Product marketing Archives - The Rubicon Agency

The Rubicon Agency In Insights, Miscellaneous, Our industry, Product marketing, The Content Spectrum

The importance of the product marketing enigma machine

Cracked by the boffins at Bletchley Park and synonymous with films like The Imitation Game and U-571, the Enigma machine was at the bleeding edge of cipher technology in the mid 20th century. Unlocking the true meaning of its coded messages had a monumental impact on the outcome of WW2.

With a slightly tangential pivot, the same premise could be applied to deciphering the sometimes-cryptic messages unveiled by product marketing teams. Tasked with communicating a product, solution or service to the market, product marketing can sometimes default to showcasing the technical features and functionality.

Now, there is a time and a place for this information – comparing competitors’ offerings can require a forensic peek under the covers. However, being able to convey the benefits to a non-technical audience or apply relevance to certain lines of business is a skill that requires a degree in translations.

Demonstrating the art of possible

As we are all well aware, buying centres and tech budget holders have become more diverse than they were 20 years ago. Lines of business including HR, finance, marketing and sales now have dedicated budgets to purchase x-tech products and services.

Assuming these buyers aren’t tech savvy, or particularly excited by the number of functions your product offers. So, how do you effectively communicate the value and the difference of your brand over a competitors?

The answer is empathy. Put the product in context. How is it going to make their lives better? How is it going to benefit the business? What possible use cases can your product be applied to? These are some of the messages that will cut through the noise of traditional speeds and feeds information.

The growing influence of Product Marketing Managers

In a recent article, McKinsey reported that PMMs could be the secret weapon in turning products from ‘meh’ to ‘must-have’. They stated the following:

Market understanding: PMMs bring essential insights to the table which in turn help tailor products to meet customer needs and preferences.
Orchestration: They coordinate efforts across teams to ensure a seamless transition from development to market launch.
Risk mitigation: By understanding market dynamics they’re able to reduce the risk and guesswork associated with new product launches.
Revenue growth: Companies with robust PMM functions see significantly higher revenue growth, with top performers having a 25-30% higher ratio of PMMs to product managers.

Used effectively, product marketing managers can bridge the gap between development and customer speak, they can pivot the stories above to resonate with their audience and act as ‘chief code breaker’, to take the technical intricacies of the product and decipher it into real business benefits.

At The Rubicon Agency we have a track-record of working with product luminaries and ‘simplifiers of propositions. Together, we craft product marketing content that bridges the gap between tech speak and storytelling. With over 25 years of experience working within the B2B tech sector we know what it takes to articulate a new product, service, platform or architecture.

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The Rubicon Agency In Our industry, Product marketing, Video content

Video focus #5: What makes a good demo video?

When the best way to market a technology product, service or solution is also to show how it works, and what it can do, then a demonstration video makes good sense.

What doesn’t make sense is to produce a video that simply tries to replicate the equivalent of a technical user guide by combining actual user interfaces and drop down menu sequences with a monotonous voice-over. Worse still, don’t waste valuable marketing budget by simply producing a generic guide to a solution that can become a free backgrounder for competitors.

A good demo video strikes the right balance between showing how a technology works and telling the audience what it can achieve for them. Depending on the product, service or solution, it could be aimed solely at technical decision makers, in which case it will largely feature demonstration sequences but still translate these into recognisable benefits or advantages for a technical buyer. However, if the audience targeting is more fluid, it pays to punctuate the demonstration content with an explanation of the wider business impact and even how it can support a bolder vision.

Establish your demo video audience

Establishing your audience is key to integrating messages within sequences which explain features, functions or options but also translate them into recognisable benefits or advantages to say marketing, operations, finance or C level. Also, bear in mind that video is a medium that’s more likely to be shared if the original audience believes it has value to other people within their organisation – allow for ‘audience stretch’ when you’re considering draft content.

The potential for information overload is stronger in a demo video format. This can make the video difficult to follow and quickly turn off an audience. It’s a pitfall that’s best avoided by employing a writer who can combine technology insight with an ability to digest all that could be said – before reducing it down to only what should be said.

