It doesn’t matter who you are! It doesn’t matter what industry you are in. If you fail to enter the mainstream market, your product will end up in the dumpster pile only to be crushed by your competitors never to be seen again.
Don’t worry! We will tell you what you need to know to prevent this from happening. However, you must use these principles to your advantage because many organizations still fail daily when they ignore these principles of the product life cycle.
Some brands think that the product life cycle doesn’t apply to them, but they are incorrect. If you represent one of those brands, scroll up to the top and read the first two sentences repeatedly until it is internalized.
Every business has a product. Every product has a finite life. Whether you know it or not, you exist on a life cycle with a clear end. But with the right strategy, you can thrive and add more life to your company. For additional sales & marketing tips, check out this resource on 7 marketing tips to grow sales fast.
How to Think About Marketing
You wouldn’t communicate the same message to two different segments, would you? If you answered no to this question, then you probably wouldn’t try to provide the same product to two different segments either.
If you agree with these statements then we are on the right track because there are many differences between consumers of the same segment that we will need to pay attention to as well. For example, businesses that use computers may seem to be a single market, but the product life cycle brings out the differences. Here is what we mean.
When a new computer comes out, some businesses want to jump on this opportunity to innovate and get ahead of the competition so they possess the competitive advantage. They utilize untested technology in new ways because they have a vision for what they can do with it. These early adopters and visionaries do not care about having a whole finished product with support systems in place when things go wrong. They want to revolutionize the way their marketing company does business in the industry and develop the new status quo. Within this market segment, we also have businesses that will adopt the new technology at a later time when it has been tested and proven to do the job. When you appeal to this populace, then you have entered the mainstream, but it’s not easy to win them over.
Entering the mainstream requires a deliberate system of the right product, the right copy and communication (messaging), effective onboarding, and more.
What are the Characteristics of Mainstream?
It is easy to appeal to the visionaries because you just need to communicate how your product can potentially solve their problems and change the way they do business. They are risk-takers who move fast.
On the other hand, the mainstream markets prefer safety and steady growth. The mainstream wants products that will help them ease into an improved state and increase their efficiency slowly with these new computers. They don’t have the time or resources to invest in a risky or untested product. They want to see it is easy to understand, proven, and widely adopted.
The mainstream wants improvements. So marketing communications need to show them how the product will improve their life without making revolutionary changes to their processes. Marketing communications need to make the mainstream markets feel safe with a product that will be supported and the mainstream needs to know that they are dealing with the market leader in the industry so that they know other products will be developed for this market leader.
To summarize, the mainstream market wants to hear something like, “You are doing this but you are losing out on a lot. Easily implement our product quickly and now your life is easier. It’s worked for everyone else and it’ll work for you too.”
How to Enter the Mainstream Markets
Entering the mainstream market is a simple matter of conquering a small niche that will reflect on other markets as a result.
For example, if you develop new software to help companies improve their design capabilities, then the best route would be to target the designers with particular needs rather than targeting the procurement departments in the various companies.
By targeting the designers themselves, and allowing them to try the new product, they will begin to talk about it amongst themselves. This is another thing to understand. You should target a niche that communicates with other members collaboratively.
This way they will talk about your new product and it will become widely accepted by a majority of the community members.
This is the essence of targeting a specific niche. The word spreads between community members and then you are in a good position to show these results to another niche market.
Always remember that entering the mainstream market is about having the product already accepted. This means that the mainstream will only listen to others in the mainstream before adopting your product. So targeting a specific niche will ensure that your product will be already accepted.
Identify Your Super Fans
First, we talked about the average audience but now we are talking about the opposite? Yes because it is an essential element to enter mainstream markets. You need people who can influence the masses.
Think of Steve Jobs. Would you call him average or mainstream? Not necessarily. He was obsessive about things that didn’t even exist yet. But he changed the entire mainstream world with his ideas. If he was alive today, he would revolutionize any brand he represented.
The same goes for people like Elon Musk. The second he tweets, markets crash or skyrocket. He’s very niche in the way he thinks and how he lives. But he’s changing industries. While they have been adopted by early adopters, brands like Tesla are becoming dream cars for the mainstream market.
What do these people have to do with super fans? Your brand and product have people that are passionate about the value you provide. Some of them likely have influence. By identifying them and making them into Brand Ambassadors, they can introduce your brand to mainstream audiences.
As mentioned before, the mainstream wants something proven and they like to see that it has been tested by many people. Using a brand ambassador to talk about you will add credibility and connect with the mainstream.
Focus on the Main Thing
Businesses often get distracted by fancy features and detailed issues. But the mainstream wants simplicity. Do one thing better than anyone else and makes it easy to use.
If you were focused on a very small technical niche, maybe you would focus on more complex and intricate things. But the mainstream market wants a great experience and to solve their main problem.
Identify what that is and fulfill that problem for the main market.
So in a nutshell, that is how you enter the mainstream markets where the majority of profits are allocated for your company.
There are many other details to consider, but that should always be done by a professional marketing representative who has your best interest in mind. Proper marketing always starts with the right research. Developing a brand marketing strategy is not an easy task for someone without the right experience. You need to consider the external and internal factors before embarking to enter the mainstream.
