How To Position Your Product Effectively in The Marketplace (Just Answer These Three Key Questions)

Have you ever asked yourself these very important questions about your business?

Question #1
Why are people buying/using my product? (What need/want/desire is it fulfilling…)

Question #2
How are the people that are buying/using my product initially finding out about my product?

Question #3
What specifically is making these people buy my product after they find out about it? (reasons, justifications, emotions, proof, past stories)

If you have never asked yourself these questions before, take 30 seconds right now and write down what you think the answers are for your current business venture. Be as specific as possible. You will see why this is important as you read this post.

How and Why I Came Up With These Questions This Morning

When I woke up this morning, this very specific question hit me like a ton of bricks…

“What makes people buy my products/services, and how can I effectively use my marketing dollars to reach my market at the right time, so that when they are exposed to my offer they are in the frame of mind where it will be a no brainier for them to purchase and/or seek out more information about what I am offering?”

My motives for asking myself this question this morning were simple.

1) I only want to only use my marketing dollars in a way where I generate a positive return on my marketing spend.
2) I want to attract the right customers, who really need what I am selling.
3) I don’t want to expose my offer to people who will never be interested in what I am selling.

Do you have the same motivations as I do?

I thought so!

Now, with this in mind consider this…

Successful People Ask Themselves The Right Questions

Have you ever noticed that most successful people you meet focus on asking themselves the right questions, to help them figure out the things they don’t know, so that they can continue making progress in their personal and business life?

As I am sure you have probably heard before, success leaves clues, and on my personal journey this is one clue I have learned after being around many successful people.

Here is one example of this…

If you have read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, you will remember in his book that he says most people see something they want to buy, but don’t have the funds to buy it in that moment. Most think to themselves in that moment, “I can’t afford it.”

When they say that to themselves, it immediately shuts down the thought process in their mind, and they move on to the next thing.

Robert personally approaches this same scenario in a completely different way. He mentions in his book that when he sees something he wants to buy, but he can’t afford it in the moment instead of thinking to himself, “I can’t afford it,” he instead asks himself the question, “How can I afford it?”

By starting the question with the word “How” it opens his mind up to find a solution to the question he posed to his brain. Even though in the moment he may not know the answer, his brain will go to work on how to make it possible so he can purchase what he can’t buy right now.

How Does This Thinking Help Me Market and Sell My Product?

Ok, now take what you read above one step further and dive deeper with me because there is a key distinction that I want to make sure you grasp, so that you can absorb this key distinction and start using it to guide you in implementing effective marketing that generates better results in your business.

The KEY distinction…(How to think so that you can create a strategically implementable plan)

By asking yourself the three key questions about your business at the beginning of this post, the details and answers you flush out for each question will help you strategically come up with HOW and WHERE you will position your products and advertisements in the marketplace, so that when your ideal prospect needs/wants what you sell, and/or hears your advertisement in a specific media at a specific moment in time, they will be most likely take action by purchasing your product or service in that given moment and/or at your desirable time in the future.

I know that was a detailed paragraph, so read it again and really take the time to grasp each moving part within it to fully grasp and understand what I am saying.

If it still isn’t clear for you, let me work through an example with you…

I am going to answer the three questions at the beginning of this post for someone who sells information about how to be more effective when growing a garden in your backyard.

Question #1: Why are people buying or using my product? (What need/want/desire is it fulfilling)

Answer: People want to learn how to grow a garden in their backyard, and in doing so have enough fruits and vegetables throughout the year on hand, so they don’t have to go to the store to buy them.

(This may or may not be true…only you will know the true answer to why people are buying your product…and if you don’t know this information, ASK THEM!)

Question #2: How are the people that are buying/using my product initially finding out about my product?

Answer: Customers found out about my product because I am running a google adwords campaign for the keyword “gardening tips,” people are clicking my ad and dropping onto my sales page where the product is for sale. I also know that people have purchased the product based on their other gardening friends recommending it to them via phone calls, and through conversations within facebook and twitter in gardening groups discussion forums and blogs.

(This marketing tactic (google adwords) may or may not be effective in this niche, I am just using this as an example to show you how I am thinking about this. If you have more than one marketing channel you are using, be sure that you are tracking each channels effectiveness, so you are able to know, what is working, and what isn’t in converting traffic to sales.)

Question #3: What specifically is making these people buy my product after they find out about it? (reasons, justifications, emotions, proof, past stories)

Answer: I have successfully grown my garden in the past, and my information has gotten results for other people that have used the product. My sales copy is meeting them in the frame of mind where they are already searching for gardening tips and because I offer a 30 day money back guarantee on the information, there is no risk for them to purchase the product. One other thing I know about why people are buying my product after learning about it is because I have a support staff on hand to answer any question the person may have.

(Again this is just for illustration purposes and this may or may not be right. If you don’t know ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS! The key for you with this simple example is to see where I am going with this so you can take this way of thinking and integrate it into your own business.)

Based on what you discover throughout this process, it will show you the massive opportunities you aren’t taking advantage of, and further will illustrate clearly to you where you are completely wasting your marketing dollars.

