3 Ways To Break Through Information Overload
The investors on TV’s Shark Tank often balk at investing in entrepreneurs who present a single product, noting they are not ready for investors with the words, “It’s a product, not a company.” While many businesses – those seeking investors as well as self-funded businesses – start with a single product or service, a common goal is to expand to a broader set of offerings.
New service offerings may evolve in a variety of ways: They may be prompted by an existing client request, enabled through new technology opportunities, imagined based on fit with current services or as a result of partnerships with related businesses. Of course, in expanding your product line, you want to be certain there is demand for the new product.
Growing pains
A new set of challenges may accompany your expanded product set, centered around identifying which products or services to market to which set of prospects. In our always-on world, breaking through the information overload requires targeted outreach. By identifying the right subset of interested prospects and crafting your messaging effectively, you are likely to get better results.
Sounds good, right? But how do you know which information, products or services particular clients and prospects are interested in, so you can target them appropriately?
Use marketing intelligence from many sources
• Social media: Seek input and engage with customers and prospects as you build new offerings. Is an eBook the preferred delivery model, or is a monthly subscription more appealing? Which colors capture your interest, the coral hues or the greens? Would a recorded webinar series be a desirable learning tool, or do you want live interaction? By actually building products based on customer input, you can develop assumptive sales and create brand ambassadors who help you promote your services and grow sales.
• Email marketing: Resist the urge to add to the noise without adding value, by skimming the surface of a broad topic. Instead, craft marketing emails which offer substantive content that “goes deep,” offering notable insights or a research-based voice on a specific topic. Be disciplined about utilizing your email marketing metrics to create new, targeted lists based on opens and clicks.
• Website analytics: Your website analytics offer a goldmine of valuable information. Use the data to reveal which pages of your site were viewed (found on the Behavior menu, under Site Content), and how those visitors behaved (visit duration, bounce rate, depth of visit, and so on). Your traffic sources (under the Acquisition menu) also show the effectiveness of specific email marketing campaigns in driving visits to your site.
Keyword data
Taking your website data a step further — by understanding which keywords your visitors use when searching your site — you can gain both an appreciation for what kinds of products or services they are interested in as well as the language that they use to describe those services. While your website may use official industry terminology, customers who need your services are more likely to describe them in layperson’s terms.
Keyword data can be found in Google Analytics. It’s recently been moved from the Keywords sub-menu in the Acquisitions tab, to the Campaigns sub-menu, under Organic Keywords.
When expanding your offerings, use your marketing intelligence to break through information overload. Dig into the data to determine what kinds of products your future clients want, how they want to receive them, and how they describe them. Then use the information to target those who are most likely to want the products. The results may surprise you.
