eder ist eine Agentur für Produktkommunikation und Experte für Marketing- und Vertriebsmedien.
eder ist eine Agentur für Produktkommunikation und Experte für Marketing- und Vertriebsmedien.

Only buy products you understand.

Robert Laub ist Geschäftsführer der Agentur eder und Experte für Digital Twin und Online Produkt-Konfiguratoren.

Robert Laub

Managing partner agency eder

The “customer journey” we all like to talk about can look very different depending on the sector and type of product involved. It can be fully digital, hybrid with digital pre-selection and subsequent sales consultation or direct at the retail outlet. Either way, as they navigate the route to purchase, the customer will be analysing their needs and situation, sourcing extra information and weighing up the pros and cons. Their destination should be a purchase made with confidence that they have found the right product with the right functionality at the right price.
Good product communication presents the advantages, functionality and aesthetics of the product.
This is exactly where good product communication makes the difference. By that we mean presenting prospective customers with the benefits of the product, explaining how it works and highlighting its aesthetic appeal – all to maximum effect. And doing so in a way and with content that is focused on the target group of customers to help convince them to buy.

Examples of flawed product communication are easy to find. When we search online for a product, important details such as dimensions are often conspicuous by their absence, the product is only shown from one angle, and the customer and seller will view that product in rather different ways. Oh yes, and you’d need an engineering degree to decipher some of the features and function explanations. Equally frustrating is when sales staff palm you off with “I’ll just need to look into that” or “I can’t give you answer on that right now” rather than being able to give you the information you need.

The famous quote from Warren Buffett “Invest only in companies you understand.” transfers very neatly to product communication: prospective customers can only be turned into actual, satisfied ones if the products are easily explained and understood.

Product communication at the pre-sales stage has a far greater impact than the product campaign.

In my view, product communication at the pre-sales stage has a far greater impact than the product campaign, highly acclaimed as this may turn out to be. Both are important, of course, but in many sectors the relevant margins are only achieved by upselling – something that would not be possible without clear product communication and value propositions.

At the end of the day, product communication bookends not only the product life cycle, but also the entire sales process – from pre-sales (as just mentioned) to after-sales service. Improvements to the product, optimised functionality and the availability of purchase incentives down the line should therefore be communicated with the same high level of professionalism and extensive, tailored information as was the case in the pre-sales phase.

Does all this sound familiar?
That’s because professional product communication should embody that simple maxim espoused by Warren Buffett in the quote I used earlier. Product explanations should illuminate rather than leaving the audience in the dark; clear sales and marketing concepts should feature animations, images and copy specific to the market at hand – through the entire life cycle of your products.

 

Or as we like to say:
The power to WOW!

See for
yourself.
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