Define: Who’s Your Target Audience?
When you’re marketing products, you need to be able to answer this question easily. You can’t launch a product for everyone. You need to directly target the best audience for the product. Without a clear idea of who your product will help, you won’t know what channels to use, what the best messaging is, and how to best reach your target audience.
Identify: What Problem Are You Solving for Your Audience?
What are some of the most common problems cannabis consumers face? What challenges unique to your audience can you can solve? Use stories your customers can relate to:
Example 1: “Disappointed at the quality of one-time use vape pens, New Brand CEO decided to try her hand at combining durability and portability. The result is New Product, the perfect on-the-go vape pen for…”
Example 2: “With his mother ill—and knowing she’d never smoke anything—[Brand] CEO knew there had to be a better, friendlier way to help her use cannabis for the first time. After consulting with the top experts in the industry, [New Product] was born.”)
This is foundational product marketing knowledge. See how we’ve identified the problem and solution? We’ve even touched upon how it was made, why it was made, and whether the product was the result of an ingenious idea.
Differentiation: Who’s Your Competition and How Are You Different?
How many “Me Too” (not #MeToo) brands are there out there? Most brands are, in fact, “Me Too” brands. They lack creativity and ingenuity. Don’t be another “Me Too.” Follow Steve Jobs’ advice: Think Different.
Determine your brand differentiators. What makes you unique? Identify the void in the marketplace and how your product can fill this void.
Validate When Marketing Products: Make Sure People Want Your Product
You can sell the greatest widget known to mankind, but if nobody wants it, who cares? You’ll have spent countless hours and energy creating a solution that nobody wants. Before you go full-force, create a pilot program to see if people really want your new product and whether or not they’ll pay money for this product.
Define Benefits: Summarize the Benefits
You know how your product solves problems. Now it’s time to crystallize what its core benefits are. Is it inexpensive? Easy to use? Is it organic and lab-tested? Whatever the benefits are, make sure to communicate them consistently with your audience. We’re not talking features here, it’s about what the product will bring to the user’s life.
Marketing Products: How Will You Reach Your Audience?
You’re clear on who you’re trying to reach with your new product. You’ve uncovered what challenges your customers face and how your new product solves their problem. Now you need to dive deep into marketing products and determine how you’ll reach your audience.
There are countless opportunities you can use to reach your audience, from email marketing and SMS campaigns to blogging and public relations. Pick just a few and focus on them. Just make sure to consider video marketing in the mix. Remember we talked about “solving a problem”?
Get this: 70% of YouTubers use the platform to solve a problem. That includes problems like: “Why won’t my vape pen get me as high as flower?” or “My grandma is dealing with severe pain. She’s never tried cannabis, but wants to know if it can help her.”
Also, a press release and a blog post can be a great way to drum up interest.
Trust Triggers: Pull Together Testimonials
If you have testimonials, use them. If you don’t have them, get them. Get them even if you have to give out the product for free. Bottom line, testimonials are incredibly valuable as they provide social validation that your new product’s legit.
Example: High-myrcene strain that helps patients fall asleep: “I’ve long struggled with insomnia. Since trying [Product/Strain Name], every night I sleep like a baby.”
Messaging: Create Brand Voice Guidelines
Once you’ve created your brand or product, you need to create guidelines for your team on how they should communicate voice and tone. You should never enter a market without being clear on your messaging. Keep in mind: consistency is key.
Iterate: Test and Refine
What are your goals in terms of revenues? Now is the time to continue testing (with real customers) and determining what works and what doesn’t. Invest more effort into what’s profitable and dismiss anything that isn’t moving you forward.
