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The success of your online store hinges greatly on the effectiveness of your product landing pages. Crafting product landing pages that not only attract visitors but also compel them to make a purchase is an art form in itself. There are lots of proven ways to make your product landing pages work better for getting more people to buy.

Before you start creating the design and content for your product landing pages, it’s important to really know who your target audience is, what they want (needs and preferences), and what their concerns are (pain points). Do some thorough market research and check out your analytics data to build buyer personas. These personas will help you make your pages as effective as possible.

Below are a few approaches and practical suggestions to help you in crafting product landing pages that generate sales and income.

1. Compelling product descriptions
2. High quality visuals
3. Clear call-to-action
4. Social proof and reviews
5. Mobile optimization
6. A/B testing and iteration

Strategy one: Compelling product descriptions

Compelling product descriptions are succinct yet packed with relevant information. These descriptions provide important information about the product, covering its features, specifications, and applications while steering clear of unnecessary technical language or filler content.

They clearly communicate the unique value proposition of the product. This involves highlighting what sets the product apart from competitors and how it addresses specific pain points or fulfills customer needs.

When writing a product description, you should use persuasive language that resonates with the target audience. This may involve tapping into emotions, showcasing benefits, and using descriptive adjectives to create a vivid picture of how the product can improve the customer’s life.

They anticipate and address potential objections or concerns that customers may have. This could involve providing assurances about product quality, offering warranties or guarantees, or addressing common misconceptions.

Not only this, but effective product descriptions often incorporate storytelling elements to engage the reader and create a connection with the product. Sharing the backstory of the product, highlighting its origins or the inspiration behind its creation, can add depth and authenticity to the description.

You must make sure that they’re optimized for search engines to ensure they rank well in relevant search results. This involves incorporating relevant keywords naturally into the description while maintaining readability and coherence.

Strategy two: High-quality visuals

Visuals that depict the product in context can be particularly compelling. For example, lifestyle images or product demonstrations show how the product can be used in real-life situations, helping customers envision themselves using it.

Including contextual imagery enhances the depth and authenticity of the product presentation, making it more relatable and attractive to potential buyers.

High-quality visuals provide multiple angles and perspectives of the product. Displaying various angles, close-ups, and detailed shots enables customers to grasp a complete understanding of the product’s appearance, size, and functionality. This fosters trust and confidence in the product, minimizing the chances of returns or dissatisfaction.

They also often include interactive features such as zoom functionality or 360-degree views. These features allow customers to examine the product closely, zooming in on specific details or rotating it to view it from different angles. Interactive visuals make shopping more interesting and immersive, which makes customers happier and more confident when they buy things.

Having visual consistency across product landing pages reinforces brand identity and enhances the overall user experience. High-quality visuals should align with your brand’s aesthetic and style guidelines, maintaining a cohesive look and feel throughout the website. Consistent branding builds trust and recognition, encouraging repeat visits and purchases from customers.

Although high-quality visuals are vital, it’s equally important to ensure they load quickly and perform optimally for the best user experience. Large file sizes or poorly optimized images can slow down page loading speed, leading to frustration and abandonment among users.

Optimizing visuals for the web guarantees a smooth and responsive browsing experience for all users, regardless of their device or internet connection speed.

Strategy three: Clear call-to-action (CTA)

A clear CTA provides clear direction to the visitor, indicating what action they should take next. Without a clear CTA, users may feel uncertain or confused about how to proceed, leading to indecision or abandonment. By guiding user behavior, CTAs help streamline the purchasing process and reduce friction, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Plus, effective CTAs often create a sense of urgency or scarcity, encouraging visitors to act quickly. Phrases like “Buy Now,” “Limited Time Offer,” or “Shop Now While Supplies Last” convey a sense of immediacy, prompting users to make a purchase before they miss out on the opportunity. Urgent CTAs can significantly boost conversion rates by tapping into the psychological principle of scarcity and driving impulse purchases.

Make sure that your CTAs are prominently placed on product landing pages, ensuring they are easily noticeable and accessible to users. Whether it’s a brightly colored button, a strategically positioned link, or a pop-up overlay, CTAs should stand out visually and be located in a prominent location above the fold, where they are immediately visible without requiring users to scroll.

Strategy four: Social proof and reviews

Getting social proof like customer reviews, testimonials, or user-generated content is critical for any business. Positive reviews from satisfied customers serve as endorsements, assuring potential buyers that others have had positive experiences with the product. Negative reviews show where your product or service can get better, so you can fix it quickly.

Social proof addresses common concerns and objections that potential buyers may have. For example, if a customer expresses skepticism about the durability of a product, seeing multiple positive reviews praising its longevity can alleviate those concerns and increase confidence in the purchase decision.

They also encourage user engagement and interaction with your website. Customers will feel like they are part of a community when you encourage them to share their thoughts.

Reviews and ratings have the potential to enhance your website’s SEO and search rankings. Search engines value fresh and relevant content. Regularly updated reviews provide additional content that can help improve your website’s visibility in search results.

Genuine reviews and testimonials from real customers demonstrate that your business is transparent and trustworthy, which can differentiate you from competitors and attract discerning consumers.

Strategy five: Mobile optimization

With the increasing prevalence of mobile browsing and shopping, optimizing product landing pages for mobile is essential for achieving high conversion rates. Here’s why mobile optimization is crucial and how it contributes to the success of product landing pages:

Accessibility and convenience

Mobile optimization ensures that your product landing pages are easily accessible and navigable on smaller screens. By making the layout, content, and features fit well on phones, you give users an easy shopping experience even when they’re on the go.

Improved user experience

Optimized product landing pages deliver a better user experience on mobile devices, reducing friction and enhancing satisfaction. Mobile-friendly design elements such as larger buttons, simplified navigation menus, and optimized image sizes contribute to faster load times and smoother interactions, resulting in a more enjoyable browsing and shopping experience for mobile users.

Maximized reach and engagement

Mobile optimization expands your reach and engagement with a broader audience of mobile users. With more people accessing the internet and shopping on mobile devices than ever before, ensuring that your product landing pages are mobile-friendly enables you to connect with and capture the attention of potential customers wherever they are.

Enhanced SEO performance

Mobile optimization is also crucial for improving your website’s search engine visibility and rankings. Search engines like Google prioritize mobile-friendly websites in their search results, meaning that mobile-optimized product landing pages are more likely to rank higher and attract organic traffic from mobile searches.

Reduced bounce rates and cart abandonment

A poorly optimized mobile experience can lead to higher bounce rates and cart abandonment rates, as users may become frustrated with slow load times, awkward navigation, or unresponsive design. By optimizing product landing pages for mobile, you can minimize these issues and encourage users to stay on your site longer and complete their purchases.

Strategy six: A/B testing and iteration

A/B testing involves creating two or more versions of a product landing page with variations in elements such as headlines, images, calls-to-action (CTAs), layout, colors, or product descriptions.

These variations are randomly presented to users, with each user seeing only one version of the page. Analyzing the performance metrics (conversion rates or click-through rates) of each version helps you determine which variation is more successful in meeting your objectives.

A/B testing lets you test various tactics to determine which one clicks with your audience. For example, you can test different CTA buttons, such as “Buy Now” versus “Add to Cart,” to see which one generates more conversions. By testing multiple variations, you can uncover insights into user preferences and behavior that inform future optimization efforts.

Plus, A/B testing allows you to optimize the customer experience by identifying and addressing pain points or barriers to conversion.

Testing different parts of your product landing pages, like how fast they load, the menus, or how you check out, helps you find where you can make things better. You can then make improvements that enhance the overall experience for users and encourage more people to make purchases.

Final thoughts

Developing product landing pages that effectively turn visitors into customers requires careful planning and a strategic mindset.

By thoroughly reviewing and refining every aspect, you can ensure that these pages reach their maximum potential. You will definitely be able to make more from your online store and propel your business to new heights if you implement the strategies mentioned in this post.

The post 6 effective strategies to create
high-converting product landing pages appeared first on ProdSens.live.

This article is based on David Copeland’s brilliant talk, ‘Maximizing revenue through digital commerce insights’, given at the Product Marketing Festival. 

More into watching than reading? Enjoy the complete recording here. 

There’s no doubt that the way people shop has changed. Personally, I’m shopping online more than ever before, as evidenced by the stack of packages on my doorstep.

This gives us as product marketers a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of a goldmine of digital insights – and that’s what we’re going to explore today.

We’ll dive into the challenges of competing in a digital-first environment, how you can create great product pages and content, and how to leverage technology to win at scale in the digital retail environment.

Let’s get to it!

• Today’s digital-first reality
• The challenges of competing in a digital-first environment 
• Product content must-haves 
• What a great product page looks like
• How to maximize revenue from your online channels 

Today’s digital-first reality

When it comes to high-engagement purchases, empowered customers are directing their own buying experiences. These self-directed buying experiences start with the products, not with the brand. In fact, 78% of online product searches don’t include a brand name, which is staggering and very different from how people used to shop in-store.

Product information has arguably become the digital front door of your company. It doesn’t matter where customers enter – whether through your website, your content via social or search, a marketplace, an app, or a distributor – it’s important to look after your digital shelf and your product content. 

If you want to compete, it’s time to start answering a new set of questions you’ve probably never had to consider before, like: 

• What product content moves the needle in a buying decision? 
• How can I ensure the right product information is available where customers are buying? 
• How can I adapt to changing buyer preferences before my competitor does?
• How can we quickly iterate changes and get them out to all engagement points?

If you can work with speed and agility on the digital shelf, you have a chance to win. 

The challenges of competing in a digital-first environment

The reality is that competing online is hard – for several reasons.

Firstly, the way companies have traditionally presented product information is very static. Many of the technologies and processes used today aren’t geared for agility, which limits how you can present your story.

Secondly, a lot of brands today are flying blind – they have no insight into what changes could improve their product content or what content is invisible on the digital shelf. They’re making decisions without data, which is scary. 

Finally, everything is so slow. Traditional methods of managing product information are extremely time-intensive, and most brands just can’t afford that right now. 

To overcome these challenges, product content is vital – unfortunately, there’s also a lot that can go wrong here. For starters, key product content can go missing. Just look at the product page below – the image of the flat-screen TV they’re selling isn’t even visible!

And then there’s the problem of retailers mixing up brand and product info. When I was shopping for an electric toothbrush recently, I came across a product page for a Phillips toothbrush that showed an image of Oral B replacement heads. These kinds of blunders happen all the time when companies don’t dedicate the right resources and technology to maintaining their product pages.

Product content must-haves

So, what should product marketers pay attention to in the product life cycle for content to convert well and be found in search? Let me share a handful of must-haves:

• A descriptive title that helps buyers find your product. It’s often beneficial to include search terms and keywords. 
• High-quality product images are more important than ever. Consumers don’t just want to see the front and back of the box – they want to see the product from all angles and in a range of use cases.  
• A clear product description is key – the more descriptive the better. Consumers want weights, colors, measurements, and materials. If they don’t get a sense of the product from the description, they’ll just move on to one that paints a better picture. 
• Rich content like videos and animations that bring products to life.
• Customer testimonials and reviews – these are like that salesperson in a physical store aisles who can provide information and anecdotes. You don’t get that in-person help online, so ratings and reviews become a must-have for the digital shelf.
• Availability – none of the points above really matter if the product isn’t available and the consumer can’t buy it. It has to be in stock. 

What a great product page looks like

So, with all this in mind, what does a great product page look like? Where can we go for inspiration?

You need look no further than Amazon. Here’s one of their white-label product listings – we can learn a lot from it. 

It has a descriptive title – we know how many loads of laundry this detergent can do, how much of it there is, and the key selling features. Looking across the page, there’s a nice image carousel with the front, back, and images highlighting features like being gentle on skin and whitening and brightening.

If we scroll down, we get into the enhanced rich content area that tells the product’s story, not just facts and figures. This is where it really starts grabbing interest. There’s also a great product description covering exactly what you need to know. And unsurprisingly, it has very good ratings and positive reviews.

This is what a product should look like on the digital shelf. Amazon’s own-brand products provide great inspiration for what works. 

A quick recap

So, you need to pay attention to your products’ search ranking, ratings, visibility, and availability. Crucially, you also have to look after your product content since that’s what tells the compelling story that ultimately drives customers to purchase.

If you’re having problems in any of these areas, the good news is all of these issues can be fixed once they’ve been found. The difficult part is doing that at scale across the many products and distributors out there. You can’t go manually auditing your digital shelf one listing at a time.

How to maximize revenue from your online channels

So, how can you maximize revenue from your online channels? In short, you need to have a plan. Here are the key steps:

1. Acknowledge the power of the product detail page as a valuable marketing asset that tells the brand and product story and provides a great customer experience. 
2. Review the must-haves of product content and understand why you lose sales.
3. Audit at scale.
4. Take the learnings from that audit, prioritize them, and take action to increase searchability and conversion and ultimately increase revenue. 
5. Iterate. This isn’t a linear process – you can’t just put product content online and expect it to keep converting well. There are constantly changing market conditions, evolving consumer expectations, new retailer requirements, and emerging brands offering great experiences.

   Continue auditing your product range across all engagement points, then prioritize and take action again. The product that performs great today likely won’t look as good tomorrow, so you must continually iterate.

To do this at scale, you need to leverage technology. It’s too difficult a proposition to work manually. 

You need technology with an elastic data model to store complex products, you need it to orchestrate the process, and you need it to provide data-driven guidance. Ideally, you need all three of these capabilities on one platform. This gives you limitless possibilities for modeling, the digital speed to react quickly (which is a huge competitive advantage), and engagement intelligence. 

This concept is nothing new. Brands have long looked at assortments in physical stores; it’s the same concept today, but now there are many more digital engagement points to audit – your website, social presence, marketplaces, retailer sites, and more. You need intelligence from all those touchpoints to allow you to react and win. 

That’s where a digital-first PIM (product information management) comes in. A solid digital-first PIM delivers on modeling, guidance, and orchestration – driving revenue by ensuring your product information is available at every customer touchpoint. 

Summary

In summary, product pages and product content are extremely important. With that being the case, it’s vital to ensure you have a clear strategy for creating irresistible product pages. Here’s a reminder of how to make that happen:

1. Define what’s important. 
2. Continuously audit and iterate on your product content. 
3. Leverage technology to achieve scale.

If you do this right, you’ll have a real opportunity to win on the digital shelf and drive revenue. It won’t be easy, but with the right technology and strategy, you’ll be able to drive the revenue your business needs.

The post Winning the online shopper:
The power of compelling product pages appeared first on ProdSens.live.

In today’s highly competitive B2C landscape, you need to employ strategic and customer-centric approaches to drive sustainable growth. 

From research and pricing to positioning and collaboration, multiple factors influence the success or failure of B2C products. 

This article explores nine essential strategies that’ll empower you to thrive in dynamic markets with evolving consumer preferences. Here’s what we’ll cover:

1. Research for deep customer insights
2. Optimize your pricing strategy
3. Set clear, actionable OKRs
4. Develop detailed buyer personas
5. Craft strong positioning and messaging
6. Execute an effective GTM strategy
7. Build valuable customer relationships via communication and collaboration
8. Onboard users seamlessly
9. Relentlessly analyze your performance 

Let’s dive in.

Research for deep customer insights

The success of a product largely hinges on how well it resonates with its target audience. This makes research the cornerstone of effective decision-making for B2C product marketers. 

Research provides invaluable customer-centric insights into customer needs, pain points, desires, and motivations. By understanding your customers at a granular level, you can tailor your product offerings to meet their expectations, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Connected to this is your ability to refine your messaging strategy based on solid research. Effective communication is key in B2C marketing, and research helps you craft messaging that resonates with your target audience, addressing their pain points and aspirations directly.

B2C markets tend to be highly competitive, and staying ahead requires a thorough understanding of your competitors. Cue: competitive intelligence (CI) research. CI helps you identify gaps in the market, anticipate competitive moves, and position your product effectively.

Research also helps you optimize resources and minimize waste by focusing efforts on areas with the highest potential for success. This includes optimizing product features, pricing strategies, and marketing campaigns.

To gather customer insights, B2C PMMs often leverage large-scale surveys using advanced platforms like Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, and Zoho Survey. These tools provide robust options for creating, distributing, analyzing surveys, and gathering feedback from a diverse audience.

Speaking of tools, marketing automation platforms like HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Pardot enable the automation of communication and marketing tasks to streamline research efforts, and data visualization and analytics tools (like Tableau, Google Analytics, and RapidMiner) unlock hidden insights and patterns within large datasets.

Let’s take a look at some of the survey tools we touched on:

Qualtrics

Qualtrics is a powerful survey platform that offers a range of features for creating, distributing, and analyzing surveys. It provides advanced survey logic, branching, and customizable question types to gather detailed insights from a diverse audience.

SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is a widely used survey tool that offers user-friendly interfaces and advanced survey customization options. It includes features like skip logic, A/B testing, and integration with data analysis tools.

As well as survey tools, automation platforms can help you gather and categorize a wealth of data.

HubSpot

HubSpot’s CRM platform allows B2C product marketers to automate tasks such as lead nurturing, email campaigns, and customer segmentation and provides workflows to streamline marketing processes.

Combined with qualitative research like focus groups, interviews, and jobs-to-be-done analysis, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of your target customers to craft truly customer-centric strategies.

Optimize your B2C pricing strategy

PMMs play a pivotal role in developing pricing strategies that balance customer value, willingness to pay, competitive benchmarking, and profitability. Leveraging research, analytics, and an in-depth understanding of the market, they can recommend pricing tailored to specific customer segments.

A pricing strategy should be grounded in thorough research into competitors’ pricing to determine expected price gaps and customer perceptions. However, simply matching competitors’ prices can be risky without accounting for costs and differentiation. 

The goal should be pricing aligned with customer-perceived value and competitive positioning, not blindly following the competition. 

Of course, your pricing strategy is financially focused, but there are additional ways to deliver value that may influence your customers or prospects to not only buy from you in the short term but in the long run, too.

Here are a few types of incentives that can yield an increase in new customers: 

1. Discounts and coupons

Discounts and coupons are among the most straightforward and effective B2C incentives. They appeal to the consumer’s desire for cost savings and can be distributed through various channels, including email, social media, and physical vouchers.

2. Loyalty programs

Loyalty programs reward repeat customers with exclusive perks, such as discounts, early access to new products, or personalized recommendations. These programs foster customer retention and brand loyalty.

3. Referral programs

Referral programs encourage customers to refer friends and family, often offering rewards like discounts or credits for successful referrals. This leverages the power of word-of-mouth marketing.

4. Free trials and samples

Offering free trials or product samples allows consumers to experience a product or service before committing to a purchase. This can be particularly effective for new or innovative offerings.

5. Gamification

Gamification involves adding game-like elements to the customer experience, such as badges, points, or challenges. It engages users and keeps them coming back for more.

6. Exclusive access

Providing exclusive access to events, products, or content can create a sense of belonging among consumers, driving brand loyalty and advocacy.

Understanding willingness to pay involves researching the maximum price customers will pay for your product’s attributes. Techniques like surveys, conjoint analysis, and experimental auctions reveal how customers value specific features and price points. This guides pricing based on metrics like customer lifetime value rather than purely cost considerations.

In the digital era, leveraging data and algorithms helps B2C companies predict and optimize dynamic pricing based on demand, inventory, and market conditions. Advanced analytics and machine learning enable real-time adjustments for competitive positioning and profit maximization.

