As a product marketer, it’s your job to fully understand the product inside and out so you can convey the key benefits and differentiators to your target customers.
The best way to get all the details is to go straight to the source – your product managers, developers, and engineers.
Sit down with them and ask these essential questions to empower your product marketing and set the new product up for success. By getting the insights you need from the team closest to the product, you’ll have the knowledge and confidence to crush the marketing and drive growth.
Understanding Your Product’s Purpose and Target Audience
To effectively market your product, you need to fully understand it. Have an in-depth conversation with your product team and ask these crucial questions:
Who is our target audience?
Your target audience refers to the specific group of consumers most likely to want your product. Discuss their shared demographics, behaviors, challenges and goals. The more you know about your audience, the better you can tailor your messaging to resonate with them.
What problem does our product solve?
Understanding the underlying issues your product addresses helps determine how to best position and message it. Ask your team about the key problems your target audience faces and how your product provides a unique solution.
What are the key features and benefits?
Knowing your product inside and out is key. Have your team walk you through all the features and functionality. Discuss how each benefit resolves your target audience’s specific pain points. This helps you focus your marketing on the most compelling and differentiating benefits.
How does our product differ from competitors?
It’s crucial to understand how your product stands apart in the market. Ask your team about your unique value proposition and competitive advantages. Look at how your features, benefits, and overall customer experience differ from competitors. These differences shape your product positioning and messaging.
What is our product roadmap?
Discuss your team’s vision and plans for future product enhancements. Understanding the roadmap helps ensure your marketing message will resonate now and in the long run. It also allows you to preview future benefits and get customers excited about what’s to come.
With a deep understanding of these key areas from conversations with your product team, you’ll be empowered to craft impactful marketing that truly resonates with your audience. So make time for an insightful discussion and get the answers you need!
What Are the Product’s Key Features and Benefits?
To effectively market a product, you need to fully understand its key features and benefits. Ask your product team:
- What specific problems does our product solve? How does it make customers’ lives easier or better? For example, does it save them time, reduce costs, increase convenience, or improve their experience? Knowing the core benefits helps craft messaging that will resonate with your target audience.
- What features or components enable those key benefits? For instance, if saving time is a key benefit, what features allow customers to accomplish tasks more efficiently? Compile a list of the product’s features and map them to the benefits they provide. This creates a feature-benefit matrix that helps guide all marketing communications.
- How are our product’s features differentiated from competitors? Unique features that provide a competitive advantage should be highlighted in marketing materials. Promoting meaningful differences helps establish your product as the superior choice for customers.
- What new or improved features are on the roadmap? Knowing what’s coming down the pike allows you to start building anticipation and tease those enhancements in your marketing. However, be very careful not to announce anything that isn’t 100% certain to launch.
- What potential additional benefits could we highlight to reach new customer segments? Are there benefits that aren’t being fully leveraged or new benefits that emerge from a novel combination of features? Uncovering new benefits expands your product’s appeal and addressable market.
- How can we demonstrate and prove the key benefits? Facts, statistics, examples, customer stories, reviews, case studies, and testimonials that provide evidence of benefits build credibility and inspire action. Ask your product team for data and resources to substantiate your marketing claims.
With answers to these critical questions, you’ll have the insights needed to powerfully communicate your product’s value and fuel its success. What are you waiting for? Start the conversation!
How Does the Product Solve Customer Pain Points?
A crucial part of effectively marketing any product is truly understanding how it solves customers’ pain points. As a product marketer, you need to sit down with your product team and ask some probing questions. Here are a few to get the conversation started:
How does this product solve specific customer problems?
Discuss the key issues your target customers face and how your product alleviates them. Be as detailed as possible in describing how your product’s features and functionality address each problem.
What common difficulties or frustrations does this product resolve?
Every product should make customers’ lives easier in some way. Ask your team to identify the precise frustrations, inconveniences, and inefficiencies that your product eliminates or improves. Discuss how these resolutions provide value to customers.
In what ways does this product make tasks or jobs easier or faster to accomplish?
People and businesses are always looking for ways to accomplish more in less time. Have your team walk you through how your product streamlines processes, reduces workload, accelerates outcomes, or otherwise makes jobs and tasks more efficient. Quantify time savings and productivity gains whenever possible.
How does this product improve the customer experience?
A positive customer experience leads to brand loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing. Explore how your product enhances the experience of interacting with your company and brand at every touchpoint. Discuss both the functional as well as the emotional benefits that shape the overall customer experience.
Asking questions like these will provide invaluable insight into your product’s ability to alleviate pain points and add value. Armed with this information, you’ll be well equipped to craft targeted messaging that resonates with your audience and motivates them to take action. Work with your product team to ensure you fully understand your product’s problem-solving power—it’s the foundation for any successful product marketing strategy.
What Makes Your Product Stand Out From Competitors?
A key part of your role as a product marketer is understanding what makes your product unique. This allows you to effectively communicate its differentiation and value to customers. Sit down with your product team and ask them:
What Makes Your Product Stand Out From Competitors?
Your product likely has features, functions or attributes that set it apart. Ask your team:
- What unique benefits does our product offer customers that competitors don’t? Things like cost savings, time savings, improved experiences, access to new opportunities, etc. For example, does our product’s ease of use reduce customer effort or frustration?
- Do we have any proprietary technology, intellectual property, or “secret sauce” that provides an advantage? If so, how can we leverage that in our marketing without revealing sensitive details?
- What common customer problems or needs does our product uniquely solve? How can we position that front and center in our messaging?
- Are there any innovative or unusual features that would resonate with our target customers? Features that competitors may not have anticipated or focused on?
- How is our product customized or personalized for different customer segments in a way competitors can’t match? Can we highlight that customization in our content and campaigns?
Discussing these questions with your product team will uncover the essence of what makes your product truly one-of-a-kind. With this insight, you’ll be equipped to develop compelling content highlighting your differentiation, boost interest in your product, and motivate customers to choose you over the competition. Leverage this knowledge in all of your marketing — from email campaigns and social media to sales materials and more.
Paint a vivid picture of your product’s uniqueness for customers and they’ll see why it’s worth their investment. After all, who doesn’t want a product that’s just for them?
How Can Customers Best Experience Your Product Before Buying?
To effectively market your product, you need to understand how customers can experience it before buying. Try-before-you-buy models are popular because they build confidence in the product and brand. Ask your product team these key questions:
How can customers see or demo your product in person?
- Are physical showrooms or pop-up shops where people can see, touch and try the product possible? Experiencing the product in person is very persuasive.
- Can customers request free samples or trial versions to test at home? This convenience and low-pressure experience may lead to more sales.
How does the product’s packaging and unboxing experience convey its value?
- Nice packaging and an enjoyable unboxing experience create a good first impression and excitement about the new product. How can you optimize this experience?
What digital experiences help customers understand the product?
- High-quality images, videos, virtual demos or tours on your website and social media give people a sense of what the product looks, feels and sounds like.
- Authentic customer reviews and ratings build trust in the product and brand. Feature them prominently on your site and in ads.
- Free trials of software or services let people experience the value firsthand. Consider offering discounted intro rates to hook new customers.
An exceptional pre-purchase experience, whether physical, digital or a combination, is key to empowering your product marketing. Help customers clearly see, understand and interact with your product so they feel confident in their buying decision. This will lead to higher satisfaction, loyalty and word-of-mouth promotion. By asking the right questions, you can work with your product team to craft innovative and memorable experiences that give your product and brand an important competitive edge.