How to Market and Sell Unsought Products

Marketing an unsought product often involves aggressive and strategic marketing techniques. To effectively market your unsought product, you must understand what it is. It’s also helpful to know how it compares to other types of consumer goods and the key areas to focus on to sell your goods or services best. Discover what unsought products are and how to market them to your intended audience.

What are unsought products?

Unsought products are items or services that don’t typically appear on everyday shopping lists. They fall into three main categories:

• Items you may not immediately need: These are purchases you may not use immediately. They are good to have if you need them, such as a smoke detector.

• Those you would rather avoid: Life insurance is a fine example of something that’s deemed essential yet not always desired.

• Products you’re not aware of as yet: These are new items that are still unfamiliar to consumers, such as a new type of technology.

Unlike regular purchases you might actively seek out—such as groceries or clothes—unsought products rarely appear on routine wish lists, and people tend not to buy them until they need to—such as gravesites or engagement rings.

Read more: What Is Product Management? Process, Tools + Requirements

Categories of consumer products

Marketers tend to categorize consumer products into four main types: convenience products, specialty products, shopping products, and unsought products.

Convenience products

Convenience products are items bought frequently, usually without much thought, because they meet everyday needs. Examples of convenience products include bread, milk, and shampoo. 

These products often have a low price and are easily available. Marketers distribute them intensely, making them widely accessible and affordable. Since these products satisfy routine requirements, customers often willingly accept replacements and don’t put much effort into comparing brands. These purchases can even include impulse purchases, such as picking up a candy bar while grocery shopping.

Specialty products

Specialty products are unique items consumers seek out because of their distinctive characteristics or brand reputation. A Tesla car is an example of a specialty product. Boasting high-tech features and eco-friendly designs, you can find these cars only through dedicated Tesla dealerships. 

Specialty products often possess unique features and carry a higher price point. This reflects the perceived value that prompts customers to spend more time deciding whether to make such a purchase. 

People who buy these items often strongly prefer a particular brand, seek them out at specific outlets, and are willing to pay more for what they see as added value. Marketing strategies for specialty products often include reminder advertising to strengthen the brand’s exclusive appeal.

Shopping products

Shopping products fall somewhere between convenience and specialty products. Customers purchase them less frequently and often compare them with similar products for quality, price, and style. Unlike those who buy convenience goods, consumers of shopping products are not typically brand loyal, preferring to make decisions based on attributes or price comparisons. 

While at a medium price point, these goods typically outlast convenience goods and require more thoughtful consideration. Shopping products include laptops, bicycles, furniture, and kitchen appliances. Understandably, the buyer will tend to invest more time comparing various options to ensure the best choice.

Unsought products

Unsought products are items or services you don’t usually consider buying until a specific need arises. Consumers rarely give these products a second thought, leaving them largely unknown until specific needs arise. 

To market these products, advertisers usually make more aggressive efforts to raise awareness and persuade potential customers of their value. For instance; you might not consider purchasing emergency roadside assistance until your car breaks down. Only then is it considered essential.

Read more: What Is Product Marketing? (Skills, Jobs, Career Paths)

Common indicators of an unsought product

An unsought product doesn’t quite fit into the typical consumer goods categories. You can identify an unsought product based on the following components:

• Unknown or unsearched: This could be due to a lack of awareness or understanding of the product’s existence or purpose. An example might be a novel tech gadget that just hit the market.

• Variable pricing: These products don’t have a consistent price point. The cost can range from low to high, depending on the product or service.

• Muted market perception: Unlike products with high visibility and consumer recognition, unsought products often have a quiet market presence.

• Lack of immediate benefit: Unsought products may not give the purchaser a direct or immediate advantage. For instance, life insurance offers no immediate tangible benefits, which is often essential for future financial security.

• No desire or negative connotation: Consumers may lack motivation to buy these products. They could be items associated with unpleasant situations, like pre-paid funeral services.

• New and unfamiliar products: An unsought product could be a novel offering that consumers are yet to discover.

Examples of unsought products

A few additional examples of unsought products include:

• Emergency services: Services like roadside assistance or emergency plumbing are not typically on a consumer’s mind—until an urgent need arises.

• Safety equipment: Products such as fire extinguishers, car safety seats, and earthquake survival kits are typical unsought products. Although essential, people generally do not consider them unless confronted with an immediate demand or a safety concern.

• Legal services: Services like hiring a defense lawyer or drafting a will aren’t usually at the top of many people's minds. They do, however, become necessary under specific circumstances.

• Novel technologies: New tech devices, like virtual reality headsets or drone cameras, may initially be unsought due to unfamiliarity. That said, they can transition into sought-after products with the right marketing and consumer education.

How do brands sell unsought products?

Selling unsought products often requires targeted and assertive marketing campaigns to reach potential consumers. Compelling advertisements, impactful personal selling, and a well-trained sales team are key to success.

The overriding goal of selling unsought products is to turn them into desirable items. Many products that have come on the market as unsought products) have become sought-after products through skilled marketing campaigns. 

5 Areas to market unsought products 

Below are some areas you could focus on when marketing unsought products.

1. Increase awareness.

To successfully market an unsought product, the public must know it. Increasing awareness involves highlighting the product’s existence, its uses, benefits, and how it meets consumer needs. The aim is to demonstrate the product's value proposition and potential to offer customers lasting benefits. Focusing on how a product solves problems and improves user experience can create a compelling need for potential consumers.

You can consider several avenues when bringing attention to your product or service within the community. For instance, you could create videos online through online platforms such as TikTok or YouTube. Additionally, you could post outdoor advertisements and build unique, organic social media awareness to draw more attention to your unsought products.

2. Utilize personal selling.

Personal selling via trade shows can generate initial interest and demand, making it one of the more effective methods for selling unsought products. It’s a way to introduce the product or service to a targeted group of consumers, explain its features, and address any questions as they arise. 

In-person interactions can often foster a more personalized connection, increasing the likelihood of the product being purchased.

3. Emphasize benefits.

Showcasing how the product works can help eradicate any doubts consumers might have. You can facilitate demonstrations through videos or in-person consultations, providing a tangible experience of the product’s benefits. This hands-on approach makes the product more relatable and comprehensible to consumers.

4. Deploy preneed sales.

Since consumers often don’t consider unsought products until a specific need arises, one way to sell such items is to anticipate future requirements and convey the benefits of early planning. Take the funeral industry, for example. Preneed sales would involve educating potential customers about the emotional and financial advantages of planning, such as peace of mind for family members and cost savings. This strategy may also help your organization be the “first in mind” for consumers should they need your service later.

5. Using online marketing and social selling.

Search engine advertising (SEA) and search engine optimization (SEO) enhance the online visibility of unsought products. SEA uses cost-effective pay-per-click ads, which only charge when clicked. This can quickly raise product awareness. Meanwhile, SEO utilizes keywords and meta tags to rank higher in search results, which is useful for products with lower search volumes.

Social selling is another important strategy. Encouraging referrals and positive reviews from friends and family can enhance your company's image through word-of-mouth. Moreover, you can ask people to post reviews online in exchange for free products or services. 

When choosing where to advertise your business online, consider targeted marketing campaigns directed at potential customers based on location, search history, or social media use. For instance, pay-per-click ads might focus on a typically balmy location for air conditioners or target areas with a large number of schools for child backpacks. Together, these strategies promote visibility and align your marketing efforts with the specific needs and interests of consumers.

Choose a strategy

You can choose several strategies to market to consumers. Companies might try to pre-sell certain items, such as insurance. Alternatively, they might consider creating enough brand awareness so that their brand is at the forefront of their minds when the need arises (e.g., for legal assistance).

Companies might choose personal or direct selling for their marketing efforts regardless of the intended buy time. This type of interaction allows sellers to respond to consumer questions or doubts and helps consumers build a brand preference for goods or services. 

Depending on your target market and type of brand recognition, you might choose additional selling tactics such as trade shows, outdoor marketing (billboards), or online video tutorials to build recognition.

Getting started with Coursera

Unsought products are goods/services consumers don’t typically seek to buy unless they have an immediate need. As such, try to be creative in your marketing strategies. This will promote your products in a way that prompts purchases due to the recognition of value to the customer. 

Continue exploring the world of marketing with exciting courses on Coursera. Try Marketing Analytics With Meta for a beginner-friendly course, or expand your knowledge with the entire Meta Marketing Analytics Professional Certificate.