A pricing strategy should be constantly refined through feedback loops, metrics analysis, and research. Maintaining agility to adapt pricing allows you to capitalize on market opportunities and evolving customer needs.

Set clear, actionable B2C objectives and key results (OKRs)

In the fast-paced B2C landscape, success requires focus, alignment, and the ability to swiftly adapt. This is where OKRs come into play.

This framework was popularized by companies like Google and Intel and has since gained widespread adoption. An OKR consists of two components:

Objective: The overarching goal you want to achieve, often qualitative and inspirational, outlining the direction you’re headed.

Key Results: Specific, measurable outcomes that indicate progress toward the objective. Key results are quantifiable and time-bound, providing a clear roadmap to success.

OKRs promote focus by defining overarching goals and measurable outcomes that indicate progress toward those goals. They foster alignment across teams by linking individual and departmental OKRs to broader company objectives.

Given shifting consumer preferences and market trends, there’s no denying it – you’ve gotta pivot OKRs rapidly to capitalize on emerging opportunities. OKRs also facilitate cross-departmental collaboration and transparency regarding shared goals and vision.

Here are some common B2C OKRs:

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC): This measures the cost of acquiring a single customer. 
• Customer lifetime value (CLV): This represents the projected revenue a customer will generate over the entirety of their relationship with the company.
• Conversion rate: This measures the percentage of users who take a desired action, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.
• Churn rate: This reflects the percentage of customers who stop using a product or service within a given time frame.

Your OKRs should be developed in accordance with your role – this includes driving growth through lead generation, product adoption, customer retention, and persona-based initiatives. Key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rate, churn rate, and customer lifetime value help track progress.

By strategically employing the OKR framework and associated metrics, you can align your efforts for growth with larger business goals and market realities. The ability to swiftly realign objectives means you can continually optimize and stay relevant – at the top of your customers’ minds without fail.

Develop detailed buyer personas

Crafting buyer or user personas is fundamental for successful B2C product marketing. Personas are fictional representations of your ideal customers, and they’re created through extensive research into the needs, behaviors, motivations, and goals of your users.

Here’s an example of how a buyer persona will typically look:

Rather than making internal assumptions, personas provide an outside-in perspective. They ensure products meet real user needs and guide tailored marketing that resonates with target segments.

Collaborating across departments to conduct user research and interviews can be super helpful – it yields holistic, credible personas by factoring in multiple viewpoints. Asking the right questions uncovers customer insights that marketing, product, sales, and support teams can leverage.

Personas shouldn’t just be a one-time effort. Continuously updating them based on changing consumer trends and emerging data ensures they remain accurate and relevant. Personas that are refined can be incorporated across strategies to boost personalization and conversions.

Craft strong B2C-specific positioning and messaging

Positioning defines your product’s differentiated benefits and guides messaging to articulate your value clearly to your audience.

Realign positioning regularly to ensure it captures your product’s core value relative to current customer needs. Social listening tools are a great option to understand customer sentiments, keep track of needs, and analyze feedback. From here, you can leverage unique attributes into benefits that specific target segments will value and track brand perception to maintain consistency and stay up to date.

How to approach positioning

• Realign your product’s core value with the present problem it solves. List attributes that make your offering unique.
• Convert unique attributes into customer benefits.
• Identify customers who will genuinely benefit from your unique value.
• Define how your product is perceived in the market to maintain relevance.

And messaging? Effective messaging requires tailored communication across customer segments and channels. Core value propositions, concise taglines, and detailed messages with proof points (like awards and testimonials) build trust and differentiation.

Understanding messaging

• Messaging articulates your product’s value to the market, builds trust, and differentiates your product. It saves time, ensures consistency, aids onboarding, and streamlines approvals.
• Craft distinct messaging for different personas or customer segments.
• Develop a clear, succinct core value proposition that aligns with your positioning.
• Create concise statements that convey your value proposition and the benefits of your product/brand.
• Craft a longer message that includes product details, benefits, and proof points. Include evidence like testimonials, case studies, and awards to validate claims.

Leveraging storytelling can help you simplify complex details and illustrate your product’s transformative impact – it’s vital to create a narrative that’s easily digestible while still packing a punch. That way it can connect to your customers emotionally, paving the way for you to build valuable relationships and boost memorability.

Execute an effective go-to-market (GTM) strategy

A strategic go-to-market plan ensures products successfully reach target customers. It encompasses positioning, branding, pricing, distribution channels, and partnerships.

While B2B and B2C strategies differ, common elements include early internal alignment, tailored marketing, and phased product releases. Regardless of company size, cross-functional collaboration, and early involvement of departments like sales, marketing, and support drive success.

For B2C, an emotional appeal, clear value proposition, and memorable brand experience are fundamental. Broad campaigns build awareness rapidly across channels, while strong packaging, visuals, and seamless user experience attract consumers.

UGC (user-generated content) can be super powerful here. Take GoPro, for example. GoPro users frequently share their breathtaking photos and videos captured with their cameras on social media platforms, using the hashtag #GoPro. 

The brand organizes contests and challenges that encourage its community to showcase their creativity and skill. 

Community-driven launches leverage user content and influencer partnerships, soft launches and beta testing refine positioning, and lead generation through personalized, targeted campaigns converts.

Build valuable customer relationships via communication and collaboration

As a B2C product marketer, you rely on cross-functional partners like sales, product, and marketing to bring initiatives to fruition. 

But departments often operate in silos, misalignment runs rampant, and lack of communication hinders execution. You can fix this by building bridges. Start by taking time to understand each team’s priorities and pain points. What targets are they chasing? What challenges are blocking their goals? 

Armed with empathy, tailor messaging to showcase how your projects will benefit their objectives. Give colleagues a voice too – proactively seek their feedback and encourage two-way dialogue and keep meetings razor-focused by segmenting discussions specific to each team. 

It’s also essential to maintain open channels through regular, easily digestible updates on roadmaps, projects, and milestones. Having key data points and messages at your fingertips will help you establish credibility, and adapting your communication style to the preferences and personalities of your audience will ensure you resonate. 

The payoff? Seamless execution, frictionless collaboration, and unlocking your collective potential.

Onboard users seamlessly

Onboarding represents a pivotal opportunity to spark customer delight and loyalty from day one. The key is designing experiences that continue the personalized feel from sales interactions. 

Did you know that only 40% of companies have dedicated onboarding roles or teams? This means that many orgs still embed onboarding within broader customer success functions. Without dedicated onboarding teams, companies are missing out on yielding potentially transformative customer relationships (which, by the way, impacts recurring revenue).

In general, B2C companies should tailor the onboarding experience to meet the specific needs and expectations of their target audience. Start by offering helpful tutorials customized to different learning preferences, smoothly guiding users through product discovery. Monitor adoption metrics as well to rapidly surface bottlenecks and iterate based on feedback.

If you really wanna know how to run effective onboarding programs, check out the State of Onboarding report from our sister community, Customer Success Collective.

Onboarding should seamlessly extend the positive impression created during marketing and sales interactions. It should never feel like the moment when a company stops making an effort. Instead, it should be a continuation of the customer-centric approach that brought them to your product in the first place.

Engage customers beyond onboarding by sprinkling in tips and personalized recommendations tailored to their usage, and stay ahead of the game by proactively addressing common questions to prevent frustration. 

(Arguably) most importantly, continually refine your onboarding flow to meet evolving expectations and build that all-important trust. When done right, stellar onboarding transforms first-time users into vocal brand advocates who unlock the full value of your offering.

Relentlessly analyze your performance 

In fast-paced B2C markets, effective product marketers take a data-driven approach to continual optimization. Analysis and optimization are ongoing processes that are crucial for understanding what works and what doesn’t. 

Hold your horses – before diving into analysis, define what success looks like for each project. Ensure your objectives are measurable, clear, and achievable. Start by maintaining clear goals and focusing analysis on metrics aligned to objectives. 

Look beyond surface-level data as well to uncover behavioral patterns, leveraging techniques like cohort analysis. Blend quantitative data with qualitative insights from surveys and conversations for the full picture. 

Experiment incrementally with cohort analysis and A/B testing to pinpoint improvements while avoiding major changes. Use insights to align strategies with evolving dynamics and customer needs. Stick with small but compounding wins through regular analysis, refinement, and sharpening of your efforts. 

The result: Perpetual relevance, growth, and success.

B2C product marketing strategies: Key takeaways

There you have it – 9 essential strategies to level up your B2C product marketing game. But if we had to boil it down to just one key lesson, it would be this: Put your customer at the heart of everything you do.

That was a lot to take in, so here are the key takeaways:

• Research customer needs, the competitive landscape, and market gaps to inform positioning and tailor offerings. Surveys, automation, and analytics tools streamline large-scale B2C research.
• Develop pricing aligned with customer willingness to pay, perceived value, and competitive benchmarking. Regularly refine using data and customer feedback.
• OKRs promote alignment, focus, and agility to swiftly adapt strategies to market changes. Develop objectives and results tied to growth.
• Detailed, research-backed personas guide products and marketing tailored for customer segments. Continuously update personas.
• Sharp positioning and messaging convey differentiation. Use storytelling to connect emotionally and boost memorability.
• Strategic GTM planning ensures products successfully reach target customers. Involve cross-functional teams early for alignment.
• Relationship-building and tailored communication with internal partners like sales, product, and marketing fosters collaboration.
• Personalized onboarding that welcomes, educates, and engages users to increase retention.
• Regular analysis and incremental optimizations ensure strategies remain relevant and drive continual growth.

The B2C landscape will keep rapidly evolving. New technologies will emerge, new competitors will arise, and customers will continue having sky-high expectations. But if you ground yourself in customer empathy and relentless improvement, you’ll have what it takes to boost growth in even the most dynamic markets.

