advertising a product yet to be made

[Stallion]

I'm looking to test my idea. I haven't actually made a product yet, though I have a rough idea how I'll make it.

I know the generalities of showing benefit, solving problems of my niche consumer.

But I was looking at BrainQuicken since my product is sort of in the same genre. A supplement, but for a different genre. I was reading through his advertising to get an idea on how to market my product.

I noticed some slight of hand, making it look like BrainQuicken was in 4,050 scientific studies. I read the sentence a few more times and realized that the compounds(or ingredients) of the product have been in 4,050 scientific studies.

Basically my point is that I can't really go into too much detail on the details on my product, since it hasn't been made. As well, since it's not made (or even thought up into how to make), I have no testimonials.

So how do you think I should start advertising it just to test if the market will respond to it? I plan after I got the actual product made(or at least got a plan on making it) to juice it up with more facts and figures.

Thanks in advance

[dsharpe]

...is to offer free information about the topic and build a list, then when enough people have shown an interest, roll out the product to the list.

When I was the special projects coordinator for a mid-sized import/export/mail order company, I did it offline, but here's how you might do the same thing online:

--write an ebook/report about your topic (better yet, outsource it:D ).

--get a copywriter to write a compelling sales letter.

--Create a "squeeze page" with this sales letter. The Most Desired Action here is to get people to give you their name and email address in exchange for the free ebook.

--Do a combination of free and paid promotion, directing people to your squeeze page. Options here include a blog, articles in online directories, participation in related forums, as well as PPC advertising. Also, find ezine publishers in your niche and offer your ebook to their list (pay for advertising if you have to, but many are looking for free stuff to give their list).

The idea here is that if someone requests your information, you know that they are interested in the subject. Therefore, they are likely to be interested in your product.

Another twist to this is to look at your list as an R&D team. I've seen marketers build big lists this way--"join my R&D team and help me develop this product." Offer a 30-day supply of your product free to 50 people in exchange for testimonies, evaluation, etc. You'll have all the testimonials you need.

Get them on your list, build a relationship with them, and then roll out your product.

Hope this helps!

Dave

[jeremyt]

I think Dsharpe has some really good points.

I wanted to mention something in regard to the statement that the various ingredients in BrainQuicken that had been in numerous studies. I might have misread what you wrote, and I've never read that info on BrainQuicken's website, but that statement does not necessarily mean that Tim had all those studies done just for his product. I'm sure that he used previous studies of or relating to these various ingredients of his BrainQuicken product to "beef up" the image of his product. If he had invested money to have all those studies done then the research budget would have been enormous.

Since you do not have your product physically in hand and therefor cannot distribute it to people to get some feedback (testimonials, suggestions, etc.) then you really must advertise all the positive effects of the ingredients. Obviously you don't want to give up your secret, so you shouldn't just list all your ingredients. But naming some of the top ones and stating their purpose would really help out. Also, you could posssibly find studies that have been done on these ingredients that would help back your future product and try to get permission to use the study for informational purpose on your website (or in your other form of advertisement). If you couldn't get the permission you could certainly just say that the ingredients have been in so many studies. The important thing here is to find studies of or relating to your ingredients that are only positive in regards to their purpose.

Another interesting thing, if this is relevant, would be to include how the ingredients might work together to create even better results when used in combination. There are studies out there to support how certain elements (vitamins, herbs, minerals and supplements) actually increase the potency of another element when they are exposed to each other.

The main thing to do is to find sound evidence as to why the ingredients in your product work, whether their individual effects or their combined effects, and find strong evidence supporting this. Citing information clearly (and legally) can work just as well. Remember back to the days of research papers in high school and college, all that stuff about MLA or APA format. There is a ton of info on that online and if you follow those guidelines to citing where you get your information from you could potentially prove to everyone that your product has plenty of scientific study without actually having to pay anyone to study it.

After you have done that, gotten the product made and had some customers (or probably a few test runs) you can amass product reviews/testimonials. Then you could combine all that good stuff and have a really killer marketing arsenal.

Good luck!