7 Strategies to Attract First-time Buyers in a Stigmatized Category

Selling stigmatized products can be a challenging task, especially when it comes to first-time buyers. It's not unusual to see the category penetration rates be lower than the total addressable market. Hence, there are opportunities for brands to grow the market by converting non-category users to users. These products are often associated with negative emotions and perceptions, which can make it difficult for potential buyers to consider making their first purchase. However, by employing the right strategies, brands can overcome these obstacles and connect with their audience. In this post, we will explore the key strategies that brands can use to drive potential customers to make their first purchase of a stigmatized product.

Psychological Safety: Overcoming Stigma

The first step in overcoming stigma is to create a safe and welcoming environment for potential customers. Psychological safety is a critical component of this process. By providing a sense of security and trust, brands can help potential customers overcome negative emotions and perceptions associated with the product, and themselves when they use the product. This can be achieved by creating a supportive and informative online community, providing access to expert advice, and being transparent about the product's benefits and drawbacks. Brands need to partner with retail to create an inviting environment, that doesn't perpetuate the stigma or the condition. Instead, it should offer an experience that invites the consumer in.

Emotional Connection: Winning Potential Consumers

In addition to psychological safety, brands should aim to establish an emotional connection with potential customers. By doing so, they can motivate them to consider making their first purchase. By tapping into these emotional drivers, brands can create a compelling message that resonates with potential customers. (See last week's post).

Category Entry Points: Connecting with the Customer

Category entry points offer a way to segment potential customers and create tailored messaging to reach them. Brands can capitalize on these different entry points by highlighting the benefits of the product that resonate with a particular customer segment. For example, a brand selling menstrual products might create messaging that speaks to the experience of menstruation for different age groups, such as teenagers, women in their 20s and 30s, and menopausal women. By understanding the unique needs and experiences of these different customer segments, brands can create messaging that connects with their audience and motivates them toward a purchase.

Successful Examples of Category Entry Point Strategies

Brands that have successfully incorporated category entry points into their marketing strategies include Thinx, which created a messaging campaign that spoke to different menstrual experiences, and SmileDirectClub, which created a messaging campaign that spoke to the unique experiences of different age groups in need of orthodontic care. By creating messaging that spoke to the unique needs and experiences of their different customer segments, these brands were able to connect the benefits of the product.

Connecting Benefits to Motivations: Overcoming Negative Emotions

It is important to connect the benefits of the product to the motivations of the potential customer to help overcome negative emotions and stigma. By doing so, brands can create messaging that speaks to their needs and motivates them toward a purchase. For example, a brand selling hearing aids can highlight the functional benefits of improved hearing, while also emphasizing emotional benefits such as better communication with loved ones. By understanding the motivations of the customer, brands can create messaging that speaks to their needs and motivates them towards a purchase.

Social Proof and Incentives: Building Trust

Motivating the consumer to overcome negative emotions requires building trust and providing a positive experience. Brands can achieve this through social proof, such as positive reviews or testimonials from existing customers. Offering a money-back guarantee or a free trial can also provide an opportunity for potential customers to experience the product without commitment.

Warby Parker, an eyewear brand, has successfully created a welcoming atmosphere for customers who need vision correction. They offer free home try-on and virtual try-on options, as well as private in-store consultations. They also have a "Buy a Pair, Give a Pair" program that donates a pair of glasses to someone in need for every pair purchased. By emphasizing the positive impact of their product and creating a sense of community and support, Warby Parker has successfully overcome the stigma associated with vision correction.

5 Key Strategies for Marketing Stigmatized Products:

1. Educate and Inform: Provide information about the product and how it can benefit the consumer. Use language that is easy to understand and avoid technical jargon. Make sure that the information is accurate and supported by research. All brands provide a lot of information about the product, but few provide that connection to why it can benefit the consumer.
2. Normalize the Product: Use marketing messages that normalize the product and reduce the sense of shame associated with it. Make the product seem like a part of everyday life, and not something that is unusual or embarrassing. This can be achieved by using relatable images, testimonials from satisfied customers, and social media campaigns. Importantly, test to ensure that the imagery doesn't perpetuate the stigma itself.
3. Leverage Emotions: Emotions are powerful motivators for purchase decisions. Brands should connect the benefits of the product to the emotions that consumers feel when using it. By leveraging emotions, brands can help consumers overcome negative feelings associated with stigmatized products.
4. Provide Social Proof: People often look to others for guidance on how to behave. Brands can provide social proof by showing that other people are using and benefiting from the product. This can be done through customer reviews, endorsements from influencers or celebrities, or by showcasing the product being used in everyday situations.
5. Partner with Healthcare Professionals: Healthcare professionals can be powerful advocates for stigmatized products. By partnering with doctors, nurses, or other medical professionals, brands can build trust and credibility with potential customers. Healthcare professionals can provide education and information about the benefits of the product and help consumers overcome negative emotions associated with stigma.
6. Offering trial periods: First-time customers may be hesitant to make a full purchase of stigmatized products without trying them first. Offering trial periods can build trust and increase adoption. Sampling, e.g. in CPG products, or free demos in-store are some of the ways that can help the consumer experience the difference.
7. Addressing misconceptions: Stigmatized products can be surrounded by misconceptions or myths that discourage customers from making a first purchase. Brands can address these misconceptions through education and communication to dispel fears and encourage adoption. Brands need to identify these misconceptions and address them head-on.

BONUS:

There is also the possibility that your target audience may also feel stigmatized (refer to the 7 types of stigma). In this case, your brand also needs to help reassure your target audience that buying the product is normal. So integrate into your programs, how you help your target audience overcome their own stigma.

Marketing stigmatized products require a nuanced approach that addresses the psychological barriers consumers face. By prioritizing psychological safety, leveraging emotions, and providing social proof, brands can successfully market stigmatized products. By incorporating category entry points and the seven key strategies above, brands can drive potential customers to make their first purchase and ultimately normalize the product. Doing one or two by themselves is rarely sufficient. Brands need to consider sustainable programs that incorporate all or most of these strategies to help accelerate the adoption of their products.

Net, brands that drive category growth have a higher probability to win disproportionately than their competitors.

What are your thoughts on how brands overcome the stigma associated with their products?