Training Marketer

Whether used at trade show booths, on your Website or in customer emails, a well-products product demo can help explain your product and reinforce your marketing message.

A product demo can also get your sales team on the same page with the same marketing pitch and help generate quality leads.

MarketingProfs posted an article today on the best way to create marketing demos for products. The process should start by asking yourself four questions:

1. What is your demo’s objective?

A clear objective will help your team stay focused when deciding on visuals and message.

“If you’re a marketer for a retail Web site and your goal is to encourage more users to purchase products online, build a three-minute demo using actual screen shots of your site with a voiceover that tells users how to buy online as it shows them.”

2. What type of demo should you produce?

Should it be focused on the product, or conceptual? Product demos are very useful for people who want to see a product and understand how it works before they purchase. A conceptual demo can be used when the customer is already familiar with the product. Think about car commercials these days that barely show any features, but you still know what they’re selling.

3. How do you get the greatest return on investment with the demo?

The demo should be easily accessible to all of your customers. Make sure the demo does not take a long time to watch or load on your site. Don’t force people to download an application before being able to view a video, because they won’t take the time to do it.

Make sure the demo is easily portable in order to show it at trade events, to use on sales team laptops while on the road and easily sent via email.

4. Should you produce the demo in-house or outsource the work?

Do you have the resources in-house to create a professional demo in a timely manner? Outsourcing the project to a reputable firm that specializes in demo-development will free up more of your team’s time. If you choose to keep it in-house, be sure to produce a demo that you’re proud of. This is your chance to create a lasting first impression with customers.

Demos should be used anywhere you see fit - linked to in emails, newsletters, on your homepage, even given to your customer service and sales representatives to email customers.

The demo may be the first time a customer has ever come in contact with your company, make sure your marketing message comes out loud and clear.

An article in the New York Times, “Hoping to Make Phone Buyers Flip,” follows the struggles of LG Electronics through designing a new cell phone model. Phone consumers are “gadget conscious” shoppers, buying a new phone every nine months. The deciding factor if a phone will fly off the shelves - popular appeal.

The world has changed,” said Jeremy Dale, who is in charge of marketing for mobile devices at Motorola, Images where fortunes tumbled with the decline of its once popular Razr. “There is more relevance in what other consumers say than what the company is saying.”

“The strongest marketing tool is the first 20,000 people who buy the device,” Mr. Dale of Motorola said. “If they like it, they will tell their friends.”

We all know that you made your widget, you are the sole expert on its functionality, its design, and all the fancy little details, but we (as consumers) don’t care. We want to know how everyone else likes it. Does it work? Will it fill my need?

Encourage consumers to give you feedback on your products. Share that feedback where customers can see it - on your website, a comment section on product pages or mixed into email copy.

I’m not saying that we don’t trust you, we do. We just trust our friends more. Sorry.

On the same note, here’s a video I found from Microsoft recommending word of mouth marketing.