Digital Marketing for Product Success - interview with Haris Husejnovic

You can have a great product and zero customers. 

How?

In an interview for Amplifyre, our Growth Manager and CEO at Robinize - ZenDev’s SaaS product, Haris Husejnović, explained the foundations of market research, the seamless integration of development and marketing efforts, and the metrics that drive data-driven decision-making.

Enjoy the interview, and if you prefer watching over reading, jump on YouTube! 

Kristian Lupinski from Amplifyre (KL):

Today, we are talking about another side of product development – marketing – it is not enough to build a product and build it right– the product needs to reach potential customers! So, to start us off, Haris, how do you typically conduct market research before beginning a digital marketing campaign, and what factors do you consider when analyzing your target audience and competition?

Haris Husejnović (HH):

Before beginning a digital marketing campaign, conducting market research is critical to understanding your target audience and competition. 

1. Defining your target audience is the first step: Identify who they are by considering demographics, interests, behaviors, and any other relevant factors.
2. Identify your competitors: You have to know who you are competing against. Research companies that offer similar products or services to yours and find your competitive edge.
3. Data is your friend! Collect it on your target audience and competition, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and online research tools.
4. Understand your target audience's needs, preferences, and behaviors, as well as your competition's strengths and weaknesses.
5. Use the insights gained from your market research to develop a digital marketing campaign that addresses your target audience's needs and differentiates your product or service from your competition. This process should be recurring and done as many times as possible.   
6. Sometimes, small changes in approach can make a huge difference and help you stand out.

Which small things am I talking about?

For example, when considering demographics: don’t stop on age and gender but go deeper and analyze income, education, and other demographic factors. Consider your target audience's personality, values, interests, and lifestyle.

Analyze your target audience's buying behaviors, online behaviors in general, and any other relevant behaviors you might find useful to make a custom audience profile for your product or service. 

Consider their needs, desires, and pain points.                 

When it is about competitors, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, pricing strategies and marketing messages. 

Determine how your product or service is different from your competition and how you can communicate that differentiation to your target audience. Is it disruptive or not?

So I would say, tailoring your audience's needs and differentiating your product or service from your competition is the way to go.

KL: How do you approach collaboration with your development team when designing and implementing a digital marketing strategy, and what strategies have you found to be most effective in ensuring seamless integration between marketing and development efforts?

HH: When approaching collaboration with the development team, I believe that it is important to involve them from the very beginning of the process. This not only helps ensure that the marketing strategy is fully integrated with the company's technology infrastructure, but it also allows the development team to provide input on potential technical limitations or roadblocks that may need to be addressed.

You might ask: “But how do you motivate them to be that much involved?”

Well, here in ZenDev, we prefer a missionary approach instead of having only mercenaries. Missionaries are much more engaged and motivated with a deeper understanding of the business context.                  
Even though you have to have mercenaries and you will have projects where you need them, they usually have no passion for the problem to be solved or any connection or understanding of the actual user. 

Clear lines of communication and regularly scheduled meetings between the marketing and development teams help ensure that everyone is on the same page and that any issues or challenges can be addressed on time.

Finally, I believe that ongoing evaluation and refinement of the marketing strategy is essential for success. By working together and continually refining the strategy based on feedback from both teams, it is possible to create a seamless integration between marketing and development efforts that ultimately benefit the entire company.

In my experience, the most effective digital marketing strategies are built on a foundation of collaboration, communication, and continuous improvement. By working together, marketing and development teams can create campaigns that not only drive business results but also provide a positive experience for customers and stakeholders alike.

Every Growth Manager should do a bit more and go beyond in his approach to the people in the company as well as to the clients, since he can really make a huge difference with a little bit more effort.

KL: How do you measure the success of your digital marketing campaigns, and what specific metrics do you focus on to track progress and make data-driven decisions using the Build-Measure-Learn methodology?

HH: At ZenDev, we are data-driven in our decisions and optimization of our digital marketing campaigns. To measure the success of our campaigns, we focus on a few key metrics that align with our overall business goals. These metrics include:

1. Conversion rate: This metric measures the percentage of users who complete a desired action, such as filling out a lead form or making a purchase. By tracking conversion rate, we can identify areas for improvement in our landing pages and calls-to-action.
2. Cost per acquisition (CPA): This metric measures the cost of acquiring a new customer. We can evaluate the effectiveness of our ad targeting and adjust our budgets accordingly.
3. Return on investment (ROI): It measures the revenue generated by our campaigns relative to the cost of running them. By tracking ROI, we can determine which campaigns are most profitable and allocate resources accordingly.

How does the Build-Measure-Learn methodology help there?  

               

This involves building a hypothesis about how a particular marketing campaign will perform, measuring its performance against the chosen metrics, and learning from the results to optimize future campaigns. By continuously iterating on our campaigns using data-driven insights, we can maximize our marketing ROI and drive business growth.

KL: Brilliant; if people are interested in finding out more about ZenDev, where can they go?  

HH: Thanks, Kristian. Our website is zendev.se, and we have profiles in every bigger social network as well. I would say reach out on Linkedin and let’s have an e-coffee. The first one is on me. :)

 Concluding this enriching discussion, we want to leave you with 3 key messages: 

1. Collaboration is Key: Collaboration between marketing and development teams, underscoring that a united front leads to seamless integration and success.
2. Data-Driven Mastery: The importance of being data-driven resonates throughout, focusing on metrics such as conversion rates and ROI, showcasing the power of the Build-Measure-Learn methodology.
3. Personal Connection Matters: Beyond the metrics, nurture relationships, offer a virtual coffee — an essential reminder that in the digital age, personal relationships still drive business success.

 Want to discuss the power of digital marketing more, contact Haris here: