My Ideas on Making Your Product Sticky

As a designer and marketer, I love how we creatives get to help ideas to become sticky. Sticky ideas make for meaningful campaigns, conversations, and ultimately, conversions. I’m curious how your 2024 product lineup is poised to solve big problems. I’ll bet if your customers gave you just a little of their time, they’d like what they heard. Being sticky is a great way for your tribe to listen to your story. From my 25+ years of gluing together impactful messaging, here are some marketing insights that have stuck with me, along with some new discoveries.

Start here: List a few campaigns that seemed to stick, even if they lost some momentum over time. From your list you’ll leverage some reliable basics that will help offer best returns. Spotting what’s working is a learned skill. But more importantly, in my experience, your list will help you spot what’s not working. And therein lies real marketing momentum.

Consider your Product’s Potential as your Campaigns Become Sticky

“Sticky” doesn’t mean permanent or “unchanging,” It means sticking to your customers as they shift and adapt. A message’s ability to pivot quickly is one of the best ways to stay ahead of the competition and “lock in” with your customers. Finding the sweet spot will shift. Sweet spots are moving targets, and a big part of our job at Targa as creatives and marketers is to anticipate. What’s working will continually fluctuate. It’s a challenge and opportunity that I enjoy every day!

Important note: I’m talking about small pivots that propel your message. Don’t reinvent or dilute your brand. We’re adding glue, not stripping paint off the walls.

Five Strategies to Stick To:

1. List all the ways you track results. Get to know all your sources: surveys, web analytics, social media insights, email campaign metrics, word of mouth, referrals, etc. Then grade them! Keep your metrics simple so that you use them.
2. Ask your customers what’s sticky. Surveys are a start, but there are many other effective tools. Sticky ideas come from knowing what makes them tick, where they spend their time, and what solutions they’re truly looking for.
3. Ask your competition what’s sticky. Analyze their marketing strategies to identify their tactics and their gaps. Side note: There may be good reason for those gaps, if your competitors have made their own smart pivots. You can follow their lead while still differentiating your brand and products.
4. Be quick to market! Here’s where Targa makes a big impact on behalf of our clients: We’re steeped in agility, from our foundational philosophies and design tools to our abilities to watch campaign results in real time.
5. A/B testing, but not A through Z testing. Experiment with different versions of your marketing materials through A/B testing. This involves creating two or sometimes 3 variations, and then analyzing which performs better. As I mentioned above, keep your metrics simple. Avoid testing a pile of variables at once, as this muddies any usable results and delays critical timing (a.k.a. missed opportunities).

“I’m talking about small pivots that propel your message. Don’t reinvent or dilute your brand. We’re adding glue, not stripping paint off the walls.”

Stick to it!

My team and I can help. We love the inherent challenges of following a moving target, and we can help you anticipate where your customers will be next.

BONUS: How to be sticky with event marketing

Do you have some pretty cool events planned in 2024? Good for you! Here’s my checklist on how to get your marketing investments to pay off:

I talk often with our clients about connecting with non-attendees just as much as those in attendance. Regardless how many of your target customers show up and find you, you still have a vital database of non-attendees to connect and resonate with. What are your? “We missed you” tactics?

Being sticky with non-attendees: Your event campaign needs a component to let non-attendees know what they’ve missed out on. Offer them a slice of an attendee perk, such as a soon-to-expire video-captured demo. You’ll create high perceived value when you become their “event recon.” And therein lies the power of building relationships.

In summary, plan your event tools with non-attendees in mind. Interactive in-person experiences are the icing on the cake. Think through virtual versions of those in-person activities. They often require minimal resources when they’re part of your initial event planning. Reach out if you’d like ideas on this.

About Targa Media

For over 20 years, Targa Media has been helping B2B customers be relevant and authentic in their marketing messaging. From local businesses to global Fortune 500s, our method centers on human motivation. We work hard to understand each product and the people who need it most, and then we build campaigns that match up with emotional triggers. We keep our clients informed every step of the way—from napkin scratches to final designs—so they never waste time or money on dead-end campaigns.?

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