7 Marketing Tips For Your Communicating To Your End Users
I am just five months into a new career in the Internet of Things and Smart Cities industries. I am learning so much on an hourly basis and still thrilled to be part of an important coalition of companies working on solutions for the future.I have a rare advantage of still having relatively fresh eyes on these topics. I am already noticing that a lot of tech companies are failing at the starting gate by not simply describing what their technology is for the masses.
It seems sometimes, that everyone out there is trying to create the most complex solutions for achieving smart cities, but they miss the most important piece.
If the mass majority of people don’t accept and use your technology, it will not work and we will not have any truly smart cities.
For us at StratIS, our end users for our App are residents living in MultiFamily buildings across the U.S, and they make up a big percentage of our population.
According to the National MultiFamily Housing Council, more than 43 million households (37%) are renter-occupied by more than 111 million (35%) of people in the U.S.
The Washington Post reports, “across all age groups, the U.S. homeownership rate — at 62.9 percent — has now fallen to its lowest level in more than five decades.Homeownership rates among Americans under age 35 are barely more than half the national number, at just 34.1 percent. This too is a record low and about a fifth below its peak from the go-go years of the mid-2000s.”
People, especially younger generations, are buying less and renting more. It is a reality that is not just affecting the real estate industry but it will continue to disrupt every single industry, globally.
When you work with extremely brilliant engineers like we do, it is often easy to focus on the intricate details and forget about the importance of being able to break down and explain your technology to your end users.
Recently, we decided to do a parody of the popular Tasty Videos to showcase our technology and make it easy to digest and understand for non-tech audiences. Full disclosure, we borrowed the idea from my wife, Melissa Calder and her team, in higher education marketing. It’s not really stealing if you are married to the person.
Luckily, our CTO Ryan Buchert is outstanding at video production and editing and our CEO Felicite Moorman loves working on marketing projects as much as she does enabling the creation of great technology. We were able to turn out a great product that we can use talking to a lot of different audiences to explain how we created our product.
One thing that I learned from working with talented teams in the Healthcare industry, is the knowledge that you really can’t mess around with being over-complicated when it comes to your product or service. You get one shot at this when it comes to the end user. Things need to be simple and straightforward. Your tech can be as complicated as needed when it comes to the back end, but when you communicate to your users, it needs to be flawless.
Here are some tips to help improve your marketing to end users.
1. Understand The Difference Between Your Investor and End User Pitches
This sounds like a no brainer, but when you are in the trenches day in and day out it is often difficult to switch gears and messaging to specific audiences. Understanding the key differences here will go an extremely long way.
2. Simplify Your End User Messaging
At StratIS, we have been able to achieve what no other company in IoT or MultiFamily technology can claim. It is the only system of its kind built for the complexities of multifamily and campus communities and is intent on serving as the commercial residential platform for Smart Cities across the globe. We currently provide service for 112,000+ MultiFamily units across 45 states.
When we talk to investors and partners they understand that StratIS’ technology is pre-commissioned and rapid install with “Install & Go” technology that allows for minimal resident disruption. It is also demand response capable for maximum energy savings. It is over-the-air upgradeable, updateable, and infinitely expandable with a 1300+ product catalog of Fortune 500 brands.
But when we talk to residents, we unlock doors and control thermostats.
3. End Users Don’t Care How Complex You Are, They Just Want Tech That Is Easy To Use
This is a common mistake that many businesses make when marketing to their end users. These people are busy enough dealing with the complexities of their own lives. They don’t need a detailed education on how hard it was to make your product. They simply want to know how it will integrate into their daily lives and improve them.
4. Step Up Your Design Game
Any marketing expert knows the importance of strong visual design. From print materials to social graphics, ignoring the importance of clean simple design can equal the end of your product. Good design takes a lot of time and a lot of testing and retesting what works. Don’t be afraid to make your end user designs as simple as possible.
5. Don’t Get Caught Up In Endless Cycles of Marketing Plans
Marketing plans are great, but execution is greater.
A good marketing team needs to be able to hit the ground running and pivot along the way as your technology shapes and unfolds.
6. Always Put Shipping First
The smart cities revolution is moving so fast that it is crucial for your technology company to be able to ship on content. From smart city articles, to social graphics, to print materials, newsletters and more, you must prioritize speed of shipping over perfection.
7. Practice Your End User Pitch
At every kid’s birthday party, family gathering or meeting, explain to your friends and family what your product does. Tune in to what people react to most. Ask them to repeat back to you what they think your smart product does and figure out what messaging lands best.
What innovative ways have you used to simplify your technology for your end users? Leave a comment or tweet to me at @jimmycalder