If you are in the business of making sales (as most
online marketers are, in one form or another) then you
know that it is a basic tenet that you must appeal to
one of people's basic NEEDS if they are going to
purchase your product or service.
So what are those basic needs, anyway?
Well, the most obvious needs are for shelter, food and
warmth. But there's a different kind of 'warmth' that
many people need, too, and that's where you come in.
People need to feel needed, or they need to have comforts,
or they need to have their problems solved, or they need
to BELONG - these are all needs for a different kind of
'warmth' that we can appeal to in our sales campaigns,
in our advertising materials, and on our websites.
The bottom line is that potential customers are only
interested in what your product or service can do for
them - what NEED your offering will fill. Period. So you
can try to convince them that your widget is prettier
than someone else's widget, or faster, or whatever...
but only if that can be shown to benefit them.
I'm not talking about features, here. There's a big
difference between 'features' and 'benefits'. A better
mousetrap might have the 'feature' of a more reliable
spring-loaded mechanism - but that makes it a better
mousetrap because it has the 'benefit' of being able
to get rid of more mice! See the difference?
We've all heard the phrase 'to keep up with the Joneses.'
Ad agencies have long used our need to belong, to fit in,
to be a 'part of' rather than apart from, to sell us on
various products or services. You can take advantage of
this human drive to sell your offering, too.
The important thing, then, is to make a point of addressing
the benefits right up front. On the front page of your
website, or in big letters on your ad copy, make sure you
tell the reader 'what's in it for them' if they purchase
your product or service. Which basic human need will it
meet? Figure that out first, and the whole rest of your
marketing campaign will come so much easier to you.
If you can discover what 'problem' your product or service
is the answer to, then you're on your way to success. Will
your product make your customers sexier, allow them more
leisure time, make them lots of money..? Will it give them
one of the many kinds of 'warmth' that we all crave?
Make sure you say so, loud and clear, and prospective
customers will be sure to hear you!
About the Author
David MacLeod owns a home-based business and is
continually looking for ways to BENEFIT his clients. You
can see at http://www.mystreamline.com/'ref119000885