What Is Technology Marketing And How Should It Work?

Some managers of technological and/or innovative companies are skeptical about the interest of marketing in their market. They think that the specifics of it make it hermetic to the techniques and marketing tools used in the general public. They are not entirely wrong. Marketing must be adapted to the way professional exchanges work in these sectors while retaining the objectives of winning over new customers and retaining them. In this article, we will try to clearly define what technological marketing in B2B is and give the main principles.

What is technology marketing?

Technology marketing in the technical management and marketing course is defined as follows, according to experts:

"Alignment of the company's market-relevant activities with technological developments on the one hand and with selected problem areas of current and future customer potential on the other using planning, controlling, coordinating and controlling and marketing policy instruments.

Technological marketing: for whom?

This type of marketing applies especially for technological and innovative companies. These are often led by engineers who have just developed a solution in which they have perceived commercial potential. The latter brings a technological innovation or use or is completely new. We will speak of incremental innovation or rupture as the case may be. For this reason, the solution developed often has a level of complexity such that it must be much more supported towards the market than another. It cannot sell itself.

The marketing phase of this type of product is very delicate. The owners of these companies are well aware that this moment is absolutely crucial for the future and the success of their solution. However, being rarely experts in marketing, they do not always know which way to go or where to start to build their commercial offer. Often they already have one or more targets in mind for which their product may be suitable. Some even launch without much preparation towards these targets, and there are many commercial failures in these sectors. The numbers are there: between 50 and 60% of innovations end in failure, and their origin is rarely technological. In these situations, and for these companies, technological marketing has developed and makes perfect sense.

Technological marketing: why?

Due to the technicality or innovation of their solutions, technology companies are faced with immature markets. In B2B, these are often niche markets with few interlocutors but with very specific needs. In this type of market, the product does not spontaneously integrate into the commercial target's uses. He can even upset her and be perceived at first as taking too much risk. Technology marketing must help build the market. You have to understand the functioning of a market as it is today to imagine its transformation once the solution is integrated. Rather than designing the market statically, the leaders of technology companies must acquire an evolving vision of it and surround themselves with specialized partners. Indeed, the market before and after the adoption of their solution will no longer be the same, and it is up to them to build it.

Technological marketing: how?

The basic principle is to make it easier for the customer to use the product or service. It is not up to him to wonder about how he can use it and perfect himself due to it. Rather, it is up to the technology company to provide it with all the elements so that this appropriation is done with minimum effort. By doing so, it maximizes its chances of selling her product and promotes customer satisfaction.

By providing a solution that will disrupt uses, technology companies should not be afraid to disrupt the market. Whether using distribution channels or a different offer format than what is usually done. The key is to rely on field knowledge of the market by conducting in-depth marketing studies. For example, the technology company could discover an absolutely essential prescriber or even realize that integration into such software is non-condition for its client. It thus avoids wasting time and transforming its technological success into commercial failure.

Regarding the "market education" part, the technology company will have to use pedagogy through intelligent communication tools such as case studies, white papers, articles, or even testimonials. The content of these documents must be factual and objective. It is not enough to claim to be the best performers or to boast about the number of features of its solution. The goal here is to bring the solution into the uses of your target by concrete examples.

Business Has Only Two Functions: Marketing and Innovation

On the one hand, new technologies need to be examined to determine whether existing solutions to problems can be solved cheaper, better quality, more comprehensively, or otherwise more attractive with new technologies. Secondly, there is the possibility that so far, there is a lack of offered on the market solutions to problems with no needs, but rather customer problems using the new technology can be solved. " 

Which strategy is the right one for innovative products? Which target group is there? Which resources can and must I use specifically? What is the advantage of the target group through innovation? These and many other questions have to be considered by companies in technology marketing. Many companies in Europe base their competitive advantage on superior technologies. For example, Audi has the slogan "Advancement through Technology."

However, technology alone is almost unsalable in the B2B area. Good results can only be achieved for technologically driven companies with intelligent market research, a well-thought-out strategy, and modern marketing activities. For European companies, there are numerous challenges in ​​technology marketing, such as Production 4.0, the Internet of Things (IoT), new digital marketing technologies, the energy transition, electromobility, etc., to name just a few. For many markets, new technologies can achieve better results or create completely new opportunities. Many developments are technology-driven, i.e., new technologies are available on the market, such as mobile computing, and disruptively change markets. These technologies make it possible, for example, to make cashless payments via mobile phones. Other developments, such as new legal regulations or changes in the climate, need new technological problem solutions. Marketing methods are used to identify and address markets in the technology marketing specialization.

Author: Vicki Lezama