Marketing Strategy
- Started
- Last post
- 30 Responses
- Chimp2
From my limited experience I try to balance the research part of understanding your audience and providing them with something that fulfils their needs and the more random aspect of creating something that people didn't know they wanted until they saw it.
- Strategy is definitely not vertical. It takes a wide range of insight, logic and creativity to execute.canoe
- Talking to customers is my favourite kind of research. One on one over zoom or phone, while they are using the product.mort_
- Not just for UX but also why they chose it over the competition and what job it helps them do.mort_
- canoe1
If more inclined to video than books, Linkedin Learning is a great resource.
- canoe1
"When you base your product strategy around this rather than the characteristics of user / buyer personas, it can lead to innovation within the product and better product market fit."
Especially in the tech world it sounds? Do you have any examples?
I'm working with an automotive client, and actually the personas have helped improve their product sales - all it took was to add some racing stripes to their product in order to further excite the prospect (and to increase product differentiation).
- How did personas lead to racing stripes?mort_
- Because the prospect owns a sports car or muscle car, so they identified more with the product. Racing stripes were added as an option and increased sales.canoe
- I feel like personas should be used as a guide and not as an exact science.Chimp
- That’s a great win. I think what JTBD adds is the trigger moment or situation that led to the buying decision.mort_
- There’s a specific JTBD interview style that gets to the bottom of this when talking to users.mort_
- I think personas and JTBD can probably complement each other.mort_
- Share the interview style Morty!canoe
- https://therewiredgr…mort_
- Many different unique challenges for each case - no one-size-fits-all. And that's why they pay - to solve high level problems that affect the bottom line.canoe
- if you buy racing stripes you also get a free shotgun, brodoesnotexist
- mort_3
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) is a really useful framework for finding out the true specific job your customers use your product for. E.g. “people don’t want a quarter inch drill bit, they want a quarter inch hole”.
There’s a big emphasis on the circumstances a customer was in when they chose your product or switched to your product from a competitor.
When you base your product strategy around this rather than the characteristics of user / buyer personas, it can lead to innovation within the product and better product market fit.
Plenty online about this.
- Great share! JTBD is so useful for certain industries.canoe
- canoe2
Product positioning and differentiation 101 -
Mad Men
Lucky Strike- Ha! What a Show.mort_
- Not to be pedantic but that’s not product positioning, it’s a tag line.mort_
- Well nobody will use their long form positioning statement as a headline.canoe
- In this case the team is attempting to position Lucky as toasted not carcinogenic. How does April refer to the position of a product in the prospect's mind?canoe
- This is image repositioning where there’s no change to the product or the target market. Product repositioning is about bigger changes.mort_
- E,g adding a tar removing filter to Lucky cigarettes and calling them Lucky lites for ladies or something - that’s more product positioning.mort_
- It goes both ways. The product's position in the marketplace (noun), and positioning (verb) the image of the product in the prospect's mind.canoe
- April and your perspective seems to be more about product development - is there a position for this product in the market, rather than marketing the product.canoe
- Frankly I need to read her book.canoe
- I think her take is mostly applicable to newish / startup products in the digital realm. Not so much about repositioning established brands.mort_
- Ya totally in the B2B software/app startup world. And sounds SUPER helpful for SaaS strategy!canoe
- canoe0
@Mort, this is a good read.
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Al Ries- April mentions that book in the YouTube talk I posted above. Apparently good for explaining what positioning is, but not how to do it.mort_
- Also, first published 1981!mort_
- Of course she mentioned it, you should read it too.canoe
- Re: 1981. I don't get what you're trying to say... unless you are saying it's irrelevant, in which, you would argue Paul Rand is no longer worthwhile to read?canoe
- Re: How to do it. Yah, many ad strategy books and copywriting books give the reader the benefit of the doubt that they can apply what is in the book...canoe
- Positioning of digital products would have some nuances is all. But yeah, the fundamentals may not have changed much. Or they may - no idea.mort_
- ...which can be frustrating when all you want is a template to fill in the blanks. Been there. But I find understanding the concepts is better for the long run.canoe
- Cool, I'm going to look into this.Chimp
- mort_7
I’ve come to believe one of the fundamental things to get right with any digital product, whether SaaS, software or app, is product positioning. Who is your target audience and how should they think, feel and talk about your product. Once you get your positioning worked out, it informs everything from design to content marketing to pricing structure to advertising.
April Dunford is the leading voice in product positioning and her book Obviously Awesome (silly title) is a goldmine of information.
Some great talks on YouTube by her too.
- I've heard that was a good read. I'll check it out. Thanks.formed
- I never felt like I had to call the authors of Positioning, the book is not like that whatsoever.canoe
- Cool. I would check out the Positioning book but I’m kind of on a different task right now. May come back to it.mort_
- She had a unique start by not having a marketing background. So she put what she learned in her own words, and I can see how it is appealing - straight forward.canoe
- Her strategy to be condescending works for some because it translates as authority. She dissed the book that she learned from. That's an aggressive...canoe
- ....positioning tactic she may have learned from the Ries book.canoe
- Ha, yeah maybe!mort_
- Ries teaches aggressive positioning is acceptable, but again, leaves it up to the reader to figure out how and why. Ultimately that decision lies with...canoe
- the brand, the market's perspective and how the client 'feels' about the campaign strategy. So many variables. In this case it works for her.canoe
- However I do find it a bit hypocritical on her part to diss the book when she wouldn't speak or write her book if it didn't benefit her own career.canoe
- mort_4
Yup. Product strategy (SAAS product) for about the last 5 years in addition to UX & product design (for way longer). I wouldn’t say I’m particularly good at the strategy side but I’m learning and find it interesting.
- canoe3
This site has been useful for finding demographic data for a law client.
- canoe
Who has worked their way into Creative Director position?
Who works in strategy whether it is brand, marketing, digital marketing?
Who wears more than just the designer hat?
Which QBNers want to work their way up to strategy level? I know some people prefer to focus exclusively on design.
Ideally this thread will be to share strategy stories, tips, advice, etc, kinda like the useful thread but on a strategy level.