Why businesses should adopt life stage marketing approach to appeal to consumers

If you are a business owner, you most likely know about the life stages your service or product needs to enter in order to move to the next one. But do you know what marketing strategies and tactics you should implement in order to succeed? This article will tell you more about life stage marketing in general and about what marketing strategies are useful for each of the life cycles .

Product life cycle definition in life stage marketing

Let’s start with the definition of the product life cycle. Life cycle refers to the phases a product goes through from conception to extinction. The six phases are typically delineated. In addition to pricing and advertising decisions, business owners and marketers utilise the product life cycle to make significant decisions and form a market strategy. Life stage marketing is used in product marketing to distinguish between different life cycles and direct marketing efforts with correct marketing message at the target audience at the right time.

Development stage

A product’s development phase occurs before its release to the market. During this phase, companies raise capital, make prototypes, test product performance, and plan their introduction. Despite the nature of this stage, it takes a lot of money without generating any revenue because the product hasn’t yet been released. During this phase, a product is difficult to create due to its complexity, its newness, and the amount of competition. From now on, marketing teams can begin to generate a buzz about the product by securing the endorsement of prominent industry voices. It is also possible to publish preliminary consumer research or testimonials. During this phase, you want to expand your brand awareness and establish yourself as a forward-thinking company. 

Introduction phase

The introduction phase is when a product is first launched to the market. In this phase, marketing teams begin building product awareness and reaching out to prospective customers. Sales are typically low and demand increases slowly at the introduction phase. Normally, advertising and marketing campaigns focus on educating potential customers about the product and creating brand awareness. You can now promote the product using inbound marketing and content marketing. Content education is important to inform potential buyers about the benefits of using your products or services before they purchase. If your marketing strategies have worked, the successful products move to the next phase — growth stage.

Tactics used during introduction phase:

Rapid skimming and slow skimming are methods used in the introduction stage in life stage marketing. A high introductory price and extensive advertising are utilised to market a product quickly, whereas a low introductory price and limited promotion are employed to market a product slowly. Rapid penetration occurs when the product is offered at a low cost with a lot of promotion, while slow penetration occurs when the product is offered at a low price with little promotion. If you’re introducing a new product, you should strive to:

• Establish a strong brand image.
• Connect with the right partners to market your product.
• Set up consumer trials or provide samples or free samples to key target groups.
• Price it as high as you believe you can sell it, and make it reflect the quality you provide.
• You can also try to limit the product or service to a particular type of buyer, which can boost demand.

Growth Phase

Consumers have accepted the item and have begun to buy it in larger quantities during the growth phase. Target market purchases and profits are increasing as the market share grows and competition increases. During this phase, competitors will attempt to enter the market. The growth stage is when the market expands and competition develops. To keep consumers from switching to competitors, firms often shift from persuading consumers to buy their goods to establishing a brand presence as they grow. As companies expand, they will open new distribution channels and expand their feature and support successful products offerings. You will likewise advertise these in your marketing strategy.

Maturity phase

During the maturity phase, sales begin to level off after the rapid growth phase. To stay competitive in an increasingly competitive environment, companies begin to discount their goods at this stage. During the introduction and growth phases, businesses become more efficient and learn from their errors as a result of marketing campaigns that focus on distinctiveness rather than awareness. During the maturity phase, products begin to enter their most profitable period as the cost of production declines and sales increase. Product features might be enhanced, prices might be lowered, and distribution might be enhanced.

It’s crucial to set yourself apart as a leader and distinguish your brand when your product has become a mature offering, since sales are strong and the product has been established. You may feel as if you’re “sailing by” because things are going well and the product has been established. However, this is where you must continuously enhance the product as it becomes more popular, letting your clients know that the product they love is even better than before. This will safeguard you once the evidence of market saturation emerges.

Saturation phase

The stage prior to product saturation is one in which competitors take a portion of the market and products experience neither growth nor decline in sales. In this phase, there are typically many competing firms. Consumers are using a lot of products at this point, but there are also many competitors. In this phase, you want your product to become the demand brand. If the market becomes saturated, you will have to focus on attributes, brand awareness, price, and customer service in your marketing plans. Competition is highest at this stage, so it is critical to guarantee the excellence of your product. If product-level innovation isn’t feasible (because the product only requires minor modifications at this point), invest in customer care and utilise customer reviews in your marketing campaigns.

Decline phase

If a brand is not the first choice in a market, your sales will drop. As time goes on, new trends emerge. In this situation, a firm either discontinues their product, sells their firm, or updates their product in some way. It’s difficult to avoid the decline stage in business, but some firms might be unable to avoid it. You can concentrate on nostalgia or highlight your product’s advantages to escape the decline stage in your marketing strategy. You can also implement new advertising strategies or lower prices, add new features to increase their value proposition, explore new markets, or alter brand packaging to prolong the product life cycle. The best firms typically have products at several phases of the product life cycle. To begin the cycle again in other countries, some firms look to other countries for inspiration.

When and how to use a product life stage marketing approach?

A brand-new product is marketed differently than a mature, established one. The former focuses on raising awareness whereas the latter focuses on maintaining it. Businesses can also utilise the product life cycle as follows:

• Establish competitive authority

If your product is new to the market, you may advertise it as an alternative to an existing product to establish competitive authority and expand your market segment. If your product is established and has a long history of use, you may assert its historical importance in your company’s branding.

• Choose a pricing strategy

You will select how to value your product depending on the phase it is in. A new product may be discounted to appeal to consumers and increase in marketing efficiency, while a product in the growth phase may be priced higher. Build a marketing strategy and work on the correct marketing message to build rapport with your potential customers, and a product’s life stage will help you decide what market strategy you should adopt.

How and when to respond to bad reviews

Respond promptly

You should respond as soon as you see negative feedback on a review platform like Google reviews. You should apologise and even if you don’t have the details, tell them that you’ll get back soon.

Interact as an individual

Don’t sign off as “Staff” or “Team.” Introduce yourself and talk like an individual and not as a business. Show why you’re personally concerned that the customer would have a negative experience.

Ask questions

Instead of judging the customer, your intent should be to find out what happened. Calmly request them to explain the situation either on the platform or through a private channel. No matter what you do, keep in mind that others can see your response on the review platform.

Be empathetic

Think from the customer’s point of view and resist the urge to defend your business. Even with the best of systems and processes, mistakes do happen. Empathise with the reviewer without judging their intentions.

Ask your team

Once you get the information from the angry customer, talk to your team members. Check your system and verify the incident. If it’s related to a third party like a delivery partner, get in touch with them.

Apologise publicly

If it’s a mistake from your side, you should apologise to the customer publicly. Say that it’s not what you expect from your business and you would have done the same had you been in their position.

Take it to a private channel

Request the customer to move the conversation to a private channel like email or phone call. Give them your contact details and ensure that they can easily reach you.

Thank them

As a business owner, you should also thank the customer for bringing the issue to your attention. Be grateful that now you have an opportunity to learn and improve your customer service. A negative review is like mini market research for you.

Request removal if it’s a fake review

If you can’t find out any record of the customer’s experience, then it could be a fake review. Publicly state on the review platform that you have no record and request the customer to produce any if they have them. If they can’t, request them to remove the bad review and flag it for the review platform.

Negative review attack: examples of how to deal with negative reviews

You can use the texts below as a guidance for your negative review response template:

In short

A negative review, if managed well, can lead to positive results and improved customer experience. You also gain a great learning experience in the process. You can request happy customers to talk about their interactions and by doing this provide valuable feedback for your potential customers. If you find positive reviews, you should use those as testimonials on your website, Google My Business profile, e-mails, and all other marketing collateral.