King Kong’s founder, Sabri Suby provides insights and advice for those working on the strategy and campaign for the launch of a product or service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
30-second summary:
- In order to have the guts to push out your own product, have a think about the biggest issues that the pandemic is throwing up. Then, flip them on their head and figure out how to turn them into an advantage.
- We don’t know whether that’s going to happen in four weeks or four months or four years, but one thing we know for certain is that it is going to blow over. And when it finally does, it’ll pay to have pushed your products hard during the tough times.
- If I could offer business leaders one piece of advice for launching a product during a pandemic, it would be to come back to the idea of turning a ‘nice to have’ offering into a ‘must have’.
- Whether there’s a pandemic or not, that problem of how to get customers using your product still exists. The only thing that changes is the way you frame the problem.
My digital marketing agency, King Kong, recently launched a new online course called Quantum Growth… and we did it during the midst of a global pandemic.
While other businesses head into hibernation to weather out the storm, I believe now is the time to push hard and double down on your marketing, especially when it comes to selling digital products.
Turn problems into advantages
The level of certainty in the market is very low right now, and people don’t want to part with their money. Some people might look at that as a problem. Instead, we tipped it on its head and turned the challenging marketing conditions into an advantage.
Our product is an online six-week program that shows you how to rapidly scale your service business to seven figures using proven funnels, frameworks, and scientific customer acquisition.
It’s an online course. Our customers need to have time to actually do that course, and this pandemic has created an opportunity for us, in that a lot of business leaders suddenly have a lot of time on their hands. That’s the opportunity that it’s presented.
In order to have the guts to push out your own product, have a think about the biggest issues that the pandemic is throwing up. Then, flip them on their head and figure out how to turn them into an advantage.
Understand that perception is reality
Even during one of the most life-altering pandemics the world has ever seen, the saying ‘truth is reality’ still resonates.
Of course there are challenges in the market right now, and it would be stupid to ignore them completely. But those challenges also present opportunities, and it’s the perfect time to take advantage.
Let’s all take a deep breath and remember that this thing is going to blow over. That’s the only thing that we know.
We don’t know whether that’s going to happen in four weeks or four months or four years, but one thing we know for certain is that it is going to blow over. And when it finally does, it’ll pay to have pushed your products hard during the tough times.
From ‘nice to have’ to ‘must have’
If I could offer business leaders one piece of advice for launching a product during a pandemic, it would be to come back to the idea of turning a ‘nice to have’ offering into a ‘must have’.
It all boils down to whether you’re selling candy, vitamins or painkillers. Candy is a nice-to-have that people enjoy but doesn’t solve a burning problem. Vitamins generally have a positive impact over time, but they’re not ‘urgently needed’.
Painkillers offer an immediate solution to a critically important and pressing problem that needs to be alleviated pronto. In times like these, you don’t want your new product to offer anything other than a painkiller.
History is filled with examples of companies that grew out of a crisis, and it’s all because their products were designed as painkillers.
Uber, Pinterest, Airbnb, Slack and Lyft were all formed during or around the Global Financial Crisis, and could take advantage of cheaper office space, reduced competition and partners being open to signing quick deals.
In ten years from now, the world will be dominated with companies and products that took full advantage of this current crisis. Why shouldn’t you be one of them?
Don’t throw out the marketing rule book
You might think that our marketing strategy for Quantum Growth would have had to drastically change as a result of the pandemic, but in reality, it was pretty similar to how we would market any product.
The problems we’re attempting to solve still exist, but the way that we talk to those problems change. The same is true of any digital product.
People still have the problem to get new customers, and we’re in the business of growing businesses and getting our clients more clients. Everyone still needs more clients and more customers, in fact, they need them now more than ever.
The only thing that’s changed is the delivery vehicle that you use to deliver information to those customers. Use your common sense here: a 12 month SEO strategy might not be the way forward right now.
Instead, it might be a quick 30 or 90 day paid traffic campaign to bring immediate leads to your new product. Of course, every business is different, and you should adjust the plan to your own specific needs.
Whether there’s a pandemic or not, that problem of how to get customers using your product still exists. The only thing that changes is the way you frame the problem.
Sabri Suby is the founder of Australia’s fastest-growing digital marketing agency, King Kong, and author of international bestseller Sell Like Crazy. Having originally founded King Kong in 2014 from his bedroom, Sabri has bootstrapped the company since day one and in under five years has successfully built a team of 61 specialists now achieving $20million+ in total revenue (year to date).
