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MARKETING
MARKETING
You could create an awesome product that solves a really important problem, but your business will not be successful if no one knows about your product. You need to get people to use your product. This is called marketing. Marketing is the process of telling people about your product and getting them to use it.
For the Junior Division, we’ll use the term “user adoption” rather than marketing, since you are not required to complete a full-fledged marketing plan. However, you will still need to plan how you will get users to learn about and try your product. You will also need to write about it in your User Adoption Plan. This lesson and activities can help you with your User Adoption Plan.
There are a lot of different reasons why someone may or may not want to download your app or use your AI project. In this lesson, you will create a plan so that more people will use your product. This is called a marketing strategy.
MARKETING STRATGEY
The 4Ps is one way to approach marketing. You’ll want to make sure you think about the product you are selling, the price you are selling it at, the ways you are promoting it, and finally the places you are selling it in.
PRODUCT
Your product is the thing that you are selling. The first step in getting people to use your product is to make sure that it is a good product that will be useful to them. You’ve already done this! In this case, your product is your app or AI invention.
PRICE
The price is how much your consumer will pay for your product. You need to think about the price of your app or AI project when you are considering how to make money. However, you also need to consider how much your users are willing to pay for your product. If your price is too high, people won’t want to buy your product.
The price of your product isn’t all paid in physical money. If you are making a mobile app that is free, but there are a lot of ads, this can be annoying to the user and they might not want to use your app. Also, if your app is free, but some of the features require an in-app purchase, such as paying to unlock new levels in a game, this might also stop some people from using your app.
If you aren’t sure how much to charge for your product, ask some of your target audience what they would be willing to pay. This can help you set a price. Here are some example questions to ask:
How much would you be willing to pay for this product?
If your project is an app:
Do ads bother you? Would you pay more for it to be ad free?
Would you rather it be free, but have ads?
Would you be willing to pay for in-app purchases?
PROMOTION
Promotions are the ways that you will tell people about your product. Here are some examples of different types of promotions you can do to tell people about your product. Click on each tab to learn more! You don’t need to do all of them or any of them, but they could be helpful. In the activity below, we will give you some steps to take so that you can start using one of these strategies.
Media advertising
It can be pretty expensive to get media advertising. You don’t necessarily need to do any media advertising, but it might be the best way to reach some of your users. Here are some examples of media advertising.
Commercials on radio or television
Print ads in newspaper, magazines, flyers
Online ads on websites
Steps to get started
Note that you’ll be able to answer all those questions and work through those steps in the Activity - Create a Marketing Strategy below.
Commercials on radio or television
This can be a really expensive option. However, there might be ways to get some airtime for cheaper. Think about some local options, does your school or nearby university have a radio station? If so, would they let you promote your product? What about a local television station?
If you get some airtime, think about what you want to say. You can give a pitch, which you will learn about later. If your timeslot is really short, you could say a slogan. If your timeslot is really long, you could have someone interview your team or try out your app or AI project.
Print ads in newspaper, magazines
Again think about some local options. Does your town have a newspaper? What about your school? These would be good places to promote your product.
If you get some space in a magazine or a newspaper you’ll want to create something eye-grabbing. Use your brand colors and logo in your design. Make sure that your ad explains what your product is for and why someone should use it.
Online ads on websites
What are some websites that your users might visit? These would be good places to put an ad for your app or AI project.
Again, think of some local options to keep the cost down. Would your school website let you put an ad on it? What about your town?
Social Media
Word of Mouth
Partnering with Organizations
PLACE
The place is where your users can access your product. If you’re creating a mobile app, you are generally restricted to the Google Play or Apple Store. If you are creating an AI invention, you might look at websites where you could sell your invention. You should target websites or stores that focus on the problem you are solving. You can make your product look great in the virtual stores by writing a strong description, using keywords your customer will relate to, and taking helpful screenshots. For mobile apps, you should also ask your friends to download your app and leave a nice but honest review. You may want to refer back to your market research to find the keywords you’ll want to use to attract your target audience and reference your brand to write your description in the way you want your product to be portrayed. Make sure to include links to your app or AI invention in your social media pages and in any advertisements you create! Another way to add to your distribution is to develop an online website to support your app or AI invention.
Are you ready to try out some of these marketing strategies? In the next two activities, you will set some goals for your marketing strategy and then you’ll get started marketing your product. If you are in the senior division, you will use this work for your business plan. If you are in the junior division you will use this work for your user adoption plan.
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