Marketing is tough enough on its own, but what about when you’re selling something complex and hard to understand? In the digital age, consumers aren’t necessarily willing to take the time to understand how your product works.
If it’s not immediately obvious, they may quickly lose interest. You have a split second to affect your audience, and if you’re selling something complicated, you have to use that second wisely.
The following are some general tips that can help startups marketing something that may not be inherently obvious to an audience.
Explainer Videos
One of the best marketing formats you can use if you’re a startup is an explainer video or a whiteboard animation.
An explainer video or animation allows you to take a complex message and put it into simple, fun, relatable terms.
There are just a few things to keep in mind. First, you should probably have an outsider write the script. Otherwise, if you do it internally the message of your explainer video might stay complicated.
Also, keep it short and to the point. It can be valuable to work with a professional firm if possible. Professionals can help you condense your message, and get so much across with even super simple, universally understandable illustrations.
With an explainer video, just focus on the most important, core concept that needs to stand out above everything else.
Market Your Explainer Video
While you might have an overall marketing strategy for your product, create one specifically for your explainer video as well.
You want to decide where to launch it so that your target audience will see it. You’ll also have to decide if you’ll include it on your homepage or another landing page and if you’re going to do paid advertising for it.
Seek Outside Advice
There is a common mistake a lot of startups make when they’re marketing. They don’t look outside their organization.
When you have a complex product or service, you may forget people aren’t going to inherently understand it because you’re so familiar with it. You may not even know where misunderstandings could exist.
The best way to get around this is to look at people who aren’t familiar with your company and get their feedback as to what isn’t necessarily clear right away. This input could come from the team who works on your explainer videos, copywriters you work with or marketing professionals. You could even ask friends or family.
It’s just essential to be able to see your product from an outside perspective.
Be a Problem-Solver
Finally, there is a tendency to want to show customers all the amazing features and advanced innovation offered by your product. This doesn’t really resonate with the customers though. What does resonate is seeing how a product will solve a problem in their life.
Your entire marketing approach should revolve around this. Don’t worry about making sure your audience understands every last detail of your product. Focus instead on the larger idea of where it will fit into their life. Make your marketing customer-centric, not product or business-centric.