B2C Core: The only certification dedicated to B2C product marketing

Keen to really dive deep into the world of B2C product marketing? This expert-led course is all you’ll need.

B2C Core is a comprehensive, self-paced product marketing certification that provides you with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to successfully launch products, and attract and retain customers throughout every lifecycle stage.

What’s included:

Content: An extensive curriculum, covering each of the essential elements of product marketing in the B2C space.

Coursework: Reinforce your skills through practical activities designed for real-world applications.

Exams: Test your knowledge at regular intervals throughout the course with bite-sized exams and quizzes.

Templates: Access tried and true (downloadable and editable) templates to simplify the process.

Access: Bask in the joy that is unlimited, lifetime access to the course. Revisit lessons, refresh skills, and dive deeper anytime you want.

Certification: Showcase your specialized B2C product marketing skills and knowledge to enhance your professional profile.

Community: Connect, gain insights, and expand your network by interacting with fellow product marketers.

Support: Receive continuous support from our dedicated team.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

Unearth powerful customer insights: Conduct meticulous market research to uncover your customers’ true pain points and build must-have solutions perfectly aligned with evolving needs.

Create compelling messaging: Build powerful personas to create unmissable campaigns and captivate audiences for impactful product launches that deliver seamless customer experiences.

Drive business impact through calculated alignment: Strategically orchestrate product launches to escalate impact, align teams to deliver seamless customer experiences, retain customers for life, and maximize revenue.

The post 9 must-know B2C product marketing strategies to boost growth appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Product marketing managers (PMMs) play a pivotal role in determining the trajectory of a product’s journey from conception to the hands of the consumer.

At the heart of this journey lies the art and science of experimentation, which provides a structured approach to understanding how users interact with a product, what they value, and where there might be room for improvement.

The essence of a PMM’s role is to act as a bridge, connecting the technical intricacies of product development with the ever-evolving needs and preferences of the market. This bridge is built on data, insights, and feedback, which are gathered through experimentation. 

Whether you’re fine-tuning a user interface, optimizing a new feature for better engagement, or gauging the potential impact of a complete product overhaul, experimentation strategies guide these decisions.

However, the realm of experimentation is vast and varied. From quantitative methods that delve into hard data and metrics to qualitative approaches that focus on user behavior and perceptions, each strategy offers unique insights. 

The challenge, and indeed the art, lies in choosing the right strategy for the right situation, ensuring that product features not only function seamlessly but also resonate deeply with the target audience.

As we delve deeper into this article, we’ll explore the nuances of various experimentation methods, their applications, and the impact they can have on shaping successful B2C products.

We’ll delve into: 

• Why experimentation is so vital,
• The benefits of experimentation,
• Key strategies, and
• Best practices.

Let’s go!

Why experimentation is so vital

Experimentation stands as a cornerstone in the world of B2C product marketing for several compelling reasons:

More informed decision-making

In the absence of experimentation, positioning decisions often hinge on assumptions, instincts, or anecdotal evidence. While these might occasionally lead to success, they are not consistently reliable. 

Experimentation, on the other hand, offers empirical data, grounding decisions in actual user behavior and preferences. This data-driven approach significantly reduces the margin of error, ensuring that product enhancements are genuinely aligned with user needs.

Enhanced risk management 

Introducing a new feature or making significant changes to an existing one can be risky. Without proper testing, unforeseen issues might arise post-launch, leading to dissatisfied users and potential damage to your brand. 

Experimentation acts as a safety net, allowing teams to test new ideas on a smaller scale, gauge their impact, and iron out any kinks before a full-fledged release.

Evolving with the market 

The B2C landscape is in constant flux, with consumer preferences, technological advancements, and market dynamics continually shifting. 

Experimentation allows product marketing managers to keep a finger on the pulse of these changes. By continuously testing and iterating, products can evolve in tandem with the market, ensuring they remain relevant and competitive.

Maximizing ROI 

Every feature development or enhancement comes with associated costs, be it in terms of time, resources, or capital. 

Experimentation ensures that these investments yield the highest possible return. By identifying which features resonate most with users, businesses can allocate resources more efficiently, focusing on areas that offer the most substantial growth potential.

Building stakeholder confidence 

For stakeholders, be it investors, board members, or even internal teams, seeing decisions backed by solid data can be reassuring. 

Experimentation provides this data, showcasing a commitment to methodical, user-centric product development. This not only builds confidence but also fosters a culture of transparency and accountability.

Enabling a feedback loop 

At its core, experimentation is about listening to users. Whether it’s through A/B tests, usability studies, or direct feedback, experimentation establishes a continuous feedback loop. This ongoing dialogue with users ensures that products are not developed in a vacuum but are shaped and refined based on genuine user needs and feedback.

In essence, experimentation is not just a series of tests or strategies. It’s a philosophy, a commitment to placing the user at the heart of every product decision, ensuring that B2C products are crafted with precision, empathy, and a deep understanding of the market they serve.

The benefits of experimentation

When it comes to building great products and getting them into the right hands, experimentation is key. Running controlled tests allows us to validate assumptions and make data-driven decisions about what features to build, how to take them to market, and how to provide the most value. 

This isn’t just about moving fast and breaking things – it’s about rapidly iterating to serve users better. By regularly experimenting, we can ensure our products, pricing, positioning, messaging, and more evolve with the market. And the benefits are clear…

• Enhanced product value: Experimentation ensures features align with user needs, increasing product value and user satisfaction.
• Increased revenue: Optimized customer journeys can lead to higher user engagement, retention, and conversion rates.
• Faster iteration: Experimentation provides rapid feedback, allowing for quicker iterations and improvements.
• Stakeholder alignment: Data from experiments can be used to align stakeholders on product marketing decisions.

Experimentation strategies

Now we’ve established the massive benefits experimentation can have for your organization and, more importantly, your customers, let’s look at some strategies and how we can wield them to build amazing user experiences.

A/B testing

Often considered the gold standard in experimentation, A/B testing involves presenting two distinct versions (A and B) of a feature, product, or message to separate user segments. The primary goal is to determine which version drives better performance based on predefined metrics.

• Application: Ideal for testing subtle changes like button colors, call-to-action text, or different layouts.
• Benefits: Provides clear, quantitative results on which variant performs better, leading to informed decisions and improved user experience.

Multivariate testing

An extension of A/B testing, multivariate testing examines multiple variables simultaneously. This helps understand the combined effect and interactions between different elements.

• Application: Suitable for complex pages or features with multiple elements that can be changed, like a landing page with varied images, text, and button placements.
• Benefits: Allows for a deeper understanding of how different elements interact and influence user behavior.

Feature flags

This strategy involves deploying a new feature but keeping it ‘hidden’ from the majority of users. Only specific segments (like beta testers) can access and test the feature.

• Application: Useful for gradually rolling out new features, especially when unsure of its reception or when wanting to mitigate potential risks.
• Benefits: Offers flexibility in feature deployment, reduces risks, and allows for iterative improvements based on early feedback.

Beta testing

A pre-release version of a feature or product is shared with a select group of users, typically known as beta testers. Their role is to use the feature, identify bugs, and provide feedback.

• Application: Commonly used for major feature releases, app updates, or entirely new products where extensive user testing is required before a public launch.
• Benefits: Helps identify and rectify technical issues, gather user feedback, and refine the feature based on real-world usage.

Usability testing

This qualitative research method involves observing real users as they interact with a feature or product. The goal is to understand their behavior, preferences, and potential challenges they face.

• Application: Suitable for any stage of product development, from early prototypes to mature products. Commonly used for user interface and user experience optimization.
• Benefits: Offers in-depth insights into user behavior, identifies pain points, and helps improve overall usability.

Surveys and feedback forms

These are the most direct tools for collecting user feedback. They can be structured with specific questions or open-ended to gather general opinions.

• Application: Useful post-feature release to gauge user satisfaction, gather suggestions, or after A/B tests to collect qualitative data.
• Benefits: Direct insights from users help in understanding user preferences, and provide a platform for users to voice their opinions.

By leveraging these experimentation strategies, PMMs can ensure that every product feature, message, and piece of collateral is not just technically sound but also aligns with user expectations and market needs. 

Through continuous testing, feedback, and iteration, you can optimize your entire user journey, driving success in the competitive B2C landscape.

Best practices

As you dive into experimentation, here are some core best practices to keep in mind. These tips will help ensure your experiments are set up for success.

• Start small: Before diving headfirst into large-scale experimentation, it’s essential to test the waters with smaller, focused experiments. These can be quick A/B tests or short feedback sessions.
• Be patient: The results of experimentation might not always be immediate, especially for long-term strategies or when observing subtle user behaviors.
• Analyze and iterate: Once an experiment concludes, the work is far from over. Data needs to be analyzed, insights derived, and then applied to iterate on the product features.
• Stay user-centric: Every experiment, regardless of its scale or objective, should always prioritize the user. Their needs, preferences, and feedback should be the guiding light for any experimentation strategy.
• Diversify your experimentation methods: While it might be tempting to stick to familiar methods, it’s crucial to diversify. Different strategies offer varied insights, and a holistic understanding requires a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Combine data with intuition: While data-driven decisions are crucial, they should be complemented by intuition and experience. Sometimes, raw numbers might not tell the entire story, and your intuition can fill in the gaps.

By internalizing and acting on these key takeaways, you can navigate your experiments with clarity and confidence. Let these principles serve as your compass, ensuring that every aspect of your product marketing strategy remains focused, user-centric, and primed for success in the B2C market.

Conclusion

For PMMs in the B2C space, experimentation is not just a tool but a necessity. It offers a clear pathway to understand user behavior, validate product decisions, and optimize features for market success. 

By adopting and integrating these strategies, businesses can ensure that their products not only meet but exceed user expectations, driving growth and success in the competitive B2C marketplace.