Explaining any technology is always easier when you can place it in the context of a use case or a sector application. You may even want to consider creating core video content around the explanation of features and functions but combine it with cutaway sequences that contain content and messaging that’s relevant to specific sectors. That way, you have the flexibility to develop more than one version of the video so it can be tailored to various sectors.

Finally, consider the next step for the audience and include a call to action that can take them to a consultative workshop, a white paper, a market briefing or possibly a customised app that can assist decision making.

The Rubicon Agency is an experienced advocate of video for technology marketing. We’ve categorised examples of our work into the seven most common formats, covering a range of subjects. What they share in common is the advantage of our tech sector expertise and market insight combined with our creative but pragmatic approach to production. Each of these videos has created measurable impact and return on marketing investment for our clients.

Watch a demo video from The Rubicon Agency Video Gallery now

The Rubicon Agency In Digital lead generation, Our industry, Product marketing, Video content

Video focus #4: Why make a trailer video?

When your marketing strategy includes the production of a short video why would you create a trailer that goes out prior to the release of an explainer, documentary or demo?

In the world of technology marketing, you may need to stimulate early interest ahead of a product, solution or service rollout. Alternatively, you may want to focus your marketing effort on ‘early adopters’ or even show preference to a key decision maker with an ‘exclusive’ sneak preview as part of an account – based marketing campaign.

A trailer can help to gain an early advantage for marketers especially with the tracking techniques offered by digital marketing. If it’s well-crafted and intriguing (without being too obtuse) it can also be shared and gain a wider distribution within a target customer organisation.

What makes a good trailer video for technology marketing?

An effective trailer video relies on a level of intrigue – just enough to spark curiosity but not so much that it simply leaves the audience baffled or simply irritated. Content needs ruthless distillation, with just enough detail to resonate with the audience and leave them wanting more.

If the main video has already been created, it can be tempting to overload the trailer but it’s essential to hone content down to the bare minimum that needs to be shown or said – in the least amount of time. The audience have to think ‘this is relevant to me, it will deserve my attention and I will want to know more’. And if they think others may also be interested then it’s easy for them to share a short video that won’t overburden bandwidth.

Finally, the call to action is critical for a trailer video. Give your audience a timeline or a launch date; get them to register interest or encourage them to share the video with others.

Watch a trailer video from The Rubicon Agency Video Gallery now

The Rubicon Agency In Product marketing, Programme planning

Why speeds and feeds don’t work on a first date for technology marketing

‘Speeds and feeds’ is a phrase we often hear from tech marketers who are conscious that using technology features or technical integration language is not going to cut it with all of the influencers and decision makers in their target audience.

The challenge with technology marketing content can be sheer breadth and depth. Unlike some other sectors, technology often has a lot that needs to be said to an audience with a diverse range of care abouts and motivations.

There’s a time and a place to talk about ‘speeds and feeds’ but not on a first-date with a customer who may be more interested in say the power of collaboration solutions than the ins and outs of Unified Communications. In fact, extending the dating analogy to the concept of ‘speed-dating’ is a good way to imagine distilling all that could be said into the things that can actually make a customer romance blossom.

Most technologies could promise ‘greater agility, productivity and efficiency’ but as an opening chat-up line it’s unlikely to create an instant attraction – especially when the clock is ticking. That’s because we’re not telling our date anything they haven’t heard before.

How to woo technology decision makers

Context is key. That means absorbing and vetting everything that can be said with an almost obsessive aim to translate what really matters to the people we need to impress. Save the TCO arguments for the CFO and the SLA promises for the CTO and you’ll cut the ice much quicker. And if you’re stuck for what to say, you can try asking questions. Social and interactive tools are a perfect way to get a two-way conversation flowing.

A ‘messaging elevator’ is also a useful tool to set the upper and lower levels of content objectives – whether that means establishing the vertical and horizontal context for content or recognising an opportunity to raise the bar by talking about the business transformation capabilities of a technology solution. And if there is a place for ‘speeds and feeds’ it will also tell you where that should be.

To find out if your content needs to take a trip on the message elevator, register for our unique M4 content audit.