Ending The Myth: Why We Can't Market Bad Products
By @LyraMcKee
There is a misconception among startups and corporate companies, particularly those in technology, about marketing. They think marketing can sell bad products.
Usually, the conversation goes something like this:
"Executive/Entrepreneur: We want you to blast the news about our product to the world. We want everyone everywhere to know who we are and what we're doing. And we want you to market it.
Me: What's the product?
Exec/Entrepreneur: It's a...*insert vague response*
Me: A what? What's that? What does it do?
Exec/Entrepreneur: It helps you *waffles on with another vague response*
Me: What problem does it solve?
Exec/Entrepreneur: * yet another vague response*
Me: Has anyone bought this yet?
Exec/Entrepreneur: No but if we assault the market with billboard campaigns, glossy magazine ads and TV commercials and just really stuff it in their face, they will.
Me: *sinking feeling..*
Any marketers recognise this scenario?
No amount of marketing can make a bad product sell. A good marketing plan can make an ok product (think FourSquare Vs Gowalla) successful but it cannot sell a bad product. It comes down to conversion. Marketing can drive traffic to the product. But for customers to sign-up or part with cash, the product itself has to solve the right problem. You cannot fool customers with sexy campaigns.
Sadly, we turn down alot of work because of this. We can't work with products we don't believe in. It makes us look bad and discredits our work. And it makes the company in question look worse because they can't live up to the hype we've created.
I hope this is the end of the myth.