The post Evolving with the market: The role of experimentation in B2C product marketing appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Understanding the motivations and thought processes of your B2C customers is crucial for anyone looking to influence buying decisions. 

While purchasing triggers may seem irrational on the surface, human psychology plays an enormous role in consumer behavior. By studying the psyche of your target audience, you can gain insight into the unseen factors driving their selections. With this knowledge, you’re equipped to strategically position your product in a way that resonates at a deeper, more emotional level.

In this post, we’ll explore key principles of consumer psychology to uncover what really makes B2C buyers tick. You’ll learn how to get inside the minds of your customers so you can optimize messaging, pricing, and product features for maximum appeal. 

Let’s dive in! 

The need for belonging drives purchasing decisions 

Human beings are social creatures at their core. We all share a fundamental need to feel connected, accepted, and part of a community. Marketers leverage this desire for belonging by associating their products with specific identities, lifestyles, and values. 

Consider how athletic apparel brands like Lululemon promote more than just clothing – they sell an aspirational vision of what it means to be a yogi or spin class regular. By tapping into the need to belong, they convince customers that buying their products is a ticket into an elite social circle. 

Think about the social identities and affiliations your target audience strives for. Then, position your product as a means of satisfying that innate need for community and you’ll capture their interest on a subconscious level. 

Anchoring bias heavily influences perceived value 

Anchoring bias is the psychological tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information provided when making decisions. Product marketers can leverage this psychological quirk by establishing a reference price that shapes a buyer’s perception of value. 

Studies show that anchoring affects pricing dramatically. For example, an item initially presented as $100 before being reduced to $80 is perceived as more valuable than the same item presented at $80 from the outset. The original anchor price casts the lower price in a more favorable light. 

To leverage anchoring bias, introduce a higher price tier or exclusive premium offering to make other options seem more reasonable by comparison. This subtly influences customers’ willingness to pay and perceived value for core products and services.

Loss aversion drives emotional purchasing triggers 

Loss aversion is another psychological concept that factors heavily into purchasing decisions. Research shows that people are far more motivated to avoid losses than acquire gains. When faced with the risk of losing something, emotions override rationality. 

That’s why limited-time promotions work so well. The threat of “missing out” triggers anxiety and the desire for closure. Strategies like countdown timers and “only 5 units left” notices push buyers to act by activating feelings of potential loss. 

To boost conversions, incorporate loss aversion triggers that create urgency and scarcity. But use these psychological prompts carefully – being overly aggressive may undermine trust. 

The peak-end rule shapes lasting perceptions 

Known as the “peak-end rule”, people judge experiential events largely based on how they felt at the very peak and at the very end. The duration of positive and negative emotions in between receive less weighting in long-term perceptions. 

This principle applies to the customer journey and shapes retrospective assessments of interactions with your brand. To leave a positive impression, optimize touch points around peaks of emotional intensity and a strong finish.

That may mean wowing users immediately after signup with rewards or personalization. Ending on a high note with exceptional service helps mask earlier friction points. Manage both beginning and endings to align with the peak-end rule. 

Decision fatigue leads to satisfying behaviors 

Have you ever felt so exhausted by decision-making that you just took the easiest acceptable option instead of the optimal one? That’s called “satisficing”, a cognitive shortcut people rely on when overwhelmed by choices. 

This ties back to decision fatigue – after making many complex trade-offs, mental stamina starts to fade. When facing product overload, buyers simplify choices by selecting the first sufficient (but not perfect) alternative that meets basic needs. 

You can prevent satisficing behaviors by minimizing unnecessary decision points in the customer journey. Eliminate options that add minimal value and highlight your core offering – this will make it much more appealing.

Social proof drives herd behavior 

When uncertainty strikes, people tend to follow the crowd. Leveraging the psychological effects of social proof, brands showcase mass adoption to sway the undecided. User testimonials, celebratory milestones like “1 million subscribers”, and crowdsourced average star ratings all help reassure buyers they’re making the right choice. 

The impulse to follow the herd stems from our inherent social wiring. Shared experiences build bonds, even if that “shared experience” is just buying the same popular product. 

Show potential customers they’re joining a larger movement by spotlighting your product’s prevalence. But emphasize quality over quantity – a few enthusiastic reviews from credible sources often go farther than a sea of unknown users. 

Cognitive biases distort objective reality 

This post has covered several cognitive biases shaping buyer behavior, but there are dozens more subtly influencing decisions. Other common pitfalls include: 

• Confirmation bias: Drawing conclusions that align with existing beliefs or preferences.
• The halo effect: Letting positive attributes in one area cause overstated perceptions in other areas. 
• Hyperbolic discounting: Overvaluing immediate rewards over long-term payoffs. 
• The Dunning-Kruger effect: Overestimating personal expertise due to a lack of self-awareness. 
• The availability heuristic: Judging the likelihood of events on how easily they come to mind. 

While cognitive biases are technically irrational, they are deeply ingrained in human psychology. Rather than fighting them, smart product managers find ways to ethically direct these mental shortcuts towards positive outcomes. 

Leverage principles of behavioral economics 

Given the sway of psychological factors, applying principles of behavioral economics is key for product managers. Traditional economic theory assumes people make perfectly rational decisions – but as we’ve discussed, real-world choices are far messier. 

Behavioral economics integrates scientific insights about human behavior into economic models. This field pinpoints deviations from pure logic that lead to surprising customer responses. Software engineers speak of “edge cases” that break systems under special conditions – think of cognitive biases as the edge cases of the human mind. 

Here are two other behavioral economics concepts that may prove useful: 

The decoy effect: Introducing a third “decoy” choice that makes a desired option look superior by comparison. 

Hyperbolic discounting: The tendency to disproportionately value immediate rewards over delayed benefits. This explains the popularity of “buy now, pay later” services. 

While behavioral economics helps illuminate the complexities of buyer decisions, ethics should be top-of-mind. You can nudge customers towards better choices, but beware of overly manipulative “dark patterns” that may cross ethical lines. Ultimately, reducing friction and adding genuine value is the only way to win customer trust. 

Optimize for emotion and experience

At this point, it should be clear that purchasing is far from simply a numbers game. Price and features are certainly part of the equation, but not nearly the whole story. Ultimately, consumers buy based on emotion and experience above all else. 

Leading brands back up logical arguments with powerfully designed experiences that tap into psychology. From viral social campaigns to beautifully addictive apps, they move hearts as well as minds. 

Rather than getting lost in functional minutiae and incremental optimizations, keep the full arc of the customer lifecycle in sight. Chart an engaging journey fueled by emotion, social connection, and memories that transcend transactions. Build relationships, not just revenue. 

While analytics and data are crucial, avoid overly reductive interpretations. Statistics alone will not capture the full context behind why customers act as they do. Synthesize quantitative insights with empathy, imagination, and intuitive observation to uncover deeper human truths. 

In summary 

Understanding psychology is key to unpacking the black box of customer purchasing decisions. By studying innate human cognitive patterns and tendencies, you can gain an intimate understanding of your B2C buyers. Tailor messaging, pricing, promotions, and experiences to align with their mental shortcuts and emotional triggers. 

Here are some key tips to wrap up: 

• Tap into the need to belong by associating your product with aspirational identities and lifestyles. 
• Anchor prices and tier offerings to shape perceptions of value driven by cognitive biases. 
• Trigger loss aversion by introducing scarcity and urgency to prompt emotional purchases. 
• Optimize user journeys around peaks and ends in line with the peak-end rule. Spotlight social proof to leverage the power of herd mentality and consensus. Sidestep decision fatigue and satisfying behaviors by simplifying choices.
• Apply the principles of behavioral economics to integrate human irrationality into strategy. 
• Design holistic customer experiences fueled by emotion, not just utility. 

The mind of the modern consumer is complex, but human needs remain universal. By taking both a data-driven and humanistic approach, you gain a multidimensional understanding of your audience. These insights allow you to tell truly resonant brand stories while also driving success metrics – the best of both worlds. 

Hungry for even more behavioral insights?

Get Consumer Psychology Certified today.

By the end of this course, you’ll:

Better understand how to group pain and gain.

Understand how personal factors and individual differences affect people’s buying choices.

Be able to identify what your customer’s default action is.

Understand how environmental variables such as friends, family, media, culture, and competitors influence buying decisions.

Understand what motivates people to choose one product over another.

Know how to identify what’s going to get your customers fired up and talking.

“The course provides a bunch of templates, guides, and resources to give PMMs a huge jump start to implement their own programs and consequently drive product growth.” 

– Iman Bayatra, Director of Product Marketing at Coachendo

The post The psyche of today’s B2C buyer: Unraveling the secrets of their purchasing decisions appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Are you tired of shouting from the rooftops about how great your local business is, but still struggling to attract new customers?

Well, what if I told you that there’s a simple solution that’s been hiding right under your nose? Yes, I’m talking about customer ratings and reviews! More and more, people are turning to online reviews to decide where to shop, dine, and spend their hard-earned cash.

In this article, we’re going to discuss seven powerful strategies for maximizing your local business’s reputation with customer ratings and reviews.

From claiming your business listings to responding to negative feedback, we’ll cover everything you need to know to build a stellar reputation and bring in more business.

Why are customer ratings and reviews important?

Customer ratings and reviews provide valuable insights into the quality of a product or service, and have the power to affect the reputation and influence of the business itself. Reading reviews allows you to gain an understanding of the customer experience and learn about how your product or service is received.

Positive reviews help you stand out from the competition and draw in new customers, which is particularly crucial for small businesses. And it’s no secret that the majority of customers trust internet reviews as much as personal recommendations – digital word of mouth can be what ignores your brand or crushes it.

