Dan’s Wall of the Insanely Useful

I’m fascinated with how the mindset of a customer works. Obviously if you’re selling something you have to answer the above question effectively to get the sale. A lot of this I guess is Business 101 stuff, but for me I think the number one key to selling is knowing about why a person will choose one offer over another. It’s good to keep the AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) of marketing in mind, but what what factors play into this equation? Here were the ideas I came up with:

1. I offer something you can’t get anywhere else, uniquely sold by me. (Real, unique value wins. Imitators and competition obviously cut into your profits and force you to keep changing/improving the value offered, but if you’re value is unique you can slow this process. Make something very few can copy, with patents backing it up. Information can also be unique/exclusive, or simply packaged/collected better then other collections of information.)
2. The offer is located at a time and location where you need it. (If a customer has a problem bad enough that they need the fix/cure for NOW, they will spend less time looking for solutions. So if you are right there, they buy from you. Note this factor can override brand or unique value, because the customer may not spend much time looking at alternatives- just the first fix that pops up on their radar.)
3. I offer a unique offer or combination which increases the value of the individual products in the package. (Ok, so no one product is unique. But the TOTAL value of all the products included IS unique. I.E. this is not a unique product, but a unique offer.)
4. This unique offer will disappear/change soon. This information will become outdated so get in now. (Classic tactic to induce fear and promote compulsive or impulse buying.)
5. You know me and trust my brand. (If people know you and trust you because you’ve had great past products or because you’ve been around a long time and managed your reputation well, you’ll get more sales over lesser known, untrusted people. Knowing you means they see you on their radar often, i.e. advertising in multiple media, repeatedly, over a long period of time. Established businesses with longevity. However, longevity isn’t a substitute for value- just that brand factors into the quality people see in a product.)
6. You know me, Pt. 2. (It’s much easier to sell to someone who knows and trusts you because  they bought from you already and had a good experience, or because you are affiliated/partnered up with someone else that they have had a good experience, know, and trust. If you don’t have the reputation, “borrow” off of someone else’s reputation by promoting their stuff. As you do, collect the names of people who bought or were interested. Then focus on selling to these existing customers by continually making future offers- serving their continued needs/desires/questions with future products and/or product upgrades/changes.)
7. The product compares favorably to other products “close” to it. (There is only so much time that and effort a person will put into any given buying decision. If a person cannot find a “better” offer, physically located “around” your offer, within a reasonable amount of time, then your offer gets chosen. That means where your offer is located in relationship to other offers is paramount. Also includes positioning within your own product line.)
8. It takes less effort to buy my product then others. (The easier it is for a product to be understood, bought and acquired, when and how the customer wants it, the better. If it takes too much time or effort to buy, other offers get chosen instead. Everything must be brain-dead simple to do, because any snags in the process give the person a chance to bail on the offer.)
9. Other people are talking about it- especially people I care about, such as friends, collegues or famous people. (This demonstrates how social pressure can invoke a buying decision, even over and above what the individual actually wants. If friends have it, we want it. If famous people want it, then people assume that because they’re famous they make good decisions and therefore the product is good.)
10. There is little risk in trying it out. (Free stuff, or products offered with a long trial return policies, are a good way to get people to try out something even if they’re not too sure about it yet. Many times if it’s good, people won’t return it or if the like the free stuff you can continue with future offers.)
11. I wasn’t looking to fix anything, but I had to stop and check this out because it fascinated me. (There IS an underlying want in there, but sometimes the power of the headline or first introduction/presentation is enough to induce desire in a product where there was no initial desire. The most important step is getting the person’s attention- often through a threat or pain of some kind. So controversy, shocking, revolting, devistation, etc copy gets noticed the best.)
12. I can and want to be like the person I see in this ad. (Advertising is a story, and you are looking to have them put themselves in there with the actors- see the same problems, and then see how are happier/more successful/etc your solution.)
13. Invoke universal topics that sell. (Vanity, Wealth, Sex/Relationships, Immortality, Superiority over others, etc. Everyone has a “hot button” that gets their emotions going. Push the right button and your message gets heard.)