If you are in the business of making sales (as ... ... are, in one form or another) then youknow that it is a basic tenet that you must appeal toone of people's basic NEEDS if they are go
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!
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/?ref=119000885