Not only that, customer reviews can enhance your search engine results. How? Because search engines like businesses with more reviews and higher ratings. Ultimately, prioritizing your customer ratings and reviews can have a great influence on your business’s reputation, authority, and bottom line.

How to maximize your local business’s reputation

Your reputation as a local business owner is critical to attracting new customers and maintaining existing ones. In today’s digital age, customer ratings and reviews go hand-in-hand with business success. They give useful information on the quality of your products or services as well as the overall customer experience.

Here are a few tips for improving your local business’s reputation via online ratings and reviews:

1. Claim and optimize your business listings

This involves submitting your company to prominent directories such as Google My Business and Facebook. By claiming your listings, you can ensure that your business information is accurate and up-to-date.

This is essential when it comes to prospective customers finding your brand. It’s also good to provide your customers and prospects with business information and photos after you’ve claimed your listings. This includes entering all of the required info, such as your business hours, website, and phone number or contact details.

If you’re including images, you should make sure they’re high-quality. You can even use tools like Brush Galaxy, which has extensive color palettes, to create these images. 

Improved listings will make it easier for people to find and learn about your business, resulting in more positive reviews and greater influence.

2. Encourage customers to leave reviews

Encouraging customers to leave reviews is a powerful way to boost your local business’s reputation. The first step in increasing your review count is to deliver exceptional customer service. Customers who had a positive experience are more likely to share a review.

There are also plenty of tools out there that enable you to request reviews, making it super streamlined for customers to share their experiences. If you’re not keen on utilizing these tools, you could always pop a direct link in an email, sending your customer to your Google My Business or Facebook business page, or include instructions on how to leave a review on your website. 

Streamlining the review process is key  – customers will typically only leave a review if doing so is relatively straightforward and takes minimal steps.

The quest to gain positive customer reviews will not only improve your retention but will help you acquire that all-important feedback that works to improve your marketing efforts.

3. Respond to customer reviews

Responding to customer reviews shows that you value your customers’ feedback and are committed to providing excellent service. It’s important to monitor and respond to both positive and negative reviews.

Thanking customers for positive feedback demonstrates that you value their support, whilst responding to negative feedback indicates that you take customer concerns seriously and are willing to improve your service. You should use personalized and professional language when responding to show that you care about the customer’s experience and your promises to improve are sincere.

It’s also a good idea to reply to negative comments with solutions. We’re not mind readers, but by addressing any issues flagged and offering to make things right – by providing a discount or free service, for example – you can improve customer experience and work on forging meaningful customer relationships. 

4. Showcase and promote positive reviews

A great way to promote your positive reviews is to share them on social media and your website. This helps potential customers see the great experiences others have had with your business.

Looking at more traditional means of increasing your influence, if your brand has a brick-and-mortar store, you can showcase your positive reviews by displaying them on your business premises in the form of a poster. This can aid in the development of trust and credibility among customers who visit your physical store. 

A great way to boost exposure is by showcasing positive reviews on your site as testimonials or using them in digital ads.

5. Address negative reviews

Negative reviews can have a significant impact on your local business’s reputation and go on to diminish your credibility. But it’s important to remember that negative reviews can also provide valuable insights that can help you improve your business.

When handling negative feedback, respond in a timely manner. Instead of becoming defensive or argumentative, use a customer-centric attitude. Understand the customer’s viewpoint and respond to their problems in a courteous, empathic, and solutions-focused manner.

You may need to take particular measures to fix the situation, such as issuing a refund, replacement, or discount. If you’re not too sure about how to phrase your response, don’t be shy about using AI writing tools to help you construct your reply. Just make sure you proofread your response before sending it out, and ensure it’s relevant and addresses the issue at hand.

Once you’ve resolved the problem, follow up with your customer to ensure they’re satisfied with the resolution. This’ll help to establish trust and will demonstrate that you value their feedback.

Proactively responding to negative feedback has the potential to convert a poor experience into a positive one and help you forge more meaningful relationships with your customers.

6. Monitor and manage your online reputation

Monitoring and managing your online reputation is essential for maximizing your local business’s influence. 

Monitoring social media and other online mentions, such as blog postings or news stories, is a must. It’ll keep you up to date on what people are saying about your business and allow you to handle any negative comments or suggestions. 

A good way to monitor your online presence is by utilizing social media management tools.

7. Track your reputation and adjust your strategies

Tracking your reputation and adjusting your strategy to acquire new customers can really boost your brand’s impact, and sentiment analysis tools can help you keep an eye on your online reputation. 

You should also examine your review data for trends and patterns. This’ll assist you in identifying areas for development and adapting your approach accordingly. For example, if you receive a lot of negative feedback about the quality of your customer service, this is a surefire sign that you need to invest more in employee training or make policy changes.

Key takeaways for customer ratings and reviews

Customer ratings and reviews can make or break a local business’s reputation. 

Claiming and optimizing your business listings is essential, as is encouraging customers to leave reviews. But it’s not enough to just get the reviews, you need to respond to them (both the “good” ones and the “bad” ones) to demonstrate trust and empathy. 

Keep in mind that customer service is key. Use review request tools and software, create a simple and clear review process, and create personalized, professional responses. 

You’ve earned those positive reviews, so shout it from the rooftops! Don’t forget to promote those kind words of your customers, and regularly monitor and manage their commentaries so you can track your reputation, adjust your strategies, and maximize your influence.

By following these seven strategies, you can optimize your local business’s reputation and build strong, sustainable relationships with your customers.

The post Customer ratings & reviews: 7 Strategies to maximize your business’s influence appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Before we dive in, I want to ask a potentially controversial question: Do you use Bumble? 

In case you’re not familiar with it, Bumble is a dating app. However, we’re not going to be talking too much about dating today. Instead, we’ll be focusing on subscription models, which I work on as the Associate Director of Growth Product Marketing at Bumble. More specifically, we’ll be talking about growing revenue through subscriptions. 

Product marketing in the B2C space is still relatively new, so I’m excited to share some insights from the frontlines. Let’s jump in!

What are subscriptions and why are they important?

Subscriptions are a super-effective way for consumer companies to secure recurring revenue. Services like Amazon Prime and Spotify have made subscriptions a household concept. For consumer tech companies, subscriptions can help lock in customers and revenue while encouraging ongoing engagement.

One of the common types of subscription in the B2C space is the freemium model in which the core product is free and the premium version is paid. The premium version might offer you more features or, as in the case of Spotify, a more enjoyable experience by removing ads. 

Subscriptions are critical for a few key reasons:

• They drive revenue and increase customer lifetime value (CLTV)
• They build stickiness as subscribers tend to remain engaged for longer
• They enable adoption by encouraging users to try more features

In short, subscriptions help consumer tech companies focus on creating long-term value vs. short-term user growth, providing stability and sustainability in the volatile world of consumer tech.

Product marketing’s role in driving subscription growth

So where does product marketing come into all of this? Well, at its core, product marketing is all about understanding users’ needs, mapping journeys, and communicating value. These skills translate directly into crafting compelling subscription strategies.

When it comes to subscriptions, product marketers start by identifying what motivates users and their willingness to pay. What specific features or benefits are users willing to subscribe for? Building this understanding allows us to highlight the most appealing elements of a paid subscription in our messaging and value prop.

Beyond research, product marketers create hypotheses and run experiments to optimize the path to conversion. We leverage automation and CRM tools to scale learnings across campaigns. The goal is to continually refine targeting and messaging to boost opt-ins.

How to build a solid subscription strategy 

An effective subscription strategy can be boiled down to three key phases: Educate, target, and convert. Let’s take a closer look.

Phase one: Educate

In the education phase, product marketers articulate a clear, consistent value proposition. We craft messaging that speaks to the functional and emotional benefits of subscribing. For new users, this means thoughtful onboarding to demonstrate the value. For existing subscribers, it’s about reiterating the ongoing benefits to retain them.

Phase two: Target

The targeting phase is all about employing hyper-targeted, data-driven campaigns. On the B2C side with millions of users, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t cut it. We optimize journeys for key user segments, tailoring the messaging and entry points to each audience. The goal is to reach users with the right message at those high-propensity moments when they’re most likely to convert.

Phase three: Convert

Lastly, the conversion phase focuses on closing the deal. This is where tactics like limited-time offers, pricing incentives, and subscription plan recommendations come into play. The aim is to reduce the cognitive load on users as you nudge them over the finish line.

Crafting compelling value propositions

How many times has a product manager come to you, asking, “Our subscription offers X, Y, Z, and a thousand other things – why don’t we tell customers about all of it?” It’s all too easy to cave in, but the reality is that leading with a laundry list of features overwhelms customers rather than compelling them. 

As a product marketer, it’s your job to push teams to identify the single most important value proposition at any given moment. What’s the primary reason a user should upgrade or convert right now?

Here are some strategies to help you hone in on those key value props:

• Analyze usage patterns and conversion entry points: Where are people commonly upgrading from? At Bumble, our top entry points are around premium features like Beeline.
• Create hypotheses based on behavioral data: What goals are users trying to achieve? Getting matches? Starting conversations? Understanding user jobs to be done helps identify motivations.
• Validate with surveys and qualitative research: Speaking directly to customers provides clarity on why they upgraded. If you can, set up weekly customer calls.
• Test messaging with target audiences: Where possible, test how value prop variations perform to optimize.

The process is iterative, but focusing on users’ primary motivations for upgrading helps cut through the noise. Value props should speak to what the user cares about most in that moment versus every possible feature.

Leveraging contextual and cultural moments in messaging

Now let’s dive into some fun examples of how you can create timely messaging to grab users’ attention. 

One effective messaging strategy is tapping into cultural or contextual moments to highlight a specific subscription feature.

For example, during the World Cup, we created messaging around soccer fans finding matches who shared their interest. The key promotion was around “advanced filters” which are part of our premium subscription. Rather than listing all premium features, we focused on how that one feature could help users connect with someone who shared their interest in soccer.

