaching out to leads of community engagement managers of small businesses, non-profits, etc., via phone or e-mail to try to interest them in the software, the commonality is that many of them will not be much more proficient than a high school or limited college level, and they will almost invariably give you very little time. And these principles apply to both B2C and B2B models equally. Thus, all product marketing must be engaging and immediately comprehensible.
In the context of software, another aspect that I feel is extremely important for any relevant company to understand is that the software-using “commoner” and “lay person” is often easily overwhelmed. Wix is hugely successful because so many small business owners, for instance, are completely daunted by the perceived “overwhelming complexity” of WordPress (a truth that would make most software engineers who specialize in complex coding gasp in horror). Simply stated, the Wix model proves that many potential customers are poised to be overwhelmed by even moderately complex software presentations.
Product marketing for software needs to make that software look easy to use from the onset. If it is not, many persons in the most viable target audiences / potential customer communities will not purchase it. And if their boss or supervisor does purchase it, they will be resistant to use it (let alone thrive with it and recommend it to their friends and family). Never underestimate the stubbornness of the human being to insist on maintaining the status quo (including using mediocre software or even achieving the same results through a tedious manual process) than risk being overwhelmed by something new, no matter how awesome that new product might be if they just gave it a chance.
As aforementioned, the product marketing must be engaging and comprehensible. And in the year 2022, attention spans are very short, meaning that the initial grab must be brief.
Let’s think of it this way. When you are scrolling through social media or perusing your e-mail, how much time do you really give the content in front of you? Or when you are visiting a website or Amazon to make a purchase, how much time do you spend looking at a product? In both of these cases the answer is probably very little (as in, somewhere between a few minutes to a few seconds.)
For complex software products, for instance, I would recommend a multi-layered approach of marketing materials, such as:
- First layer: “Initial grab” materials that take 5-15 seconds to process and comprehend.
- Second layer: A very concise summary of what the software product is and how it is beneficial that can be processed in 60 seconds or less.
- Third layer: More detailed information, such as a clear, straight-forward, easily comprehensible blog post or especially a video very specifically about the software that is 3-5 minutes in watch length / reading time.
- Fourth layer: Detailed “how to” tutorials that both explain the benefits of the software as well as how to successfully use it that are no more than 60 minutes in length.
There is an additional approach that can be extremely successful and that is “trending” in the marketing world right now: community marketing. The idea is for a person or company to establish themselves as the leading “subject matter expert” in a particular field. This method is particularly effective if the product, such as software, is more complex. By creating a community and following as subject matter experts in your industry, you are in a position to deliver more and more information and marketing about how great your product is in bite-sized chunks that is engaging and doesn’t even feel like marketing or advertising. Further, buy-in is created, and product development is enhanced with feedback. Marketing programs of software “in beta” can be highly useful when used in conjunction with this target audience / potential customer community.
CONCLUSION
All programs for project management and product marketing must be customized and tailored to the end goal. No two products are the same, and therefore no two marketing plans will be the same. In summary, I strongly believe that the most important aspects to success first involve a strong understanding of where we are beginning, namely assets, employee capabilities, budgets, etc. And having a highly defined end goal and target in sight is imperative. It must be clear to all what the ultimate objectives are. And in that context a thorough system of milestones are established as well as guideposts for product development and marketing as well as operational strategies with a high focus on efficiency. And one of the best practices to develop those guideposts is through effective communication both internally with all teams and departments as well as externally with the target audiences / potential customer communities. Ready to take your business to new heights? Reach out to Twin Peaks Communications today for a free consultation!
