Don't try to sell what people need - sell them what they WANT !
I watched a really interesting video from another digital marketer recently and it reminded me of a very important concept that we need to remember if we are ever hoping to make money from our online businesses.
It's equally important for affiliate marketing as it is for people who are selling their own products online.
You see, all to often we try to sell products that we think other people need. In many cases you are probably right and it is a product that many people do need and would probably find very useful.
The problem is - People Don't Buy Things They Need!
Let me illustrate this with an example:
Let's say you are in the "small business start-up" niche and you have either created or decided to promote as an affiliate a digital product called "Book Keeping For Small Businesses"
This is a quality course which will genuinely help small business owners
The mistake most people make is to tell their potential customer all about the course and all about the author.
e.g.: Book Keeping For Small Businesses is a comprehensive course written by John Smith who graduated from Harvard Business school and has worked for 25 years in Wall St for various banking and business giants.
The course comes with 10 workbooks and 12 one hour DVDs which will teach you how to master all aspects of book keeping in your business.
Guess what: NOBODY CARES!
These are all features of the product - and people generally don't buy things based on features.
You need to drill down into what the product will do for your customer - i.e. you need to identify BENEFITS instead.
What does your potential customer WANT from the product?
Let's think about it for this product. Now this is not my niche and I don't have any expertise here whatsoever. However, I think It's reasonable to think that a small business start up would be more likely to buy if you talked in terms of:
Book Keeping For Small Business will show you how to complete your tax returns in four hours or less without having to spend thousands of dollars on hiring an accountant or invest in complicated book keeping software.
Think Benefits of you Product - Not Features
Next time you are promoting a product take time to think about what the benefits of the product are for your customer.
- How is it going to help them to achieve a goal they might have?
- What problems is it going to solve?
- How will their life be better after buying it?
This is what people WANT - so tell them all about it.
Sell people what they want and then give them what they need.
Recent Comments
62
In selling anything it is about benefits. The other will be found out later. Sometimes I see ads that are so long I leave due to the length. I feel if a customer wants to know more they will ask. when every last thing is divulged then what is left? The seller thinks conversion, but the buyer will generally not think this.
Focus on benefits and everything else takes care of itself.
Thanks for the interesting comment
Hi!
You got absolutely correct and Features/Benefits is fundamental in the professional world of SELLING! All salespeople are trained on this from day one.
Unfortunately, a lot of posts I read show mostly features not benefits or if they do show benefits - it's done in a so wacky manner!
We should not only "sell" people what they want but know HOW TO WRITE ABOUT IT! Most people don't. Their sales copywriting is very poor.
Thank you!
BlueJ
HI BlueJ. I totally agree that learning how to write good copy which emphasises the benefits of something is probably the most important skill we can learn
See more comments
Hi Dave
Well written, thank you!
When I was doing training for our sales team, I always told them to "sell the sizzle, not the steak". Who cares that it is a 300 or a 500 g matured steak? No, it is about the delicious taste, the friendships, the cozy atmosphere, the fun...
Thanks for the timely reminder... ;-)
Wishing you all of the very best, Dave!
Sharlee (Chocolate IceCream)
Hi Sharlee. Ah yes - I can smell that steak already 😀
Your point sums it up perfectly about selling the benefits of a product. Thanks for that 🙂