Similarly for Thanksgiving in the US, we highlighted travel mode, a feature that allows users to view profiles in their destinations before arriving there. The messaging focused on using travel mode to line up dates before leaving town for the holiday.

In both cases, we identified a cultural moment, connected it to a specific subscription feature, and crafted messaging around how that single feature could provide value in that context.

Tapping into pop culture, current events, or seasonal moments allows you to catch attention and tell a compelling, relevant story. And by focusing on one key feature, you cut through the noise rather than overwhelming users with everything your premium subscription offers.

Al Bumble, we continually experiment with these types of contextual campaigns to see what best resonates with our audiences. When done right, it’s a highly effective way to boost premium conversions by meeting users where they are.

How to leverage data for targeted messaging

While everyone talks about using data in product marketing, it’s easier said than done. With mountains of data at our fingertips, it’s critical to focus on clear goals and contexts. In subscription models, data offers major opportunities to target specific audiences.

Here are some great ways to do this:

• Identify quick wins based on behavior signals: If someone hits a usage limit, target them with messaging about the increased usage they’ll get if they upgrade. Solve their pain point.
• Optimize early user journeys: New users are most likely to upgrade out of curiosity to experience premium features. Getting them to convert early increases the likelihood of retention.
• Model your best customers: Analyze the behaviors of current premium subscribers to understand signals correlated with the likelihood of conversion. From there, you can target similar users.
• Test different user segments: Not all users respond equally to messaging. Build user clusters to identify which segments have the highest conversion potential when targeted.
• Personalize based on individual usage: Tailor messaging around the specific features a user engages with rather than generic premium pitches.
• Identify entry points and slice value props by audience: For example, at Bumble, we targeted older millennial women with messaging about our incognito mode feature. We made the decision to do so based on data showing that this user group was particularly concerned about privacy. As a result, we saw a huge uptick in upgrades among this demographic.

The key is using data tactically to serve the right message at the right time to the right customer. With the right framework, data takes the guesswork out of targeting.

Driving conversion with targeted incentives

For users who have a lower willingness to pay, incentives can provide that extra nudge needed to finally convert. Why not strategically use special offers and limited-time discounts to incentivize users who haven’t responded to your core messaging?

Incentives are particularly helpful for bringing on new demographics where pricing may be a barrier, like college students. A well-timed promotion with discounted pricing can unlock this audience. 

Of course, it’s vital to ensure the incentive messaging reinforces why the offer matters. Remind users of the core benefits and tie the discount or deal back to the value proposition.

While overusing incentives can devalue subscriptions, timed promotions are an invaluable tool for hitting growth goals and nudging fence-sitters over the line. With strategic messaging and tight targeting, incentives provide that final boost to scale up subscribers.

Let’s recap

In many ways, the core principles of product marketing remain the same whether B2B or B2C. Crafting compelling value propositions, targeted messaging, and strategic experiments are all critical. 

However, applying these fundamentals at the consumer scale brings unique challenges. Happily, by focusing on core product marketing fundamentals, you can overcome them.

First, nail your value prop and messaging. Use testing and experimentation to identify which features compel specific user segments. Adapt your messaging framework to resonate in the moment.

Second, optimize your targeting with precision. With millions of potential subscribers, hyper-targeted campaigns are essential for rising above the noise.

Finally, double down on what works. Leverage automation and CRM to scale your successful campaigns across channels.

The world of consumer subscriptions moves fast. But with the right approach to experimentation, optimization, and automation, product marketers have an invaluable opportunity to drive recurring revenue. By putting the user first, you can craft subscription programs that deliver real value amidst the chaos.

The post Creating product marketing campaigns to scale B2C revenue subscriptions appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Investing in a customer relationship management (CRM) system is essential for any business. Not only do such tools enable you to manage customer interactions, but they can also be incredibly beneficial when crafting product launch strategies. 

This article will uncover how to apply CRM insights to make your product launches successful from the outset. Let’s get started!

The four types of data collected by CRMs

Imagine having a map that highlights your customer’s every preference, every interaction, every purchase, and even every complaint. That’s what you get when you analyze the customer data collected by your CRM platform. 

Understanding your customers helps you customize your products and services to align with their preferences. This can give you the competitive edge for a successful product launch. 

You can get all this thanks to the four main types of data provided by your CRM system. But what are those four types of data? Let’s take a look.

1: Identity data

Identity data includes contact information on your leads and customers. Identity data is basic yet highly essential because you can’t maintain a one-to-one relationship with your customers without it. Identity data often include:

• Name 
• Email address 
• Company name 
• Phone number 

2: Descriptive data

Descriptive data refers to information that helps you understand your customers at a personal level. It usually includes information related to lifestyle, such as:

• Marital status
• Education
• Homeowner or renter 
• Hobbies and personal interests 

3: Qualitative data

Qualitative data is all about your customer’s opinions and perceptions of a product or service. It’s often collected after a sale and gives you an insight into what works, what doesn’t, and how customers behave and feel. 

Qualitative data can answer several key questions: 

• What sparked your interest in this product or service? 
• What are you hoping to get after using this product or service?
• How satisfied are you after using this product or service? 
• How would you rate your buying experience?

4: Quantitative data

Quantitative data gives you a handy high-level overview of your customers. It often includes: 

• Customer renewal and churn rates 
• Average purchase value 
• Conversion rate 
• Customer acquisition cost 

The benefits of leveraging CRM insights for product launches

CRM insights can provide invaluable support for your product launch campaigns. By offering an in-depth understanding of your customers’ needs and preferences, they help ensure that your products meet customers’ expectations and increase their satisfaction. 

What’s more, the data gathered by your CRM improves the accuracy of your audience segmentation so you focus your marketing efforts in the right places. By tapping into their motivators and pain points, this data also provides valuable guidance for crafting effective messaging that resonates with your target audience. 

Finally, it helps you forecast how new products will perform in the market, empowering you to make more strategic decisions.

How to build effective product launch strategies with CRM insights

Now, let’s get into the exciting part! I’ll show you how to build an effective product launch campaign using CRM data. After following this guide, you’ll have a solid plan for your product launches. 

Step one: Gather customer data

The first step in building your product launch strategy is to gather comprehensive customer data. Your launch is doomed unless you fully understand your customers and what they want. 

So, dig into your CRM system! Look at purchase histories, feedback, and anything else that helps you better understand your customers. Don’t just skim through this data – aim to understand the stories told by the facts and figures. 

This process takes some time. However, the better you know your customers, the more likely your product launch will resonate with them.

Step two: Categorize your target customers

The second step in the process is identifying your target customer groups. You can do this based on factors like age, location, buying behavior, or interests. For example, your CRM might show that a significant percentage of your customers are millennials who frequently purchase eco-friendly products.

Next, create detailed customer personas. They represent your ideal customers and help you understand the motivators and pain points of different segments. For instance, Persona A might be “Eco-conscious Emily, a millennial who values sustainable and ethically-produced goods.”

Remember, the more personalized your approach is, the more successful your product launch will be. Tailor your product features, marketing messages, and promotion platforms to match each persona’s preferences. This way, you ensure that your new product speaks directly to your customers’ needs, significantly increasing the chances of a successful product launch.

Step three: Identify product gaps

The third step is identifying potential product gaps in the market. By analyzing the purchasing patterns and customer feedback, you can pinpoint what your customers need but aren’t getting.

Let’s go back to the eco-friendly product example above. You might discover that Eco-conscious Emily frequently searches for vegan leather goods but hasn’t made a purchase in this category. This could be because she couldn’t find a product she wanted or the prices of the products available didn’t fit her budget. 

It’s also important to keep an eye on customer complaints or product returns. These insights could hint at where your products are falling short. Introducing a product that covers these gaps can be a game-changer for satisfying customers.

Let customer insights tell you where you should focus your efforts and you’ll be setting your new product up for a great reception.

Step four: Create product features that align with customer preferences

Once you understand your customers’ preferences, the next step is to tailor your product’s features to meet their needs. 

Let’s say you own a shoe store and your customers love affordable and fashionable leather shoes. If you decide to launch a new leather shoe brand, it’s essential to make sure it’s not just leather, but stylish and affordable, reflecting your customers’ values. 

Don’t limit your thinking to the product itself when creating the features. Consider how the product is packaged, how it’s marketed, and the customer experience in purchasing and using the product. For instance, your shoes could be even more appealing if they come in beautiful packaging, have free shipping options, and include clear care instructions to ensure longevity. 

Aim to exceed your customers’ expectations. Offer an overall experience that makes them feel understood and valued. Running a product launch is all about building a relationship with your customers by understanding their preferences and needs. 

Step five: Tailor marketing messages and offers

The next step in building an effective product launch is optimizing your marketing strategy. This stage involves crafting communication that resonates with your target audience and encourages them to take action. 

By aligning your marketing messages with customer needs, you will increase the chances of a successful product launch and foster stronger customer relationships.

Start by considering the audience preferences you gleaned from your CRM insights. Use this information to create compelling marketing messages that highlight your product’s unique benefits. For instance, if you’re selling health foods, emphasize their natural ingredients and the health benefits they provide.

You can also use targeted offers to gain customers’ attention. Early-bird discounts, limited-time offers, or exclusive add-ons can be useful in seducing your customers. 

Lastly, ensure your marketing message is consistent across all platforms, whether on social media, your website, or email campaigns. Consistency not only strengthens your brand image but also creates a seamless experience for your customers. 

Step six: Create personalized customer experiences

Personalization carries a profound impact when you launch a product. It’s not just about addressing your customer by their first name; it’s about providing a customized experience that makes them feel special and understood. 

Use the knowledge you’ve gathered from your CRM to create personalized customer experiences. This could range from personalized product recommendations based on a customer’s previous purchases, to creating custom content that resonates with their interests. For instance, if you’re launching a new fitness app, you could offer personalized diet plans based on each user’s fitness goals.

