5 Strategies for Generating Consumer Demand

Generating demand for your product requires much more than simply releasing it onto the market. You need to conduct research, determine what consumers' needs are, establish yourself as a leader in your industry and repeatedly prove your products' worth. 

Industry professionals recognize that before, during and after you introduce a new product, there is a lot of legwork to be done to pique consumers' curiosity and get them interested. Here are five things you should be doing:

Pay attention to market research. Your company should aim to figure out what customers need and want through surveys, test groups and feedback on social media and reviews left on your website. If you notice certain issues that keep popping up, there might be a need for a new product to solve the problem. 

Produce stellar content. If you're just starting out, your business should promote its new product and prove that it's solving a problem currently plaguing consumers through informative and educational content. Determine your target demographic and do some research to find out where they are active on social media and elsewhere online. Your content should aim to entertain and inform your customers of the value of your products.

Release an explainer video that relates to your business or a humorous video they'll want to share with friends (think Old Spice or Dollar Shave Club's spots), an infographic that educates consumers about a pertinent issue, or a blog post written by your CEO that contains industry insights. By producing quality content on a regular basis, you'll begin to build trust with your audience and ideally increase sales from this newly established relationship.

Feature customers' reviews. On your website, product pages and elsewhere, you should be featuring customer reviews. Customers are going to trust testimonials from their fellow shoppers. In a survey conducted by Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange, it was found that 78 percent of American customers aged 18 to 64 who shop online consult reviews before purchasing a product.

They won't hesitate to purchase from your competitors if there's a plethora of bad reviews about your products, which is why your employees should be apologetic to any customers who had negative experiences and respond quickly to any feedback that comes up. You also need to track their reviews and analyze them in order to improve products. Rating and review software such as Bazaarvoice, Re-Vu or Gigya will allow you to do just that depending on the size of your business and your budget.

Give new customers a deal. Another method to get consumers to try your products for the first time is to offer them a discounted or special rate. Initially, customers may not be willing to try out a product at full price. If it's offered at a rate lower than your competitors' -- they just might.

Once customers have received your product and find it useful, they'll likely be inclined to purchase from you again at the regular price. Make sure you're clear that the deal is a one-time offer, because you don't want customers to be discouraged when they decide to shop with you again and find your products priced differently.

Create an exclusive club. Once a person becomes a repeat customer, you'll want to reward them and make them feel appreciated. Create an exclusive club for these loyal customers that gives them access to certain promotions, lets them in on company news and secrets before they're released to the general public, and communicates to them that they're part of the process of perfecting your products. Ask for their opinions and encourage them to take surveys.

Virgin Airlines offers its loyal customers a tier system where they are given more perks including discounts, expedited check in on flights and priority boarding depending upon their status. Boloco, a restaurant chain in New England, encourages customer spending where after every $50 purchase, they get a free menu item.

When attempting to generate customer demand, you have to realize that no one is going to listen until you substantiate your usefulness. Always keep the customers' needs in mind and aim to please.

How did your company generate demand for your products or services? 

Firas Kittaneh

Firas Kittaneh is the CEO & Co-founder of One Mall Group and Amerisleep. His award-winning team is focused on bringing housewares online to a larger consumer base using cutting-edge technology.

3 must-watch consumer trends to grow your business

A new BDC report indicates that Canadian consumers are more concerned than ever about how their choices affect the world around them. 

The report identified a series of powerful consumer trends that are creating rich opportunities for entrepreneurs. 

The BDC report is based on a national survey conducted by IPSOS on behalf of BDC. 

1. The socially responsible consumer
Social and environmental concerns are increasingly influential in the purchasing decisions of Canadians.

Many consumers want to buy from companies that adopt high ethical and environmental standards and are willing to pay more for socially responsible and eco-friendly products. 

By the numbers

• Half of Canadians are inclined to buy environmentally-friendly products.
• 75% of consumers would pay more for products and services from a socially responsible company.
• 90% of consumers would stop buying from a company using irresponsible practices.

Strategies for entrepreneurs

Strive to increase environmental and ethical responsibility in your company and supply chain. 

Forge partnerships with responsible suppliers and obtain certifications from trusted third-party organizations to bolster your credibility as a socially responsible business.

Promote your efforts in your marketing but make sure your claims are backed up with facts. Companies that are caught making exaggerated ethical or environmental marketing claims leave themselves open to attack by activists on social media and elsewhere. 

2. The “Made in Canada” advantage
Canadians are proud of products and services made in Canada and the jobs and other economic benefits that local businesses create. A majority now make an effort to buy local or Canadian-made products and many are willing to pay a premium. 

What’s more, Canada is perceived internationally as a “model country,” with open, trustworthy people and safe, high-quality products. 

By the numbers

• Two thirds of Canadians have made an effort to buy local in the past year.
• 30% of Canadians are willing to pay more for a locally made product.

 

Strategies for entrepreneurs

Your business should highlight the local characteristics of your products.

Even if your products are not made locally, your business should emphasize other local features of your operation such as jobs created, R&D, product design and/or product assembly. All of these can lead to premium product positioning.

Promote your company with the “Made in Canada” brand at home and abroad to capitalize on positive perceptions.

For more information on this trend, read BDC Chief Economist Pierre Cléroux’s column in Profit$ magazine, Canada: A powerful brand. 

3. The healthy consumer
The demand for health and wellness-related products is increasing rapidly.

Consumers are actively seeking products and services to help them maintain and improve their health. This trend is changing the type of products they purchase for their family and how they spend their leisure time.

It will continue to accelerate as the population ages—about 25% of the population will be over the age of 65 by 2031.  

By the numbers

• 33% of Canadians are willing to pay a premium for health-enhancing products.
• $935 is the average annual per capita personal expenditures on health and wellness in Canada.

