This episode is taken from the third chapter of my book Hardcore Copywriting: 45 Essential Marketing Strategy and Writing Courses (written in Traditional Chinese). The articles in this chapter have not been published online, and I’ll make them podcast episodes for you to enjoy.
Before a product launch, it undergoes a series of meticulous stages:
Conceptualization and proposal
Technical evaluation
Cost assessment
Market analysis
Distribution channel analysis
Business analysis
The final stage is marketing analysis. Observe your competitors and synthesize information from the preceding stages to make well-informed decisions and design comprehensive marketing strategies.
Marketers shouldn’t merely be informed about the product (even its existence); they should collect information from these stages to develop strategies.
Here’s a step-by-step method for constructing these strategies:
Gather product information from SWOT and FFAB analyses.
Analyze and consolidate this information.
If insufficient data is available, outline the product’s market “product power” and develop a strategic “idea/communication/connection/product” cycle based on psychological principles.
Let’s assume we’re developing basic marketing themes and content for a product. We’ll follow these steps:
SWOT analysis: Identify the S (strengths) of the product Set aside WOT (weaknesses, opportunities, threats) for now.
FFAB analysis: Identify the product’s features, functions, advantages, and customer benefits.
USP (Unique Selling Points/Propositions): Distill from the FFAB analysis results to determine our product's unique selling points.
These USPs form the foundation of our marketing strategy. All copy, marketing content, and campaign messages must revolve around them.
This framework can assist you in ideating, filtering, and defining marketing content for your products or even competing products. It may help you determine if your marketing focus is aligned with the market’s demands or why certain products are performing well or poorly.
In the subsequent article, we’ll delve into transforming these USPs into exceptional marketing copy.
In this series:
Unearth the hidden gems in your products