It’s also a great idea to use automation to deliver personalized messages at the right time through your customer’s preferred channels. Whether it’s a personalized email with a product tutorial after purchase or a special discount on their birthday, the key is to make each interaction feel personal and relevant.

Every interaction with your customers is an opportunity to reinforce their decision to choose your product. With a focus on personalization, you can elevate the customer experience, leading to stronger customer satisfaction and the success of your product launch.

Step seven: Time product launches for maximum impact

Timing plays a crucial role in every successful product campaign. You can significantly enhance your success rate if you know when to show your products. 

To achieve the maximal impact, firstly, understand your market. Research on industry trends and periods of peak customer activity can reveal the ideal time to announce your new product. For example, launching a new range of swimwear will have a bigger impact in the run-up to summer than in the middle of winter.

Secondly, align the product launch with events or dates that resonate with your audience. This could be an important industry event or a popular holiday. The goal here is to choose a launch time that generates excitement and carve out a moment belonging to your product, ensuring it gets the spotlight it deserves.

Future trends in CRM-driven product launch strategies

AI and machine learning advancements

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are increasingly transforming how businesses strategize their product launches. These technologies ensure you make good use of your customer data, so you can predict customer behavior and preferences more accurately. 

You can use AI to analyze previous product launches and customer responses to understand what worked and what didn’t. Such an analysis can guide the planning process for future launches, ensuring optimal results. 

Machine learning, on the other hand, can be incredibly valuable in segmenting customers and personalizing marketing efforts. It can analyze customer data to identify patterns and predict what kind of products a particular segment is interested in. This foresight enables businesses to tailor their product launches to match customer expectations. 

In essence, AI and ML advancements help you execute more effective product launch campaigns, opening up a new era of customer-centric marketing.

Predictive analytics for product launches

Predictive analytics is another transformative technology reshaping the way we approach product launches. By leveraging big data and statistical algorithms, predictive analytics helps businesses understand potential trends, customer behaviors, and market dynamics before a product hits the shelves.

You can use this information to adjust your marketing strategies, fine-tune your product offerings, and even rethink your pricing to ensure a successful launch. Predictive analytics also spots problems before they happen, so you can take preventative measures to avoid them.

Conclusion 

By helping you understand your customers deeply, tailor your products to meet their needs, and foresee potential trends and obstacles, a CRM system can help guide your product launches to success. 

As we step into this new era of customer-centric marketing, leveraging these tools can improve product launches. Whether you’re planning your first product launch or looking to improve your next campaign, your CRM is more than just a record-keeping system – it’s a treasure of valuable insights waiting to be unearthed.

The post How to drive effective B2C product launches with CRM insights appeared first on ProdSens.live.

Product marketing strategies undoubtedly lend themselves well to business-to-consumer, or B2C, environments – and are just as critical for success as they are in B2B organizations. If implemented effectively, the right product marketing strategies can lead to even greater marketing success and a very real uptick in company revenue.

Let’s dive deeper to learn more.

Defining B2C marketing

It’s important to begin by defining exactly what we mean by B2C marketing.

When we talk about B2C marketing, we’re referring to the activities of companies and brands that market directly to individual consumers. Sounds straightforward – but as product marketers, we know to dive a little deeper than just the definition at hand.

The next step is to consider who we define as individual consumers. Is it someone who is on the receiving end of the product? Or can it even be the person who is the buyer of the product? And how does product marketing fit into communicating to a consumer?

Regardless of how you slice and dice the B2C audience, it’s critically important to implement effective product marketing strategies in a B2C environment. So if you’re looking for tips on how to apply the product marketing spin on B2C marketing, I’ve got 7 strategies you can use to do just that.  

7 effective B2C product marketing strategies

Understand your target audience

How can you effectively market to someone when you don’t even know who they are – or what makes them tick?

It’s integral for product marketing to clearly define and understand the target audience not just on the B2B side of the house, but on the B2C side of things as well. This work is done by conducting comprehensive market research, customer segmentation, and creating buyer personas. These pieces will serve as the building blocks to all marketing efforts undertaken and help a multitude of subteams, including demand generation, content marketing, and creative. 

TIP: Gathering insights on customers is instrumental to this step. A few ways to do this are: read online reviews, view competitor reviews, look through website data, take polls and surveys, or conduct customer interviews. You can learn more about translating the consumer insights you’ve found into product marketing strategies in our State of Market Research 2023 Report. 

Define your unique value proposition 

A unique value proposition is exactly that: a statement that outlines exactly what makes your product unique. In B2C marketing, this is integral. It’s what, after the catchy tagline written, really sells the consumer on engaging with the product in a thoughtful way. It’s what pushes the consumer to take that first step, the second, and the third. It shows them clearly what’s distinctive about your product. 

Identifying and articulating these unique features is important. So is aligning these features with the benefits of the product being marketed. It’s also important to tie all of this up in a neat bow and highlight the competitive advantages your product has over other offerings in the marketplace. Presented to the consumer, this can mean real action taken in a way that directly impacts revenue. 

Craft compelling messaging and storytelling

Storytelling, and the messaging that makes up that story, is incredibly powerful. It helps capture a consumer’s attention at a time when there’s more noise than ever. With the help of powerful storytelling and messaging, consumers will be able to see themselves in what’s been crafted. They’ll also be called to action, and have the potential to engage with the product. 

Creating concise and powerful messaging related to the product is very much needed. How many times have you stopped reading when you felt things were too complicated? No consumer wants to feel lesser than others, especially when they’re attempting to identify whether a product is right for them. 

Use the customer insights you’ve gathered and be sure to highlight the pain points when speaking with consumers. But don’t just focus on the negative. Be sure to draw their attention to the “what’s in it for me” with your product. Spell out in clear terms what they stand to gain (and what others have gained) as a result of using your product. 

Remember that storytelling isn’t just an exercise. It’s a way to build an emotional connection that uses meaningful change stemming from the product’s value at its core. 

Use a variety of marketing channels 

Multiple marketing channels can be used to reach and engage consumers. Depending on the demographics you’re attempting to reach, all generational subsects may live on different areas of the internet. It’s why multi-channel marketing is so vital and effective. 

Common tactics for the B2C world include social media, direct mail, and email to encourage some sort of action. Product marketing can inform all of these areas by providing real, tangible insights other marketing professionals can use to tailor messaging. As a result of this new level of intentionality, each channel can be maximized for effectiveness. 

Create and leverage more engaging content 

Content is meant to engage, educate, entertain, and, dare I say, even inspire consumers.

Product marketing has a direct impact on the quality of content being produced, thanks to the multitude of insights. This is an area where product marketing can act almost as a consultant, scanning over content to ensure that it addresses consumer pain points, highlights important product benefits, and ultimately encourages action. 

Product marketing also serves as a great north star for the more visual elements required to create compelling content. We’ve all heard that we need more video and imagery. Product marketing can help champion the most compelling imagery or video. Perhaps there’s a feature known to really “wow” consumers. Product marketing can advocate and champion on behalf of these consumers to ensure the most effective marketing material is being created. 

For example, in my recent work at a digital healthcare startup that provides value-based surgical and cancer care, the B2C Marketing team (aka Growth Marketing) was promoting many wonderful features of our cancer program. However, after conducting dozens of qualitative interviews directly with cancer patients, we found that mental health was a huge aspect of achieving better physical health outcomes during cancer treatment – and a feature that we had never highlighted even though it was a feature of our product. 

This key piece of intelligence – direct from the mouths of real consumers – enabled us to be more concise, accurate, and direct in our messaging, and ultimately led to a huge increase in registrations for our program. Without this insight, we would not have known the motivating factors behind this particular group of consumers.  

Measure and continue improving 

Measuring is integral to the success of any marketing function. In product marketing, sometimes these metrics can be harder to tie down. The good news about marketing to consumers is that it’s exponentially easier to measure the effectiveness of product marketing strategies. 

Be sure to determine key performance indicators relevant to B2C marketing. Do conversions matter most? Are there specific engagement metrics that you should be focused on? Does in-app adoption of a specific feature relate to a critical product marketing initiative? 

No matter the case, it’s important to not only determine which information to gather, but also analyze said data, gather those insights and continue learning based on the results. You’re only as good as what you’re producing, and consumers can be a fluid bunch. It’s important to never settle and to continuously iterate. 

Leverage social proof more intelligently 

We all know that, as humans, we’re more likely to trust reviews if they come from someone we know, or someone we can relate to. At its core, it’s a part of the human experience. It’s also a great area that product marketing can better inform. 

Identifying relevant product champions in the form of consumers is no easy feat. But when you have some sort of testimonial, and someone who is willing to publicly speak about the results of your product, you’ve got the potential to really make an impact. 

Product marketing can ensure there’s a layer of intentionality behind the social proof being used. Even in something like questions to ask a consumer – product marketing should be right there, informing those questions through Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys, direct consumer outreach feedback  emails or customer advisory boards (which I strongly advocate every organization to build). 

While this is simplifying it exponentially, suffice it to say, social proof is a cycle (and an effective one at that). Here’s that cycle: garner genuine testimonials that directly speak to common consumer pain points, wants, needs and more -> market said social proof out to consumers -> watch consumers enjoy your product -> consumers now want to provide a testimonial related to the product.

Product marketing is there to help with the B2C audience

As evangelists of the product, we product marketing experts can truly redefine the way in which consumers interact and engage with offerings. After all, we know the market best, how the product is positioned, core feature functionalities, the value proposition, and more. 

Using our super product marketing powers for good when marketing to consumers can lead to big results. Try implementing one (or dare I say, all seven) of the strategies I’ve provided above with your B2C audience. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results you see, and the real revenue generated as a result! 

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