What exactly does ‘boring’ mean? As noted in a Content Marketing Institute article, marketing expert Jonathan Kranz defines the word as meaning “having no qualities that capture your interest or inspire your imagination”. So, it really means ‘uninteresting’ rather than necessarily all-out ‘bad’.
Hence, even a ‘boring’ product can be a satisfying one – but, alas, you should aim for more than mere satisfaction. Here are several telltale signs that your target audience is yawning – whether literally or metaphorically – at whatever product your company has most recently released.
The product is getting you more sales than customers
This is probably happening because the product falls in that awkward grey area between exciting and outrageous. In other words, it’s only just good enough to tempt people into buying it, but not good enough to inspire these people to become repeat customers of your business.
To tip the scales more in your favor, you should investigate how to provide not only a product but also, with it, an experience that leaves a lasting impression.
The product attracts few customer reviews
This is because the product is barely even registering on people’s radars – meaning that many people feel as though they have nothing or little to say about it, either positive or negative.
On the plus side, your more passive customers could essentially be wildcards; you can potentially turn them into brand advocates if you actively reach out to them and invite them to leave feedback about the product.
Customers keep leaving you for another brand
This point links back to an earlier one: about your brand not providing an experience incentivizing many people to stay loyal to your company.
According to one statistic mentioned in an Inc. article, on average, 20-30% of a company’s passive customers churn within about 180 days of buying a product from that company. The exact percentage will largely depend on the company’s business model.
Customers never contact you about the product
Imagine how crestfallen you could feel if, after holding a product launch event, none of the people who attended or watched it approach you afterwards to ask more about the product. For example, they might neither ask you to elaborate on certain points made in the presentation nor enquire about points it didn’t cover.
You could help yourself to tackle this issue by holding your product launch events online and using a customer engagement platform to help assess when and where you went wrong on the engagement front.
The product offers you a relatively low profit margin
If you have had difficulty inspiring with your previous products, this could have led you to keep lowering their prices in a desperate effort to differentiate these products from other brands’ offerings. As a result, the profit margin attached to your latest product could be the lowest yet of any of your products.
You need to try to keep the focus primarily on the product’s quality rather than its price in order to avoid the dreaded race to the bottom on pricing.
