Smart Money
Where to spend your marketing dollars when a product isn't selling
Q: We have a few under-performing
products and some that are breaking sales records. Should our
marketing efforts focus on selling more of the under-performers or
driving more sales to the top products?
A: I'd focus on the top product
line and do some market research on why the under-performing
products aren't doing as well. In addition to finding out why
customers aren't responding to the under-performing products,
try asking them what they like about the top products.
Also remember that some products have shorter life cycles than
others. For that reason, it's always good to have new products
in the development stage. Your under-performing products may be
nearing the end of their life cycles, in which case, you may want
to consider rejuvenating them by adding new features and finding
new uses for them. A great resource on product life cycles can be
found online here.
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It might be wise to use some of the resources from the
high-sales product line to create new products that could
potentially have a similar payoff. That way, you won't run the
risk of overselling your top performers by investing in more
marketing when you haven't prepared for the road ahead.
Nancy
Michaels is president of ImpressionImpact.com, a marketing consulting
company.