As a marketing designer, I have been a part of implementing several types of digital marketing strategies for a variety of companies. As a consumer, I consider myself as someone who can be difficult to market to as I tend to avoid making any unnecessary purchases and can be very selective about the ones I do make. So, the products that I do end up purchasing must have done something right in order to get me to buy and so I am sure to reference them the next time I am involved with developing a marketing strategy for a similar product.

The following are 3 case studies of products I have purchased recently and why I decided to purchase.

DesktopServer by ServerPress

I recently switched computers and needed to set up a local development server for working on websites. I had some issues installing WAMP and found the process of setting up WordPress installations on a local sever somewhat tedious. Needless to say, I was a motivated buyer – this was something that I needed right away. So, I began searching for a better solution. I discovered several options, however after a fair amount of research, I determined that Desktop Server from ServerPress seemed to be the best option. What made me buy?

Strategy Used: Social Proof

Looking through all the different options available for similar types of software, the one thing that really stood out was that DesktopServer had a lot of great reviews. It’s possible that other options work just as well, but I tend to lean towards purchasing products that maintain a certain level of social proof. The question is, then – how do you build and maintain positive online reviews for a product?

The first thing to do, of course, is to have an exceptional product. Beyond that, collecting positive feedback from customers can take some work. A company should make it easy for the customer to post their positive reviews to as many places as possible – the product’s page on their website, Facebook, Amazon, or wherever a product is sold. Feature current reviews with a link or form included so new customers can place their own review.

Be social. Communicate directly with customers through social media channels or anywhere else your customer may be to encourage an exceptional customer relationship that may generate positive feedback. Social media or customer support forums can also be used effectively to follow up with a customer to either thank them for a positive review or address a negative review. A negative review should always be handled as constructive feedback and never addressed in a defensive manner. The goal should be to address the customer’s concern and offer ways to remedy their issue.

Use email to conduct surveys or ask for feedback. Offering a discount or reward for a customer’s feedback can help to entice them to take the time to fill out the survey or review.

Divi by Elegant Themes

The Divi Theme is an excellent WordPress theme/drag and drop page builder created by Elegant Themes. For a long time, I have custom developed WordPress websites from scratch or by using CSS frameworks such as Foundation or Bootstrap. My main reason for doing so was to provide myself flexibility of design. However, over the past couple years WordPress themes such as Avada and Divi have done such as great job at providing a theme with built-in drag and drop functionality, that I can now create any design imaginable without the need to develop it from scratch. How did Divi land me as a customer?

Strategy Used: Influencer Marketing

I discovered Divi because it got a great recommendation by a trusted resource – Resourceful Designer podcast. This is a great podcast I have listed to several times and have developed a trust for the host. If you can find someone that appeals to your product’s niche audience such as  a podcaster, blogger, or anyone else with a large following on social media – reach out to them to tell them! Their advice can go a long way towards encouraging their followers to check out your product. Of course, the influencer who is recommending your product must disclose if your company is a sponsor, but if the influencer is trusted enough by their audience, your customers will still see their recommendations as valuable.

The Futur Toolkit

As a business owner, I am constantly searching for information to help me learn about more ways to improve my business and practices. I found the Futur looking for videos or articles about starting/running a graphic design business. Over the past couple years, they have become a go-to resource for creatives to learn from experienced professionals how to start and run a business. Much of their exceptional content is free, however they do sell many items on their website including eBooks such as The Brand Messaging Kit which is a resource to help design consultants such as myself who work with businesses to learn strategies to work with clients on developing their brand. How did The Futur gain so many followers and how are they able to sell products such as The Brand Messaging Kit?

Strategy Used: Content Marketing

I could go on forever about the benefits of content marketing and of course there are countless books and courses that teach this concept. However, the main idea is this – giving away content to potential customers establishes several main benefits. Some of them being:

  • It establishes a company as an industry expert, builds trust, and helps build a loyal following.
  • It can generate traffic to your website which can be used as a part of your marketing funnel to lead potential customers to your products.

Read my article 3 companies that are doing content marketing right to learn about some other companies that are also using an effective content marketing strategy.

These examples I have provided are of course just 3 of many strategies that can be utilized to help market your products or services, but from my direct experience I have seen them be effective at finding ways to reach and communicate to their potential customers in a way that convinces them to trust in the value of their product or services.