When you have an idea for a product, putting the wheels into motion to bring it to the shelves in the stores is an exciting path to take. You want your product to be a success and the biggest chance you have for this is to understand the people you are selling your product to. This means you have an awful lot of market research on your hands before you can get started. Listening to the consumers who will be buying your product on everything from any changes that you need to make, to the packaging you encase your product in is very important!
There are some very simple ways you can get started on your product concept. It’s not just the idea you have, you have to think about where you hope to market it and how. Think about the products currently on the market and how – visually – they draw the eye. Things like the white ear buds from Apple are recognised without much thinking and you want your product to have the same effect on customers. So, we’ve put together three ways you can get started with marketing your product to the masses:
- Be Intuitive. Think about the things you like to buy in the stores. What draws you to them? Is it the price on the shelves or is it the aesthetic effect of the stand up pouch that the product you’re buying is stored in? Your product should be intuitive: cluttered product design or packaging is not attractive and we humans are fickle creatures that love simplicity. We like to know what we are buying and if this is easy to see, we will buy it.
- Pictures Over Words. When you are designing your product and its packaging, you don’t have to be a wordsmith. What you write about your product is important, but pictures have to play the bigger part, especially in a world where information is instant. You want to be instantly recognisable and memorable in the minds of consumers. The last thing you need is to be remembered for the shoddy packaging! People are comfortable with things that they recognize easily, so again, be as simple as possible in your design. You may have an idyllic product for the market but if you tied it in string people wouldn’t buy it!
- Be Visible. Advertising your product means attracting people to what you are selling. When you sit in focus groups and show people your product and what it does, they want to recognize it on the shelves. Take the characteristics from your product and place some of these into your packaging choices. Part of the experience of a product is in the packaging. Think about Pringles – the tube shape means it’s easy to share with people without hands going all over the crisps. Everyone recognizes the packaging and can pinpoint which savoury snack is in the pot!
The way you market your product has to be attractive and simple – so don’t overcomplicate it and follow our secrets!
