How To Name Your Next Product (So It Sells Itself)

There’s no one “right” way to name a product, but there are a lot of ways to choose a name that will make potential buyers more likely to buy from you.

Before you name your next product, consider the angle you want to take with your name and how that can influence your potential buyer’s critical first impression of your product. (You have more influence than you think!)

With a consciously chosen angle, you can spark interest, capture attention and trigger desire for your product even before a person knows what it is – because your product name instantly makes them want to know more about what it is.

When you can pull that off, you’ve started the pre-selling process, and the chances of that potential customer saying “yes” to a purchase shoots up significantly.

So? How do you create that critical first impression?

Here’s a selection of market-proven angles that you can choose from.

1. The “Benefit-Driven” Name

Benefit-driven names hammer home the primary selling point of the product itself – and this works best when that benefit is a high-value one for the customer.

A certain amount of pre-selling takes place when the customer sees the name and immediately wants that benefit, usually because it addresses a struggle they’ve had with the topic itself.

Examples:

2. The “Direct Outcome” Name

With a direct outcome name, you’re putting the focus on exactly what the customer can expect from using your product. (Use your product, get this result – bam, we’re done.)

The more valuable your outcome is to the customer, the more the customer will respond to the product name before they even know what it is. With this name, you’re essentially saying “This is what you’ll get.”

3. The “Customer-Driven” Name

Customer-driven names work best when the customer identifies with being a certain kind of customer. When choosing this kind of product name, you’re targeting a specific segment of the market, rather than the entire market itself.

By using this kind of title, you’ll exclude people who don’t identify with being part of that segment, but you’ll more effectively attract the people who do – which is especially true in an underserved market. Specificity sells.

Examples:

The Beginner’s Guide To White Water Rafting
Urban Gardening for Dummies
Networking for Introverts

4. The “Branded” Name

With a branded name, you’re using your brand’s recognition as a way to implicitly transfer value to your product. By adding your brand’s name into the mix, you’re communicating that there’s something special about the product that comes from your brand’s values, or what people expect from your brand, simply because you’re going out of your way to give it “official” status.

You can even use this if your brand doesn’t have recognition yet – the simple act of including the name of your company (or your own name) can lend some weight, again by virtue of sounding more official. There’s just some extra gravity in it that makes people think you’re including the name for a reason.

The IttyBiz Freebie Vault
Apple Watch

5. The “Catchy / Over The Top” Name

These names work well when either a) you have a warm audience who likes you and thinks the name is kind of fun, or b) your audience kind of digs superlatives. Here, you can play around a little and let your hair down.

Ideally, you want the catchy part to not require explanation. Your potential customer should be able to get a sense of what the catchy part of the name evokes, without

6. The “How To” Name

This one is a simple, straightforward naming convention that lends itself very well to gateway products (the single-outcome products described in Product In A Weekend). They’re fantastic for book or ebook titles as well.

They can be particularly effective when the outcome in question is one that feels complicated or requires research – the “How To” title communicates that everything you need to know is inside. (This is a big reason that “how to” videos and blog posts get such a high click rate, and books with those titles enjoy strong, consistent sales.)

Examples:

How To Train For A Marathon In 12 Weeks
How To Draw Manga Like A Pro
How To End Relationship Fights Forever

7. The “Big Claim” Name

This kind of title uses a superlative word or some kind of quantity to communicate “bigness” or totality on some level. You’re either making a promise of what’s inside, or you’re saying that your product is the best on the market in some particular way.

This one can be difficult to pull off if you can’t back it up, so save it for the products that truly embody that element. But if you can show what makes your product impressive, noteworthy, or superior? Don’t be afraid to flaunt what you’ve got.

Examples:

The Ultimate Digital Marketing Template Pack
The SQL Programming Bible
The Perfect Body Workout Plan

A great product name can send conversion through the roof.

When you craft a high-value name for your product, you create an effect similar to what happens when your favorite author or musician releases something new – you’re already getting ready to buy.

With your favorite entertainers, you’re leaning towards auto-buy because you’re already familiar with having a great experience with what they create.

With a thoughtfully crafted product name, you connect with the kind of experience and outcome that they customer wants, even if they couldn’t consciously put it into words. They see your product name and instantly think, “THAT sounds like something I want.”

Then when they look at the details of your offer, they’re already halfway to buying, because your product name started doing the sales job for you.