If you’re a manufacturer or retailer looking to sell products whose use isn’t immediately obvious, then your potential customers will have questions.“What does it do?” might be the first, with “how is it better than other products which do the same thing?” following closely behind.
In order to convince people, you’ll need to capture their attention and then exploit it to the fullest.Unfortunately, this isn’t so easily achieved as it might first appear; persuading people is a skill that requires practice and dedication.Consequently, many firms turn to an outside specialist marketing agency to take care of the demonstrations for them.
But such firms won’t work for free – what is it about their services, then, that makes them worth the asking price?Let’s take a look at some of the advantages of outsourcing your product demonstrations.
Location, location, location
A good product demonstration agency won’t just know how to perform an effective demonstration – they’ll also understand where to do so in order to capture the most attention.This doesn’t simply mean finding the most crowded location possible and setting up shop – in order to effectively generate conversions, we’ll need to consider which sorts of people are most likely to want to buy the product, and where those demographics congregate.
An item of specialist kitchenware, for example, like a fruit peeler, is unlikely to be effectively demonstrated in the middle of the street.With a stall at a prominent food show, however, you’re likely to get far better results, since everyone in attendance will expect to see food-related products – and they might even have turned up with the expressed intention of watching product demonstrations.
Practice, practice, practice
As well as knowing where to demonstrate and to whom, a field marketing agency will also have garnered the skills necessary to make the demonstration effective.An unskilled demonstration can be the opposite of compelling – and make a product appear amateurish.If you’ve plunged huge amounts of time and resources into developing a product that’s truly cutting-edge, then it’s almost criminal to throw this investment away at the eleventh hour by skimping on presentation.But that’s precisely what you’ll be doing if you opt for a product demonstration agency that’s not up to scratch – or taking charge of the demonstration yourself.
No matter how competent your marketing department, they won’t have the benefits of specialisation experienced by a specialist company.They won’t spend every hour of every day delivering product demonstrations, and working out ways to make those demonstrations more effective.Clearly, then, they’re not going to be able to deliver them as well.
Technology
Product demonstration agencies have the resources to develop and invest in bespoke technologies that allow them to demonstrate the product effectively.Since they’re constantly using small public address systems, bespoke database software, and purpose-built tablet devices, they’re able to use them effectively without going through the initial teething phase that an inexperienced demonstrator might have to endure before reaching competence.By paying for a product demonstration, then, you’re also not only paying for the technology that comes with it, but the expertise to put that technology to good use.
Dynamism
If you’re going to make your product launch (or relaunch) truly effective, then it’ll need to be something more than a static point of sale.It’ll need to engage with the audience and demand their attention; that’s why product demonstrations are so effective.By the same token, getting an audience to not only pay attention, but actively participate in your launch will make them far more engaged with it.
A specialist marketing agency will have access to a number of different tools to encourage participation, and the experience to employ those tools effectively.Product sampling, for example, is a great way to get a potential customer to examine the benefits of a product.
It’s a technique that’s most effective in cases where the benefits of a product are immediate and obvious – as is the case with trays of sweet treats handed out on supermarket shop floors.It’s also more effective when the person offering the sample has made a connection with the person receiving it.Packets of washing powder impersonally shoved through letterboxes are unlikely to make the same impact as a product that’s personally handed from one human being to another – and that’s a respect in which marketing agencies shine.
With the right expertise behind it, your product launch will stand a far greater chance of success.And by bringing in a specialist, you’ll have access to such expertise.
