Sometimes a useful product may not seem all that exciting at first glance. However, even if a product seems boring on the surface, the right marketing approach can drum up excitement in potential customers. This post takes a look at how that is possible and provides several marketing tips.

The Power of Transformation

One of the best marketing tips out there is this: Highlighting the transformation a product can spark is essential. For example, take shingles. They are a relatively boring product, but homeowners hire roofers to install them all the time because they can transform a dilapidated roof into an upgraded and updated one. A roofer might market their services by showing before and after photos of houses they have worked on. Not all products are that obviously transformational, though, so it may be necessary to spend some time figuring out how to make your product appear transformational.

Identifying the Audience

No marketing tips will help unless your company has properly defined its audience. That, in turn, will help you identify the before and after states for each potential customer—that is, their current, flawed state and the better state your product’s transformational properties will lead them to. This is also necessary to avoid marketing to the wrong people: Not all audiences will start from the same state or desire the same outcome. Carefully identify what your audience would like to change and how your product will help them make that change.

Crafting the Message

Sujan Patel, writing for the G2 Learning Hub, points out that narrative messages can be highly effective for marketing purposes. Using the aforementioned transformational approach in combination with the before and after states that you’ve identified can help you hone a narrative for your product. For instance, a company that sells business products meant to streamline operations might show a company in chaos (before they use the operations-improving product) and humming along calmly (after they use the operations-improving product). The product might be boring in this example, but the outcome—a transformation from inefficient chaos to efficient calmness—is exciting.