Week 2

Your Product or Service

WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
1. Determine Your Target Customer.
Having a target customer for your solution affects all areas of your product or
service. Think about what your consumers are like. From basic demographic
info to more intricate details like behavior, interests, lifestyle, etc. Learn what
makes them happy and what they easily relate to. Find out how your product
or service can fulfill their needs and solve their specific problems. Determining
the right target customer will support your overall marketing efforts. So
definitely do not skip this first step!
WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
2. Define Your Product or Service.
Now that you’ve figured out who your target customer is, give them a reason
to chose your product over others. Delve deep down and outline the key
values your product or service offers that no other product or service in the
market is offering. Emphasize what makes your product or service more
effective and efficient than existing ones. Focus on the qualities and benefits
that make your product or service unique. People generally don’t favor
solutions that do not tell a story. So tell your story and make customers get
emotionally attached to your solution.
WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
3. Research Your Industry Niche.
Choose two to four competitors for your comparison chart. Maybe it would be
a good idea to take a look at smaller ventures for starters. After that, you can
also check how you’re doing in comparison to more established ventures. It
may seem a bit unrealistic, but it can give you some good insights as well.
You should never imitate the established ventures within your industry, but
it’s totally legit to be aware of what they do. Learning from their mistakes is
especially the go-for strategy. In other words, do what the competitors won’t
do. Research your main competitors, and study how they have built their
solution and what obstacles and shortcuts they’ve had and experienced
along the way.
WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
4. Establish a Mission Statement.
Stand for something you believe in. Be innovative, bold, and daring. Here are
a couple of pointers to keep in mind when stating your mission:
Review the product or service your business offers.
Pinpoint the space in the market you occupy.
Conduct research on the rational needs and concerns of your customers.
Think about your customer base and try to differentiate yourself in the
market.
Make everything from the logo to tagline, voice, message, and personality
reflect your mission.
WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
5. Create A Free Trial Or Demo.
Before the official launch, you want to get as much feedback as possible. In
order to see how your product or service works, you want users to experience
it. Hence create your first hand-made prototype or a product demo. This is a
crucial stage in building an effective product or service. Your product or
service has some expectations to meet at this is vital to understand whether it
will succeed or fail. If you are creating a website or app, use a wireframing or
prototyping tool. Nowadays, there are many affordable ways to make
prototypes.
WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
6. Bring It To Life.
Before you launch it, understand your limitations and either outsource or hire
the skills you need. Don’t take too long to perfect your product before
releasing it. Time and consistency are the basic elements of creating a unique
solution in the market. Market your products or services in tune with the time
or seasons that best suit the core proposition of the product. Even if you make
a mistake, just own it and make it right. Keep tracking customers’ feedback.
This way, you’re not only gaining the customers’ loyalty but also positioning
yourself as an ethical innovator who takes the customers’ feedback to heart.
WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
7. Be Consistent.
Be consistent unless you decide to improve your product or service into
something that is better and more effective. Consistency is the key. Don’t
constantly change. The inconsistency will confuse your customers. Many
product marketing campaigns fail. Some catastrophically. McDonald’s went
too far outside their market’s perception. It was known mostly as a restaurant
for kids. So they wanted to create the burger at a more sophisticated
customer – adults. They invested an incredible amount of money on it but
failed. It’s now one of the biggest product flops in history.
WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
8. Promote Your Product of Service in the Market.
A great way to build an effective product or service is to tell people your story
and make them emotionally attached to your solution. Digital marketing is the
buzzword. You can use different promotional and advertising channels e.g.
blogs, magazines, newspapers, websites, and social media to promote your
product or service. Go all-out on social media. Use social media platforms
smartly to promote your product or service, and to build an enviable
reputation among your potential customers. Adidas' tagline is “Impossible is
Nothing”. It sells you on the dream that you can achieve anything.
WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
9. Start Spreading Awareness.
As you can see building an effective product or service is not a cakewalk. Use
some of these out-of-the-box techniques to spread awareness about your
product or service: write a press release, set up a referral program, write a
blog, offer freemium services, forge partnerships with local businesses, give
away swag, and run a social media contest.
WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE YOU
BUILDING?
10. Rinse, Wash, and Repeat.
Keep in mind that both product development and marketing are evolving
processes. So, rinse, wash, and repeat. Regardless of the success or failure of
your first go-around, take the knowledge you’ve discovered from the previous
process, and recap it. Every time you try, you will be one step closer to that
success you strive for.
Congratulations!

See you soon /savvyfellows