Studying Client Products Through the Example of StripCat II

29.11.2018 | Marketing Strategy

Dmytro Romanovskyi, Director and Founder of the internet marketing agency Destra

Without a deep understanding of products, any attempt to present or sell them profitably is doomed to failure. Most often, the benefits and advantages of goods are obvious and lie on the surface. But what if we are dealing with a complex, niche product whose innovativeness must be explained in detail even to the target audience?

Today we’ll share how Destra handles such situations and provide an example of working with a niche product.

How to effectively promote complex products using the example of the StripCat II implement

Niche analysis

The first stage is always a global analysis of the niche. If it’s a mass-market product that interests “a little bit of everyone,” you can go all out: use all priority channels and simply communicate the obvious benefits of purchase to the audience. But what if the audience isn’t present on social networks or in major online communities? What if contextual or display advertising is a conscious waste of time and money, and the decision-making process for purchasing the product can take up to six months?

Our clients are primarily representatives of the agricultural sector. In this niche, consumers of almost any product have “their own environment” and trusted sources for discovering them. Most often, these are industry exhibitions with demo showcases of machinery, conferences, and other large events that take place exclusively offline.

In Ukraine, there are plenty of reputable online publications with expert information on agriculture, but the audience is interested in numbers and results. Simply placing native ads on such resources with a description of innovative technology is ineffective. The target audience has already heard all these sweet sales pitches from managers at the same exhibitions, and their interest is oversaturated.

The worst-case scenario is when the target audience has become oversaturated with information about a product before you’ve even had the chance to present it in a quality package. The agricultural machinery market — and agricultural products in general — is extremely aggressive and ruthless in its competition. Distributors fight for every client and resort to the toughest measures.

Value for the end consumer

Since the implement offered by our client stands out strikingly from others, analyzing and calculating its profitability is more than relevant. Potential buyers are familiar with the Strip-Till cultivation technology, but the implement being offered significantly enhances it with new functions. With these modifications, the profitability of its use becomes clear and demonstrable — it just needs to be shown in numbers.

Presentation of StripCat II

Since Destra works very closely with clients and dives into their business as deeply as the clients allow, we can see the whole iceberg. Every potential buyer of machinery, their representative, or agronomist regularly receives dozens of calls from sales managers of different companies. For the sake of a sale, some of them are ready to resort to deceit, flattery, and any “black hat” tricks.

Farmers hear promises of a thousand-fold yield increase 20 times a week. However, if you describe the product’s effectiveness honestly, clearly, and without pomp — in numbers — it will get their attention. Farmers understand perfectly well what any soil cultivation technology is, but very few dare to show them the benefit in monetary terms and on a real-life example. Often, that benefit is negligible or assumes ideal, laboratory conditions.

To highlight the real economic benefit, we had to conduct a detailed analysis taking into account all aspects of farming. We recorded the results on video with explanations.

At first, we did the analysis for ourselves, to more accurately emphasize the key points when presenting the implement through the client’s website. However, when the client reviewed the recording to confirm the accuracy of the calculations, he immediately asked for a copy. In his opinion, it could serve as an excellent guide for training new managers. Considering that no one on the team had ever worked in farming, higher praise is hard to imagine.

Product presentation

Although the vast majority of the target audience are men over 40, presenting the product in the form of a home-style video is perfectly acceptable. Moreover, a well-produced video is an opportunity to earn extra reputation points for the company and demonstrate its level of care for consumers.

Our main advantage is visual clarity, so we suggested visiting the enterprise of one of the implement’s buyers to interview him. The video featured both the actual results of using the StripCat II and the genuine feedback of a satisfied customer. To achieve maximum results, we handled the organization of the shoot as well as the post-production and editing.

It’s practically impossible to dispute the documented results. That’s why the video is actively used both in email newsletters and directly by managers as proof of the stated benefits of purchasing the implement.

In addition, the video is publicly available, so potential buyers interested in the implement can review it through another interaction channel. Considering that StripCat II is officially sold in Ukraine only by our client, any independent study of its features is more than welcome.