Make sense?

How To Take Question #2 One Step Further To Make Your Marketing More Effective in Generating Results (Time To Dive Even Deeper)

When it is time to tackle question #2, this is where you will take everything in this post and take it one step further. The question beyond the question you need to ask yourself to help you come up with the effective way to strategically spend your money with marketing is as follows.

The Golden Question…

Where specifically is my market (mentally and psychographically) when they realize they need the product I am offering (but don’t know I exist yet), and what specific media channels can I position myself in so that when they have the need/desire/want, I come up front and center when they actively seek out the solution to their problem/need/desire?

Sit and think about this for a second before moving on. Where are you currently positioned, and are the right prospects finding you?

Now there are a couple things to consider when diving deeper with this question…

1) There may be a chance that the person has heard about you before in another medium, but at the time they didn’t need/want what you were selling…in this case, make sure you are in the places that you know people search to find you so that you can be positioned accordingly in a way where when they see your ads they say to themselves, “I remember hearing that name before from a friend, or from a past ad.”

2) If the person hasn’t heard about your business or products before, you have to make sure that your ads are effective as possible to convert the traffic when they first see you, and also positioned in the most effective place above your competitors so that they choose you, instead of choosing one of your competitors.

3) There are also a number of other variables to consider with this question, which involves your active and reactive ways of marketing…which is covered in the two sections below.

Expanding on Question #2 To The Outer Limits of The Concept

Below is a list of specific ways people are finding out about products and services in the current world we live in. Although there are probably more, these are the most well known ways people are learning about products and services. This section of the blog post has been created to get you thinking about various things you can do to get better results in your marketing.

What Ignites The Desire Within Someone in Your Market To Buy Your Product, and Where and How Do They Find You?

Key:
Reactive Marketing –> This marketing happens without your ability to control it (normally a result of creating something the market loves)

Proactive Marketing –> You actively trying to get people to buy by placing ads, or doing something active to inspire people to buy.

The List

1) They see your product being used by someone else, and after seeing and using it they want it for themselves (e.g. iPhone) (Location: Physical world) (Action: Reactive Marketing)

2) They see or hear your product advertised on the radio or TV without any prior knowledge of it (Location: Car/Home)(Action: Proactive Marketing)

3) They see your product advertised in the Sunday circular ads (Location: Home)(Action: Proactive Marketing)

4) They start searching for solutions to their problem using the internet search engines (e.g. Need help making more money)(Location: Home/Smart Phone/Tablet)(Action: Proactive and Reactive Marketing)

5) They see a conversation about your product within social media (Location: Home/Smart Phone/Tablet)(Action: Reactive Marketing)

6) They talk to a friend about what they are struggling with, and the friend gives them a recommendation (Location: Anywhere)(Action: Reactive Marketing)

7) They know what they need because of their prior knowledge of using it before, then they search for that thing or place or service (e.g. Plumber)(Location: Home/Internet)(Action: Proactive and Reactive Marketing)

8) They hear about your product because of a radio or tv segment within the show. (e.g. Today show covers fun cooking tools)(Location: Home/Tablets)(Action: Proactive Marketing)

9) Something happens to them, forcing them to look for something, but they don’t exactly know what the solution is. (e.g. They lose their job)(Location: Home/Internet/Referrals)(Action: Reactive Marketing)

10) They walk through a store, or the mall and find out about it with a display or free samples if it is a food product. (Location: In retail location)(Action: Proactive and Reactive Marketing)

11) They know what they need and ask a friend for a referral. (e.g. Doctor)(Location: anywhere)(Action: Reactive Marketing)

12) They find out about your product or location through a Groupon-Like coupon buying website. (e.g. Yoga Studio)(Location: Internet)(Action: Proactive/Reactive Marketing)

13) They read a blog post written by someone in your company, and find it searching for keywords in Google. (e.g. lose weight)(Location: Internet)(Action: Reactive Marketing)

14) They find out about you and your products in a forum. (Location: Internet)(Action: Reactive Marketing)

15) They get a direct mail piece from you (Location: House/Work)(Action: Proactive Marketing)

There are obviously many more…these are here just to get you thinking in a different way about your marketing, so that you can make it more effective.

The Most Important Takeaways You Can Get From This Post

I know I have covered a lot in this post, but when it comes down to it, the key points I am trying to get across are as follows…

KEY POINT: Focus on where your market mentally is when they need/want/desire your product first, so that you can strategically meet them where they are with the right message, the right media, at the right time so you can experience a greater success at converting them into a customer of your product or service at the time they need you most.

KEY POINT: By living in your prospects shoes, and strategically thinking about what you would do, if you were experiencing the pain and frustration your prospect faces before they find out about your product, the more effective you will be in creating marketing that works, and further will be able to place marketing advertisements in strategic places in so much that you are able to effectively convert the traffic to your ads into product purchasers and life-long customers.

KEY POINT: Make your proactive marketing initiatives create reactive marketing results. (Create a strategic snowball that gets bigger as it rolls down the hill faster).

Please feel free to leave your comments below. I look forward to the discussion! :)