For those of you that have a great product or service, here's a humbling realization: that's not enough. Without a marketing strategy, the quality of your product or service may never be recognized. This is not an article about catchy tag lines and beautiful design. It's about understanding your customers’ needs BEFORE you start marketing. Great marketing starts with understanding the itch that you are trying to scratch—the problem you are trying to solve.

Before even thinking about branding, what you want to say on Twitter, or what your banners might look like, you must start with an analysis of your customers and their needs.

A "needs analysis" is a process used by marketing firms and agencies, product design firms and other companies across industries to help define the tasks and goals of any particular product or service.

Here are a few insights to consider:

1. Understand what keeps your customers up at night

Get into the minds of your customers. What are they struggling with? How might you be able to help? The best companies have developed an authentic sense of empathy for their customers and the problems they face. Just a small amount of anecdotal research or a quick survey powered by free online services like SurveyMonkey or Google Docs can provide invaluable insight into what your customers are thinking about. For anyone in a service-based business (and most product businesses as well), your ultimate goal is to alleviate your customers’ anxieties.

2. Start with basic needs

Rather than get complex about needs, start with the basics. Maslow's “Hierarchy of Needs” is the breakthrough theory in psychology brought forth by psychologist Abraham Maslow in his now legendary 1943 paper called "A Theory of Human Motivation." Maslow suggests that the primary (and most impulsive) needs are physiological—like breathing, food, water, sleep—and, above that, comes safety, then love and a sense of belonging, then self-esteem, and finally "self-actualization." His point is that our concerns are greatest for our most basic needs. For this reason, it is best to appeal to primal needs first.

As you conduct your needs analysis, focus on the simplest and most basic ones. For example, if your product is both food and social, the argument would be that the benefits of fulfilling hunger will always trump those of love and belonging. Your customers will share all sorts of needs they have that may relate to your product or service. It is your job to sort through these needs and identify one or two that you will focus on most in your marketing efforts.

3. Don't solve every need at once

Companies get into trouble when they try to focus on every need at once. A great marketing campaign is anchored by one specific need they are trying to address. When Apple advertises its products, the company uses various marketing campaigns to tout specific features or functions. Rumor has it that Apple even releases the first generation with fewer features on purpose (ahem, no forward-facing camera on the iPad), to preserve a new anchor for the next round of marketing. As you craft your message, focus on a central, basic need that your customers will relate to.

A successful marketing campaign requires that you market the right things to the right people. Conducting a "needs analysis" is the best way to ensure a direct and productive marketing campaign.

Courtesy: Open Forum