The Silent Killer of Marketing Budgets: Bad Products

Ever feel like you're pouring money into a bottomless pit with your marketing campaigns? 

Customer acquisition costs skyrocketing? User retention plummeting? 

It might not be ya marketing problem. It might be the product itself.

Here's the harsh truth: bad products are expensive to market. They require more effort, higher budgets, and often yield disappointing results. So, before you pause your marketing budgets, take a hard look at your product.

How to Spot a Bad Product (Hint: It's in the Data)

• High bounce rates: Users are leaving your website or app quickly.

• Low average revenue per user (ARPU): You're not making enough money from each user.

• Short time spent: Users aren't engaging with your product for long.

• Minimal social sharing: Users aren't excited enough to tell their friends.

• Low Net Promoter Score (NPS): Customers aren't likely to recommend your product.

• Negative reviews and feedback: Users are expressing their dissatisfaction publicly.

• High churn rate: Customers are cancelling subscriptions or not returning to the product.

• Difficulty upselling or cross-selling: Users aren't interested in additional products or features.

• Sales team struggles: Sales reps have difficulty closing deals or meeting targets.

• Increased support tickets: Users are encountering problems and seeking help.

These are just a few red flags. If you're seeing these signs, it's time to pause the outbound marketing and focus on improving your product.

Going Dark to Shine Brighter

While the product team is hard at work revamping and refining, it's the perfect time to go dark on outbound marketing. Marketing is not an overnight success. Focus on building a solid foundation for future growth:

• Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy: Align your marketing efforts with your product's strengths.

• Create compelling content: Tell your brand story and engage your audience.

• Build a strong brand identity: Differentiate yourself from the competition.

• Establish your channels: Choose the right platforms to reach your target audience.
  

Reviving Your Product (and Your Marketing)

Here are a few steps you can take to improve your product:

• Conduct focus groups and user research: Get feedback directly from your target audience.

• Run experiments and A/B tests: Test different versions of your product to see what works best.

• Analyse your competitors: Learn from their successes and failures.

• Gather user feedback through surveys and polls: Get insights into what users like and dislike.

• Analyse user behaviour data: Identify patterns and areas for improvement.

• Prioritise user experience (UX) improvements: Make your product easy and enjoyable to use.

• Invest in customer service and support: Address user issues promptly and effectively.

• Consider a product pivot or repositioning: If necessary, adjust your product strategy to better align with market needs.

• 
  

Marketing is only as good as the product it promotes. By addressing the underlying issues with your product, you'll set your marketing team up for success and create a product that users truly love.