210: Using Ad Funnels for D2C Product Sales

MAKO Design + Invent Links:

Kevin Mako Links:

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

What are the frameworks for bringing new hardware to market?
Positioning is how your product is differentiated in the market.
Placement is key! Put time into researching where your audience is spending their time online.
Have a good understanding of what your audience cares about.
A focused acquisition funnel is always best!
Strive to achieve a customer journey that persuades someone to buy something.
What are the three critical aspects of delivery for ads?
Content is about your core pillars; build content that aligns with them to effectively sell the value of your product.
Once you have content developed, get it out there fast!
Paid ads versus organic ads.
The barrier to entry on sales has been lower than ever recently, making it easy to get in front of eyeballs.
A key step is to ensure that when someone clicks on your content, you have a product landing page that promotes the product's value.
Keep your advertising simple, as if you’re talking to a friend about their problem and your solution.
Keep your ads simple at the beginning, and then begin to test more complex pieces of content.
Test 3 or 4 different types of ads every week or two.
It is better to have more information on your website to ensure your page tells a whole story.
Startups have a sizeable competitive advantage over big box retailers, as they have authenticity behind their product!

Taylor Frame Links:

LinkedIn | Focus Funnels

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

MAKO Design + Invent Links:

Kevin Mako Links:

Previous Episode

209: Materials Research for Consumer Product Design

Ori Yudilevich is the CTO of Materials Zone, a materials information platform for hardware product development. He has a Ph.D. in Mathematics in the field of differential geometry and served as a Lecturer in the realm of higher education for over 15 years before transitioning into the industry. Today, Ori will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on why materials research is so important to the hardware product design process, burgeoning trends in materials science, and how to ensure you select the right materials to streamline manufacturing and maximize the efficacy of product marketing.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

Materials are in everything!
The product development process for all products requires a lot of research into materials.
Materials research is core to achieving progress with your invention idea.
Materials selection is an integral component of hardware development and is often overlooked by non-designers.
Materials selection is much like selecting ingredients when cooking. You can cut corners to minimize cost, but it will ultimately be noticeable to the consumers!
How to choose materials that best align with your product's purpose and the process of making those materials.
Materials are evolving, so it is important to remain up-to-date on the best materials available today.
Sustainable materials selection is a big trend right now!
Your customers are looking at what your product is made of, so carefully thought-out materials selection will boost its success beyond the manufacturing process.
The supply chain is a critical consideration, so it is best to choose materials that have supply flexibility.
Researching materials regulations according to your location is key, as certain rules need to be adhered to depending on the country you are selling in.
Think of materials selection from a manufacturing perspective and a product sales (customer) perspective.

Ori Yudilevich Links:

LinkedIn | Materials Zone

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

Mako Design Links:

Kevin Mako Links:

Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addit...

Next Episode

211: Establishing Product Manufacturing Operations

Nikhil Joshi is the founder of SNic Solutions, a company he has run for 17 years helping scale product manufacturing operations. He has worked with almost 150 factories across 12 countries. Today Nikhil will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on how manufacturing has changed, the opportunities that exist, and how to ensure you properly plan for complex manufacturing as a hardware startup.

Here are the key takeaways from the episode:

The manufacturing process is drastically different now than it was even 30 years ago.
Modern consumers seek custom-tailored products that are designed very specifically for them.
The goal is to try to produce a smaller variety of items in the manufacturing process, but it is integral to be more efficient in order to accomplish this.
Try not to customize and scale at the same time unless you can adopt a business model that can support that level of customization.
Talk directly to your end customers, even if you are selling through middle players!
Be agile and flexible, and give the end customer what they want, but at a good price.
Agility, speed, and efficiency are key! Smaller companies will often push these demands to contract manufacturing.
Go from working in silos to developing your own web of information and technology - from ideation through to industrial product design - then begin manufacturing, and then place your focus back on the customer.
You can reduce the time it takes to get to the manufacturing stage when you start considering manufacturing at the design level.
Spearheading comprehensive design, then engineering, then manufacturing is the most logical progression!

Nikhil Joshi Links:

LinkedIn | SNic Solutions

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

MAKO Design + Invent Links:

Kevin Mako Links: