Mar 15, 2023RFID Journal LIVE! 2023 will feature end-user companies discussing RFID's use in various industries, as well as exhibitors offering tagging solutions for multiple applications. To learn more, visit the event's website.
- Selling Parts Instead of a Complete Solution
- Making Products Too Complicated to Use
- Marketing Products to the Wrong Companies
- Targeting the Wrong Market
- Not Budgeting for Marketing
For 20 years, I tried to connect RFID solution providers with retailers, manufacturers, healthcare providers and other companies that could benefit from using radio frequency identification (RFID) and other Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. I was often frustrated by the mistakes RFID companies were making, which prevented them from reaching the end-user companies that might buy their products. Here are the five most common mistakes I saw during my time as RFID Journal's editor.
Selling Parts Instead of a Complete Solution
Most RFID companies sell tags, readers, software or installation services. Very few offer a complete solution to a specific business problem, such as managing thousands of complex assets, keeping inventory in stock, tracking work-in-process or locating finished inventory in a huge laydown yard. I don't expect every company to be an expert in all areas of an RFID system, but RFID companies should partner with other RFID firms that can provide the missing pieces of a whole solution.
Making Products Too Complicated to Use
A few years ago, an RFID reader manufacturer sent me a small unit that was supposed to work with any Android-based smartphone. I was excited when I received it, but quickly grew frustrated trying to get it to work. The instructions provided were useless, so I called someone at the company that I knew. He spent more than an hour on the phone, walking me through the setup before I finally could read even a single tag.
I know from speaking to many people at companies interested in deploying RFID systems that this is more common than uncommon. Products should be simple to set up and use out of the box, whether it's a fixed reader designed for industrial use or a small RFID sled that connects to a smartphone. Simple demonstration applications that senior executives can test out would go a long way toward selling a solution, but I've yet to see such a thing.
Marketing Products to the Wrong Companies
RFID adoption has been growing, but the truth is, most companies globally still don't use the technology in their operations in any significant way. Many are still skeptical about how well RFID works (I can't tell you how often I am told RFID doesn't work on metal or around water, even though it can), and others believe it's too expensive. These notions are false, but it means that marketing to people not actively researching RFID solutions is a waste of time and money.
As the CEO of RFID Journal, I oversaw our marketing efforts and we did more marketing of our own products (face-to-face events, webinars, white papers, etc.) than any single RFID company did. RFID solution providers also market through RFID Journal, so during my time in charge, I saw what worked and what didn't. Marketing to lists other than our own never yielded more than one or two event registrations. And if you can't get someone to attend an RFID event to learn more, you are unlikely to get them to invest in a solution. Yet, many RFID firms continue to spend marketing dollars trying to convince people with no interest in RFID that they should invest in the technology.
Targeting the Wrong Market
To be successful, RFID companies have to target industries that are likely to invest in RFID and focus on applications that are likely to appeal to executives in those industries. Throughout the years, several companies told me they planned to focus on the construction industry. I would ask them if they were aware that the construction industry is highly fragmented, with many small and midsize companies working as subcontractors. This makes it difficult to get investment in a new technology across the industry. Also, construction invests less in IT than most other industries. These factors make selling into the construction industry harder than for other sectors.
For 20 years, I had a detailed view of which industries were adopting RFID and the applications on which they were focused. This is because I was able to see who was signing up for our free newsletters and paid subscriptions and who was attending our events (hint: construction executives weren't represented in large numbers). I could also see which articles were clicked on most often and which sessions and tracks were well attended at the RFID Journal LIVE! conferences. This knowledge is invaluable and can help to drive a successful product-development initiative and marketing program.
Not Budgeting for Marketing
In his book Escape Velocity, Geoffrey Moore wrote that a technology company should budget as much for launching a new product as for developing it. In the RFID industry, that never happens. Many companies told me over the years that they spent so much on product development that there was no money left for marketing. As a result, they were unable to build a brand in the marketplace and achieve sustainable sales.
Many executives that lead RFID initiatives have other jobs, such as running their company's manufacturing operations or supply chain. They don't have time to research RFID solution providers and don't know which exhibitors to visit when they get to an RFID event. They tend to go to the brands they already know, such as Zebra Technologies or Avery Dennison. If those firms don't have a solution for the executive's needs, they leave the event without finding one, even though there might be three or four exhibitors who have what they need.
I recently launched a consultancy, RFID Strategies, to help end-user companies deploy RFID successfully, and to help solution providers develop the products the market wants and then market them more effectively. RFID Strategies can help solution providers avoid these five mistakes and boost sales.
Mark Roberti is the founder and former editor of RFID Journal and the principal of RFID Strategies.