 

Strategies for entrepreneurs

Highlight health-related benefits of your products, including research-backed results that link the product’s ingredients to health benefits.

Adapt existing products and services or provide new ones to meet the public’s desire for a healthier lifestyle.

Former CIA Officer Reveals How to Get Ahead of Your Competition

BY Stephanie Vozza

Image credit: Argo

To get ahead in business, entrepreneurs need a competitive advantage. Former CIA undercover officer J.C. Carleson says the key to getting ahead of your competition is thinking like a spy.

"Small-business owners can learn a lot from the world of espionage," says Carleson, who spent eight years with the CIA. She was surprised to discover that her undercover life had taught her more valuable, business-applicable skills than all of her previous corporate positions.

She put those revelations in her book, Work Like a Spy (Portfolio/Penguin, 2013), where she shares what she learned while traveling the globe in search of inside information.

Carleson says helpful information is all around you if you pay attention to it. Here are three tips from her experience to help you gain the advantage over your competitors. And don't worry, according to Carleson all of these methods are completely legal. 

1. Study how the competition operates.
Although there are plenty of techniques and strategies in business, Carleson says most companies have standard modes of operation.

"Companies are often predictable," she says. "For example, they might always compete with price or quality." To find out what your competition is up to, get involved in your industry's community.

"Have an ear to ground," she says. "Attend awards dinners. Listen to the gossip; it often has a lot of merit. When you know your competition's strengths and weaknesses, you can beat or counter their offers."

2. Notice when there's a leadership change.
Carleson says if your competitors recently hired new leadership, it's time for you to make a move. Whenever there is a major personnel change, there will always be  vulnerability, she says.

 "For every job that is filled, there is someone else who wanted it. This is the time when work can be disrupted," she says. "It's time to get aggressive in your own approach, because your competition is in transition and cannot act as quickly." Take advantage of the fall out, and approach new clients.

3. Build alliances.
Building relationships is part of business, says Carleson, but most business owners view this task as part of marketing and sales. She advises that you sould consider the intelligence value of relationships with suppliers, consultants, legal and financial representatives and any other organization that your company regularly comes into contact with.

"At a certain level within every industry, it becomes a very small world. Your vendor may have once worked with your rival's new CEO. The type of information that can be learned through industry alliances can provide a genuine business advantage," she says.
 
 

Stephanie Vozza

Stephanie Vozza is a freelance writer who has written about business, real estate and lifestyle for more than 20 years.

Four simple principles for highly effective teams

 

The only principles that make a difference are the ones you know by heart, swear by, and live by. Everything else is just blather.

For a long time, I've been fascinated from afar by Agile programming practices, which have proven themselves on all these levels. I've wondered why they haven't been adapted for use by all types of teams, because they hold the potential to make teams far more flexible, innovative and productive.

So here's my shot at adapting those practices into four simple principles that all business teams can use. My hope is that they can help teams both execute and innovate in an excellent manner. I'd also like to acknowledge that Toria Thompson helped me develop some of these ideas.

This is a work in progress - I welcome your comments and will be happy to embrace any suggestions you have that further strengthen this approach:

Value the value: Too many teams operate without clear metrics, and thus they end up making fuzzy decisions. This is a slippery slope to disappointing results. Instead, teams should assign a tangible value to every deliverable, and – this is the important part – teams should track and validate these projections as work goes on. In this manner, team members can’t game the system, inflating values to give their pet projects priority treatment.

The philosophy underlying this principle is simple: businesses exist to make money, and if a project doesn’t support that goal in a tangible way, the team shouldn’t be doing it.

• State the value of each project.
• Create metrics that quantify the stated value.
• Validate the value actually delivered, and reward team members for it.

Be open and honest: Keep all team communications, facts and status reports in the open and highly visible.

Look at the way your team currently operates. Is the purpose of every action crystal clear? Do you know why Lisa has been locked in her office for three days, or why John is conducting 32 interviews this week?

Clear and open communications have immense benefits. It should be obvious to everyone who is doing what, and why. When team members get stuck, they get help faster. When they succeed, others follow faster.

• Avoid private communications.
• Conduct disciplined weekly progress report sessions.
• Hold daily “stand-up” sessions (you stand to keep them short).
• Use images, mockups, etc. to make things clearer.
• Make it easy to understand the purpose of every work product.

Shorten workplans: Break deliverables into smaller pieces that can be finished in shorter time periods.

The longer a team works before delivering a tangible result, the more likely the deliverable is to fall short of expectations. A far better approach is to break large projects down into smaller pieces, and to regularly complete deliverables.

By shortening workplans, teams also make it easier for team members to explore new strategies and take risks. This is because the cost of taking a risk and failing is minimized; you lose a week instead of six months. This tactic also maximizes flexibility, because at the end of each project the team can decide what to do next.

• Shorten the length of time between deliverables.
• Try to make every deliverable useable and functioning, rather than just a description of something that still needs to be done.
• Whenever possible, make processes and deliverables reusable and adaptable for other purposes

Create interdependence: No one wins unless everyone wins. Period.

This is the best way to get a team to function like, well, a team. It also fosters insights, flexibility, and resilience.

• Create shared metrics.
• Partner team members from different disciplines.
• Have members with similar skills swap tasks often, even in the middle of working on a deliverable.
• Share responsibilities, ideas, concerns and alternatives.

If these principles make sense to you, you might want to give them a try. But I'd like to suggest you do so only on one condition: that all team members voluntarily want to adopt these principles.

To make your life easier, I collected these principles and an overview of their benefits into a pretty little PDF you can download here.

_____________________________________________________

Bruce Kasanoff is a writer and speaker.

Image credit: photo by Flickr member VisualPanic.

   
by:Bruce Kasanoff