MISTAKE #26: You fail to meaningfully differentiate versus the competition
How do you know you’ve developed a product that is sufficiently differentiated compared to competing products already on the market?
The answer is surprisingly simple…just put it in front of your prime prospects and see what they think about it. Listen to what they notice is different or better or worse. And what they don’t notice.
I didn’t say put it in front of friends and family who are emotionally invested in you.
And I didn’t say put it in front of someone along with a five-minute presentation of how it is superior or different.
If you really want to put your product to the test, put an assortment of competitive products in front of your prime prospects along with your product and see how quickly they gravitate to your product, if at all.
Just make the big reveal and ask a simple question: What do you think about these products?
Does your product go unnoticed?
Do you need to beg them to take a closer look?
Does your product only get attention because it is the one product they’ve not seen before?
Unless you’ve got a substantial marketing program to support your launch, this pretty much reflects how most of your potential buyers will discover your product.
Your product will come into their field of vision, unexpected and unwelcomed while they’re at a store looking for another product they already knew existed.
GREAT PRODUCT SHOULD BE SELF-EVIDENT
You know your product has potential if your prospects are quick to engage with it. You want them to pick it up and play with it. And you’d like them to ask questions suggesting they want to learn more.
You should be a little more concerned if the reaction is lackluster. It’s not a good sign when people act like they’ve seen or heard of the product before (even when you know they haven’t). That’s telling you they’ve immediately brushed off the idea of buying it. They’ve looked at your product for only 5 seconds and have already conjured up memories of deciding not to buy it in the past.
While this is far from ideal market research, it can be a quick and dirty proxy for how shoppers might behave in front of the shelf at a store.
It might initially hurt to see how little excitement people are not invested in your idea or in what you have for your product, but gaining that awareness is exceptionally valuable.
It is valuable because it tells you what you still need to do.
But it is only valuable if you do what you need to do.
By asking the right questions, you can discover why your product failed to prompt the question “where can I buy this today?” and what changes you can make to get something closer to that reaction.
DON’T DESPAIR
It is unlikely that your idea has progressed this far if it didn’t address a meaningful need. But it is highly likely that your product, as it exists today, is far from having optimized the various components that are necessary to gain the attention and purchase it was created for. These components include:
Having an ownable, memorable brand name: Agencies get paid millions of dollars to develop branding for big companies. At the same time, there have been great brand names that emerged from creative entrepreneurs. As you seek out the ideal branding, do a little due diligence to make sure you won’t be creating more problems for yourself.
Understanding and communicating your value proposition: Every category has unique niches where pockets of shoppers with unique needs exist. And it is a lot easier to present value when other successful products don’t already occupy the same niche. If you’re not crystal clear on your product’s unique position, how do you expect shoppers to be?
Having magnetic packaging: Every product has to get noticed before it is purchased. Awareness always precedes a trial. Make sure your product is still drawing attention when surrounded by competitive packages.
Including compelling claims: Quantifiable, demonstrable claims give the skeptical shopper supporting evidence to pick your product over whatever item they had planned to buy. What proof can you produce that your product is better? I have yet to work on a category where claims could not be a useful tool.
Following design principles that reflect the shopper’s priorities: In the quest to be different, many products have overlooked key ‘cost of entry’ elements that cause them to be immediately de-selected by potential buyers. Other products may possess, but have simply failed to communicate, those dimensions, leading to the same result. Is your product positioning built on the fifth step in the decision tree, but you’ve failed to convince shoppers that you also satisfy the first four priorities?
BE DIFFERENT
Take a closer look at your product. Consider all the ways it is similar to existing items and all the ways it is different. Determine if the differences actually matter to shoppers and if there are opportunities to further distance your product from competitors by further changing some of the similarities.
If you’re just too close to your product to accept possible criticism, let us test it for you. We’d love the opportunity to validate your product’s perfection or to identify and gently guide the redesign of key components to improve its probability of success.