How to market your innovation

Marketing your innovation effectively is crucial to its success. It’s important the foundations are put in place and you have a clear strategy. Here is a summary of the key steps you can take to market your innovation.

What’s the gap in the market?

• Assess the market and demand. First and foremost is there a need for your innovation and what is it? You can conduct some research to help you understand market size, demographics and trends. You can then look at identifying your potential customers, competitors and gaps in the market.
• Benchmark against competitors. Some companies will be competing with you, other companies may not be an immediate threat but will still be operating in your market space. In both cases, you’ll need to review their offer, market share and marketing strategy as this will help you identify your point of difference. Dig a bit deeper and analyse their marketing strategies, online presence and customer engagement. Set out strengths and weaknesses and look at any gaps in the market.
• Speak to industry contacts. Test your innovation with a sample group of target customers to gather feedback on their perceptions of your solution. Use this feedback to validate your assumptions and refine your messaging. You can also find out how you compare to your competitors and how your innovation should be marketed and sold.
• Routes to market. The activities highlighted above will help you identify the best ways to reach your audience. Findings from your competitor benchmarking will reveal their marketing approaches, tactics and customer engagement, and speaking to your audience will allow you to pin point their behaviours and motivations.

What’s unique about your innovation?

• Understand your audience. Market research will help identify your target audience and reveal needs, challenges and pain points. From this, you can identify the problems they are facing and how your innovation can address those issues.
• Identify key benefits. Define the value proposition of your innovation by highlighting the specific benefits it offers to customers -for example, how it can save time, money or effort, improve performance, or enhance user experience. Quantify the benefits of your innovation whenever possible and put them in order of importance.
• Ensure benefits are sustainable and marketable. Innovations can be easily copied so ensure your innovation is protected first and foremost before promoting its benefits… and ensure that you can then talk about those benefits! They must be important to customers and different to those of your competitors, in order to stand out.
• Differentiate from competitors. Identify and emphasise what sets your innovation apart in a way that is compelling and resonates with your target audience. Clearly articulate the key points of differentiation that set your offering apart from those of your competitors. This could be related to technology, features, quality, pricing, customer service or other factors.
• Make your USP believable. Shape your messaging and develop use cases or scenarios that illustrate how customers can benefit from using your innovation in real-life situations. Show concrete examples of how your innovation can solve problems and improve outcomes.

How will you launch your innovation in the market?

• Create a marketing strategy. Marketing an innovation requires a well-thought-out strategy and plan to effectively introduce the new product or service to the market, and drive adoption.
• Set out your objectives. Establish specific, measurable goals for your marketing efforts, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, driving sales, or gaining market share. Ensure that your goals align with your overall business objectives.
• Develop a strong brand identity. It should reflect the values and benefits of your innovation. Create a memorable brand name, logo, messaging and visual identity that resonates with your target audience.
• Map out your marketing approach. Develop a comprehensive mix of marketing activities that will help you reach your target audience and include online and offline channels such as digital marketing, social media, content marketing, email marketing, PR, advertising, events and more.
• Measure and optimise. Implement tracking mechanisms to measure the performance of your marketing. Monitor key metrics such as website traffic, lead generation, conversion rates, customer engagement and ROI. Use this data to optimise your strategies over time and be prepared to adapt your marketing strategies based on feedback and insights.

There are so many steps that can help you to effectively promote your innovation and drive its success in the market. We have set out a few so you can start thinking about what’s right for your innovation. If you need any help with conducting the market research or setting your marketing strategy for your new innovation, please get in touch.