In order to develop consumer evangelists with excellent marketing, you first need terrific products. Most products on the mainstream market today are very good. But here is a list of traits shared by products and services that enjoy evangelists. Those products are: the iPhone, the iPad, the iPod, the Mac, the Amazon Kindle and Netflix.
- They exceed your expectations. You are surprised by how good they are. I was blown away by how much I loved my iPad when I first got it. I expected that I would enjoy it, but I am infatuated with the gadget.
- They have functionality that you did not expect. For example, Netflix’s movie recommendations are terrifically accurate.
- “How did I live with this” moments: These products and services are so good that customers can’t imagine life without them.
- They have unlimited, expandable potential: New apps stores. New books in the Kindle store. New movies and shows on Netflix. The products improve constantly, for no or nominal cost.
There’s more, but these are the big ones, making up about 80 percent of the reason for these products’ evangelist followings. It’s no accident that these devices and service have such loyal fans. They are that damn good.
Funny thing is, their excellence is a not a function of engineering — it’s a function of executive foresight, a ruthless focus on an elegant experience, and on pleasing the hell out of their customers.
So…now that you know this, replicate it.