During my career, I have launched many brands, products, and even a few companies. Some patterns emerge with each of those experiences. I have learned some powerful lessons.
This list of nine reasons why your product will fail is not complete but should help frame the challenge ahead. Keep in mind that I market my consultancy as The Marketing Sage. A sage is someone who gains wisdom from experience.
Here are nine lessons learned from The Marketing Sage, learned over the last thirty-five years.
Your product will fail if…
- You aren’t solving a problem for someone. Whether you sell soft-shell crabs or software, you need to be delivering a benefit and value to someone. What job will your product do for someone in need? Think beyond the features to the benefits your product delivers to your intended customer.
- Your product looks like everyone else’s in your category. Differentiation is at the essence of marketing. Think of a purple cow standing in a field, that’s different. from all the brown cows. You notice it but is it just different or different in a meaningful way? Lots of companies sell shoes, Tom’s sells shoes and gives away a pair for every one you buy. When you market bicycles with fun graphics, you change an ordinary wheel into something unexpected and worth talking about to friends. Products that fail don’t have something unique that only they do.
- You don’t know who you are serving. Marketing is about small and specific communities of people that your product/solution supports. Before you start selling a product, you must understand the needs, the pain points and the desires of the community who needs help. Who are you serving? What is core to that community?
- You figured out how to make the product/solution but haven’t thought about how to communicate your message. Lots of businesses are great at making stuff. Sadly, no one pays you to make things. Customers pay you when you have something that helps them realize their dreams and stories that they want to tell themselves about their experience.
- You over complicate your product/solution. People want to buy simple solutions. Can you make my work, my life, my vacation easier? If you have too many features, none get noticed. Strip down your product to the bare essentials and start with a simple answer. Who needs an alarm clock that is also a bottle opener and can clean your windows? Focus on the simple and listen to feedback. Keep making everything simpler from the product to the buying experience.
- You only show your product to people who know (or love) you. Can you test your product or concept with hundreds of people who don’t love you? I don’t think it helps that your brother-in-law thinks you have a great idea. I think it helps when 25 anonymous individuals hear the idea and go, wow – that’s cool. Search for creative ways to get feedback.
- You focus only on what people say. Remember, watch what people do, not what they say. It can be inspiring when 500 people love your idea. But, what will those 500 people do when giving a chance to purchase from you? It is easy for me to say I’d buy that. Getting me to take out my credit card, is a different story.
- You want success now. Patience is an essential part of success. Entrepreneurs fail when they quit trying. If you believe in your idea, you need to be in it for the long haul, and you better-set expectations from the start. You aren’t going to conquer the world overnight – nor should you try. Find small groups of passionate fans and understand why they love your product. Then amplify that message.
- You aren’t listening. Success comes by listening to criticism and recalculating. Don’t be defensive. When someone tells you your product sucks because it came apart after a few uses, don’t get mad, be thankful for the information. Ask them as many questions as you can to see if they did something unexpected with the product or if your design sucks. Look at negative reviews and criticism as a gift.
What did I miss from your experiences about why products fail?
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Try my new chat feature on my site if you have a quick question.
Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash
