“You don’t buy coal, you buy heat. You don’t buy circus tickets, you buy thrills. You don’t buy a paper, you buy news. You don’t buy spectacles, you buy vision.” Anonymous
People buy outcomes, not promises. You’ve likely heard “sell the sizzle, not the steak.”
But most non-professional marketers are confused by what is “sizzle” and what is steak or in other words, what are the “features” of your products and what outcomes can I expect from purchasing it?
Features are the facts about your product and services. Such as what it is made of, how it was made, how long it will last, etc. Maybe even what it does. But what does it really do for your customers?
Today smart marketers are substituting the word BENEFITS for RESULTS because people really want to know what outcome they will have from using your product or service. Will they be richer, healthier, thinner, prettier, happier, smarter…? Those are RESULTS.
Here is an example:
When you take our workshop you will walk away with a website you can maintain yourself, understand and make money with. That’s a results-driven statement. To better quantify the results you could say: In only 7 hours you will walk away with a self-sustaining website that you no longer have to wait hours, days or weeks to update AND you will double your traffic in 30 days or less! Guaranteed.
Results followed by a guarantee are very powerful sales tools. As long as you stand by your guarantee.
So next time you are trying to come up with a list of “benefits” think about what outcome your target audience will derive from using your product and services. Start making a list. Then change all your marketing collateral to reflect those RESULTS. And watch your SALES GO WAY UP (selling results results in increased sales)
After all, today is “sell the results” day!
On this date in history:
2001 – The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that gave police the power to secretly search homes, tap all of a person’s telephone conversation and track people’s use of the Internet.
2001 – The U.S. stamp “United We Stand” was dedicated.
1939 – Nylon stockings were sold to the public for the first time in Wilmington, DE.
2003 – In London, the last commercial supersonic Concorde flight landed.
For 365+ more marketing ideas and to purchase your copy of the 5th Edition of Quirky Marketing Calendar 2011 go to: http://quirkymarketingcalendar.com/buy-the-ebook/
