Back in the days, customization was already a thing. Goods were tailor-made to meet the demands of the customer specifically. Fast forward to the Industrial Revolution; the focus then turned to mass production, making goods widely available at the lowest price possible. However, this meant compromising detail and quality. Likewise, mass-produced products started to lose their spark as they didn’t offer much opportunity for self-expression and individuality.
Soon after, customization has become a commodity once more. The demand for custom products continues to rise and is further fueled by emerging self-love advocacies and the need to establish one’s personal brand. Luckily for brands, various technological innovations have made affordable customization possible—from screen printing on shirts, laser marking on stainless steel, and 3D printing sneakers.
If you’re struggling to come up with unique ways to market your product, maybe it’s about time to offer customization to your customers and put them in charge of your product marketing. Here’s how it can benefit your business:
Insights from Customers Themselves
Through giving customers the power to customize your products, you’re actually doing yourself a big favor. You get to interact with your actual target market and get to know what they really want and need. On top of that, this gives you an opportunity to understand them better and have a clearer view of what drives their buying behavior and decisions. In turn, this can help you design more personalized products that really suit their needs. As such, it becomes an effective customer-centric product development.
Next-level Purchase Experience
Customers feel empowered when they play an essential role in product planning and development. Moreover, they feel valued because their insights are taken into consideration. This redefines their purchase experience entirely. Hence, they form an emotional attachment towards the product and the brand itself. This leads to improved customer retention and loyalty. Also, when customers are happy, it’s highly likely of them to share their good experience through word of mouth and social media. This simply means advertisements without the extra cost.
Better Price Differentiation
When you’re offering the same product as everyone else, keeping a low price is vital to secure your position in the market. However, if your product proves to provide an added value or a unique feature, then this may justify its relatively high price. More so, customers tend to perceive products that they help create or design to be of higher value. This is because customization helps spark a sense of ownership in customers. More than the end product, their involvement in the process is what they associate value to.
Return on Investment
Indeed, customization is an effective way to diversify your product offerings, but it goes beyond that. It’s also a way to enhance customer relationship by making them feel that you’re not just after their money, that you’re there to address their needs and offer a solution to their problems. More than the profit that your products generate, gaining your customers’ trust and loyalty is the best ROI that you can derive from investing in customization.
As customers become smarter with their purchase decisions, they tend to appreciate the brands that reach out to them, engage with them, and involve them in the product development process. It’s all about finding out what’s in it for them and getting the most value out of their money. And as companies, it’s all about satisfying your customers by delivering these benefits the way they want them to.
