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The Motivated Marketing Letter |
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May
27, 2003 Infomercial Bondage: Stuck Inside of Kansas with the Saggy Butt Blues Again |
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I'm in a hotel room in Overland Park, Kansas, strapped to the bed, writhing and struggling, unable to move. The TV is showing infomercials: the Magic Sleeper bed cover, the Steam Shark home cleaning system, and Winsor Pilates exercises videos. My open wallet lies just out of reach. The phone, likewise. Finally, it's over. I push the clicker's Off button with my teeth, and the straps release. I've done my homework without buying $400 worth of useless junk. Now I can report my findings to you.
What does this have to do with your business? For my money, infomercials are the most advanced marketing texts of our time. I'll bet you have someone in your life with a closet full of infomercial gadgets - exercise equipment, cool tools, kitchen gadgets. Maybe they're mildly ashamed of their helplessness in the face of "but wait, there's more" and "if you order in the next 18 minutes, you also get..." and the earnest stories of people just like them whose lives were changed forever by the item that you can get "for just three easy payments of $19.95, if you act now." Maybe you're a little ashamed for them. How can such an otherwise rational and sensible person be such a sucker after 11 pm? Maybe you're that person! Infomercials work by pushing every button of human psychology. It's crucial to understand these buttons, whether we want to push them in our prospects or resist salespeople who try to push ours. The best book on the subject, Robert Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, is absolutely required reading for every human being on this planet. If you don't understand the six simple yet profound principles Cialdini has identified, you're a helpless consumer and a toothless marketer. And you'll end up with a closet full of electric carrot peelers and recumbent treadmills. Because you have to get and study the book, I'm not going to give you all six principles here. I don't want you thinking you can avoid this homework assignment. (By the way, if you buy it from amazon via the above link, I donate my affiliate commissions to The Miracle League, a non-profit that builds handicapped-accessible parks and sports fields, and sets up programs that buddies mainstream kids with kids who are institutionalized or homebound because of physical limitations. I got hooked on this organization after watching their infomercial, which shows that these principles can be used for good or ill.) Instead, I'm going to give you two principles (one this issue and one some time in the future) and talk about how they were used in the Windsor Pilates video that so tested my willpower in Kansas. Principle #1: Social Proof Summary: If lots of people are doing something, there must be a good reason. As in, 80 million Frenchmen can't be wrong. Of course, this thinking is utter nonsense. The history of the 20th century should make it clear that lots of people can all be horribly wrong together, racing to punish the innocent or buy bad ideas or chase phantoms instead of real problems. Yet one of the most powerful instruments of persuasion is to show your prospect how lots of other people have already made the decision you're asking them to make. Why it's hardwired: As shortcuts for thinking go, it's a pretty good one. I don't have time to evaluate every decision I must make every day. If I'm waiting at New York Penn Station for the Northeast Corridor train to Princeton Junction and I see a wave of commuters surge toward gate 11 west, I follow the crowd. Chances are, they're going to lead me to the train, and if I elbow enough people out of the way, I might get a seat. Because social proof is hardwired into us (like the other five principles), it can be powerfully engaged by persuaders who understand its power and its triggers. Examples:
Morals of the Story: Very few of your prospects want to be trailblazers or guinea pigs. We've all been burned too many times to trust our own opinions. You must convince your market that your product is proven safe and effective. The quickest way to do this is to engage social proof - that many other people whose opinions matter to them already use your product and endorse it. As a consumer, become aware of when and how social proof is used to make you buy. Ask yourself if the argument is persuasive based on its merits, or if it's simply trying to engage your fear of being "left out." Like all psychological principles, social proof can be used ethically and can be misused. I've gotta go. I've been typing too long - I think my butt just sagged. Now where is that phone number?
We seem to assume that if a lot of people are
doing the same thing, they must know something we don't. Especially when we
are uncertain, we are willing to place an enormous amount of trust in the
collective knowledge of the crowd.
We see the people. We see them marching down.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I...
The conventional view serves to protect us
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1. First, watch some infomercials. Jot down notes on all the ways social proof is used to make you feel OK about ordering.
2. Think back to the objections you hear about your product or service. Which ones are really social proof concerns in disguise?
3. What social proof can you offer your prospects? Years in business? Client lists? Examples of your work? Testimonials? If you haven't been collecting these things systematically, realize that they're the most powerful parts of your marketing arsenal. You won't find a higher paying use of your time than fortifying your social proof.
If you're just starting out and don't have a proven track record or lots of testimonials, you have to be more creative. Promote the general category. Create a "users group" with big discounts in exchange for feedback (and hopefully praise). Give a bold guarantee huge enough to overcome the lack of social proof. 1.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.
Really, get this book. Go to the library, read it over an overpriced brownie
at Barnes & Noble, or buy it
here from amazon. Aside from being required
reading in this age of consumerism, it's also really interesting and a fun
read. Everyone's reading it! How can you tell what will "prove" anything to your market? You've got to know what makes them tick, who they look up to, and how they see themselves. Otherwise, you're in danger of piling on tons of irrelevant proof and alienating your prospects. Here's an example from American Demographics magazine: "When Gerber first started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as here in the USA - with the cute baby on the label. Later they found out that in Africa companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's inside since most people can't read." Don't sell pureed babies to your prospects out of ignorance. Check out Leads into Gold: Click here to download 2 Free Chapters of Leads into Gold. The Motivated Marketing Letter Details The Motivated Marketing Letter is published whenever I feel like it (these days it seems to be coming out twice a month), and is a copyrighted feature of howieconnect. For down-to-earth, ethical, and easy-to-follow marketing guidance, visit www.howieconnect.com. I work with businesses and solo practitioners who are great at what they do, and not so great at telling the world about it. What would you like to read about in future issues of the Motivated Marketing Letter? Email me topics and questions, and save me the trouble of guessing. To unsubscribe with no hard feelings, click on the link at the bottom of this email. If you would like to subscribe to the Motivated Marketing Letter, fill out the form on my home page, www.howieconnect.com. You'll get my seven-part lead generation course, and then about two letters a month. I build my business through referral - I'd be grateful if you would forward this email to any associates who would be glad to receive it. Thanks.
There was a power outage at a department store
yesterday. Twenty people were trapped on the escalators.
Every society honors its live conformists and
its dead troublemakers.
As a matter of principle, I never attend the
first annual anything.
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Until next time, all the best, |
The Leads into Gold™ System. A marketing course, toolkit, swipe file and audio crash course & "personal trainer" to help you attract more business than you can handle with no cold calling. Learn how to generate qualified leads who want what you sell. Get them to call you. Click here to download 2 Free Chapters! I'll "bribe" you to tell a friend about howieconnect Social Proof for Leads into Gold: I've been getting feedback from buyers of Leads into Gold (some of my favorite mail!) In the spirit of social proof, I'm going to share some with you. Wayne Schultz recently sent me the following unsolicited email: "Someone just called me for a reference on Leads into Gold and I've given you a rave review. "I think it's been about 2 months since I started implementing your ideas and about 1 full month of 'really trying.' So far in that month I'm on track to add 60 prospects. That's in 1 month! And the cool thing is that all of these people asked me for information. No cold calling!" Wayne
Schulz, Go Wayne! And I'm going to indulge myself and repeat the praise for the May 7 Lead Generation teleseminar: Thank you for your recent telephone
seminar. It made me re-think my current marketing and lead generation
system. The telephone seminar was not what I expected, like promotion of
your other materials, sales pitches and the like. I received real world
advise and discussed real world examples. I came away with a better vision
of a marketing campaign that stands apart from my competition. Howie's
teleseminars are just how I like them: jargon-free, hands-on, to-the-point
and filled with useful information. We had the idea that we were going to
target a new market but, didn't have any idea how we were going to go about
it. Not only did we not have an action plan, we didn't even know where to
start. At the end of Howie's teleseminar, we had determined a title for a
free report we are going to give to our target market, the ideal means to
reach the targets, the correct "pain-statement" verbiage to use in the
materials and a possible joint venture. All from one call. Now, that's
what I call getting mileage out of a call. I'm planning another teleseminar for late June - probably on painless ways of creating lead generation magnets (if you're not sure what this is, download and read the 2 free chapters of Leads into Gold). I'll keep you posted on details. Anyone who wants to sign up to be a guinea pig and get some free consulting, before, during, and after the call, reply to this email and let me know. |
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