I know what you’re thinking… “Is this really the blog post written by a solo operator who wants to promote her product with no budget?” You’d be surprised how many people ask me that question. There are many challenges that come with operating a business alone, but when it comes to marketing a product, you definitely need to think outside the box. That’s why I’m so grateful to an amazing company called ClickFunnels.com for creating a special offer just for my readers!

The product that I’m featuring in this blog post was actually developed by a company that I had the great good fortune of working with. Since then, it has gone on to become one of the most popular products of its kind with over 150,000 users on board. I myself am currently using it to effectively market my own product.

What is Funnelology?

If you’re looking to learn more, Funnelology is an online course that teaches you the “funnel marketing” method. Funnelology is a product of Funnel Hacker, an independent company that was started by a solo operator who wanted to create an inbound marketing methodology based on the principles of attraction and trust.

What is funnel hacking?

If you’re curious, funnel hacking is all about tailoring digital marketing activities to increase conversion rates. Essentially, it entails finding out what makes your target audience tick and using that to your advantage in a digital context.

Why is attracting and retaining customers so important?

In a digital marketing world, you are competing for the attention of your audience. In other words, you are trying to convince them to choose your product over the others. To do this, you need to know what makes your product special and why your audience should care about it. This is where having an understanding of what makes up your target audience’s mindsets and the unique values that they bring to the table. For example, research shows that men are more likely to be persuaded by visually-based marketing materials such as infographics and graphs. So if you are a female entrepreneur who is launching a business, you may want to consider exploring ways to market to and retain women as customers.

Now, I know what you’re thinking… “So, what exactly does this have to do with marketing a product?” Let me ask you this… What would you call a mass market approach to marketing a product?

The thing is, when you want to attract a large audience with your product, you usually have to go all out. Meaning, you need to market it in a way that reaches as many people as possible. But… That can be really expensive… Especially if you want to reach across international borders and expect your marketing material to be understood by the average reader.

With that said, there is another way. You can test potential markets with a smaller targeted audience and see how they respond to your product or service. Then, you can expand your reach and market approach as you learn more about the effectiveness of your product.

When you are starting a business, you don’t have the money to waste on expensive marketing campaigns. Especially when you are trying to build a brand new from the ground up. Which is why I’m so happy that Funnelology developed a free online product marketing PDF that you can use to effectively market your product without spending a penny.

How does the product marketing PDF work?

If you’re curious, you can download the free PDF to get started. Then, you can use the cheat sheet to identify the key points of your digital marketing plan. Remember: This is a living document that you can update as you learn more about how to effectively market a product.

Here are the steps that you can take to start marketing your product:

Step one: Choose a product

Since this is the first step, I’ll say it again… You don’t need to have a product to do this! You just need a mindset. Which is why I love that the product marketing pdf starts off by defining what product is.

In my case, I had the great fortune of stumbling upon an amazing product that I knew would be perfect for my target audience. In fact, I’ve used it to effectively market my own product.

What are you passionate about? What problems does your product solve?

My product, Vena Cava, is all about helping people build their personal brand. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges that I faced was coming up with an effective marketing strategy to spread the word about my product.

One of the best things that I liked about Funnelology’s online product marketing guide is that it provides you with an extensive list of questions to think about. This way, you can’t make a mistake and end up with an ineffective marketing plan. This kind of thing ends up happening all the time. Even small businesses make major marketing mistakes because they don’t want to spend the money on learnings.

Step two: Choose a niche

After you’ve chosen your product, you need to choose a niche. A niche is a “small market or segment” within your target audience. For example, if your target audience is chefs, you could choose to specialize in preparing healthy meals for children or older adults. Or, if you are an entrepreneur who wants to start a business in the healthcare industry, you could focus on providing care for sick children.

The great thing about a niche is that you can usually find a demand for your product or service in this particular segment. Which means that there are plenty of people looking to buy your product or service. In other words, there are plenty of potential customers. And, as a result, you’ll probably have no problem finding customers to meet your sales goals.

Step three: Research the market

Now that you have your product and niche, it’s time to dive into research. Simply enter the keywords “organic hair care products” into the Google search bar. Once the results come up, take a look at the top five businesses listed. You’ll see that there are lots of companies that produce and sell organic hair care products.

This is a great example of how digital marketing can be beneficial to a business. Not only does it allow you to research and learn more about your niche, but it also provides you with detailed information about your target audience. In this case, the people who are searching for “organic hair care products” are most likely looking for a dermatologist who practices and speaks highly of organic medicine and who uses products that are free of harmful chemicals and toxins.

Step four: Create a buyer persona

Creating a buyer persona is very similar to choosing a niche. It’s about defining who your target audience is and creating a persona that reflects this. A persona is a “hypothetical person” or a “stereotype” in marketing speak. In other words, you’re creating a character that you think would purchase your product or service.

For example, let’s say that you are a business owner who wants to sell skincare products. You could create a buyer persona named “Sarah,” a traditional housewife who wants to use skincare products to treat her family’s skin problems. In this case, you are deciding that Sarah is an ideal buyer for your products because she has a problem that your product can solve.

If you’re curious, you can enter Sarah’s profile into the Contact section of the Funnelology website. Once you’ve done this, you can see that she is a perfectly matched buyer for your product. In other words, she is someone who you know wants and needs your product.

Step five: Match your product to a conversation piece

The last step in the product-marketing process is to match your product to a conversation piece. A conversation piece is something that you are creating – be it a blog post, an article, a whitepaper, or a youtube video – that is meant to start or continue a conversation with potential customers.