Selling is a challenging skill to learn, but it can be even more difficult when you have a product that requires some technical knowledge or expertise. Fortunately, there are many ways to sell products online and in the real world. But on the other hand, most people don’t know how to do any of them well.
In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about selling complex products online. To start, let’s talk about what makes a product complex.
What is a complex product?
Complex products have features, terms, and risks generally not easily understood by consumers because their structure is complex. You can consider a product complex if it has one or more of the following characteristics:
- Requires technical skills to use
- Expensive to produce
- An unusual design
- Multiple components
- A long lead time
Selling Tips & Tricks That Actually Work
Now that you know what makes a product complex, here are tips and tricks to help you sell these products online:
- Create an E-commerce site
An e-commerce site lets you sell physical items such as electronics, equipment, machines, etc. You don’t need to build an entire store from scratch; instead, you can use third-party platforms that provide everything you need to start your online store.
You can also adopt software that helps manage orders and track shipments, such as CPQ software for manufacturing. This tool automatically captures customer information, makes quotations, and processes payments. In addition to using third-party tools, you can also set up your website. Fortunately, you have many free options, but you can also purchase a domain name and hosting service. Once you’ve done all this, you can add your products and start selling.
- Understand Your Customer
Now that you’ve set up an e-commerce platform, you need to understand your customer before you start selling anything online. What type of person buys your product? How much do they spend on average? Are they willing to pay more than the competition?
You can get answers to these questions using analytics tools to see where customers come from, how much they spend, and which pages they visit. Keyword research tools can also help you understand what terms people search for related to your product. You can utilize this information to determine what keywords you should use in your marketing campaigns.
Once you’ve answered these, you can decide better how to market your product. Remember that no matter how complex your product or service is, someone will always want to buy it. The key is finding out which customers want to buy your product.
- Use Social Media Marketing
Social media is one of the best ways to reach potential customers. It’s free, easy to use, and reaches a large audience. In fact, according to HubSpot, social media accounts for billions of internet traffic globally, so it’s essential to incorporate this marketing trend into your business strategy.
Each social media site has its benefits, and you can strategically use them all to promote your brand. For example, Facebook is an excellent platform for sharing photos, videos, and other visual content. On the other hand, Twitter is suitable for broadcasting short messages to your followers.
TikTok is another option if you want to target your audiences through short video clips rather than pictures. According to statistics, in January 2022, the platform had over 1 billion active users and over 160 million one-minute videos viewed by these users, making it a trendy place to advertise.
- Create Great Content
Content is king when it comes to digital marketing. People love reading articles and watching videos because they’re usually entertaining and educational. Fortunately, you can create a wealth of different types of content for your potential market. Some examples include blog posts, infographics, guides, tutorials, videos, and podcasts. Of course, each has its advantages, but remember that quality is more important than quantity.
Remember that since you’re selling complex products, you must provide your target audience with content that delivers substance. So don’t just post random images and text; focus on providing value to your readers.
- Promote Your Website
When you promote your website, try posting links to it on forums, blogs, and social media groups. These places are where your target market spends most of its online presence. This way, you can find out whether your link gets clicked or not. You can also see which platforms get the most traffic for your website.
In addition, you can also hire an SEO or marketing expert to help you with your campaign. Apart from helping you start your campaign, these experts can analyze your current website and suggest changes to improve your search engine rankings. Many e-commerce experts highly recommend this approach as it saves you time and money if you want to focus on growing your business.
- Use Email Marketing
Many still consider email marketing one of the best ways to reach potential customers. The reason behind this is simple: people trust email messages. MailChimp says open rates are up 21.33% in all industries in 2022. And most of those opened emails are hobby entities, including markets interested in buying complex products like yours.
You can also work with the marketing expert you’ve hired to help you start your email campaign. First, you’ll need to select a relevant email list to ensure you send them to the right people. Next, you’ll need to design your email, including personalizing the subject and content. And finally, as you’ve sent out the emails, stay conversational and send follow-ups when needed.
- Offer Free Trials And Guarantees
Another way to sell complex products is to offer free trials and guarantees. It allows potential buyers to experience your product without paying anything upfront. For example, if you’re selling software, you can offer a 30-day trial period. During this time, your potential customer can use your product for free. Afterward, they can decide whether to purchase it or not.
If you’re selling physical goods, you can offer a money-back guarantee. It means that if your buyer isn’t satisfied with your product within a specific number of days (usually 30–60 days), they can return it for a full refund.
Many companies have used this strategy successfully. The principle here is to bolster your credibility and image by offering insurance to your audience that protects them from making unwise purchases. This tactic allows you to build trust among your target audience. It also gives your customers confidence that your product is worth their investment.
- Provide A Clear Value Proposition
The final step in selling complex products is ensuring your audience understands what makes your product better than others. In other words, you should be able to explain how your product solves a problem your target audience faces. For example, suppose you’re creating a new kind of software. You need to show how your product helps businesses in specific industries run more efficiently.
Or say you’re offering a physical product. You need to explain how it improves the quality of life for your target audience. In either case, you must provide clear value propositions, so your audience knows what they’ll get when they buy your product.
Final thoughts
There are many different ways to sell complex products. However, these eight strategies are some of the most effective, allowing you to reach your target audience while building trust and credibility. So if you’re struggling to get your sales up, try one of these tactics today and see how much more business these strategies bring.
References
Copes, Matthew “Money Back Guarantee Policy.” PrivacyPolicies.com, July 1, 2022. https://www.privacypolicies.com/blog/money-back-guarantee-policy/.
Geyser, Werner. “TikTok Statistics – 63 TikTok Stats You Need to Know [2022 Update].” Influencer Marketing Hub, August 1, 2022. https://influencermarketinghub.com/tiktok-stats/.
Hubspot. “The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics for 2022.” https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics.
Mailchimp. “2022 Email Marketing Statistics and Benchmarks by Industry.” https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/.
Teu, Vivien. “Enhanced Requirements on Complex Products – Are You Ready?” Lexology, June 19, 2019. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0ecc8500-72a3-45ff-b547-5dc9acb4e2a7.
