|
|
| |
Mailware News
We publish Mailware News
approximately 6 times per
year. In each issue you will
receive: tips for using
Mailware, announcements and
mail order industry related
articles. Don't miss an
issue!
|
|
|
FREE is No Longer the Most Powerful Word in
Advertising
by:
Brett Curry
|
For
years ad execs and marketing experts
made the claim that the word FREE
was the most powerful word in all of
advertising. I admit that it was
probably in the top 2 or 3 in terms
of power to grab attention….but, in
today’s business climate it’s lost a
lot of its appeal.
Think
about it.
When
you see something advertised as FREE
do you immediately get excited and
think, “wow something that genuinely
won’t cost me a dime,” or do you
think, “yeah right, what’s the
catch?”
I’m
guessing that your immediate
reaction and the reaction of most
people is the latter. Now that’s not
to say that the concept of FREE
doesn’t work. It’s still very
effective when used properly. Free
trials, free samples, free bonuses
etc. are still very lucrative when
handled properly and they will
probably always be successful.
However, there is one concept that
has immerged that is even more
important, more powerful, and more
effective at getting people to leap
out of their chair and say “I want
that!”
Before I tell you what the concept
is, let me share with you why FREE
has lost some of it muster.
First
of all, as consumers, we are
severely over-marketed. We don’t
have time to pay attention to the
1,000+ advertising impressions we
encounter everyday (from billboards,
radio ads, TV, signs, promotional
cups, logos on clothing, etc.). Not
only that but we’ve all fallen for
the FREE offer that really cost us
$19.95. Or we’ve read the fine print
and realized that the FREE offer was
only valid for people with one leg
who live in Vermont or something
like that.
We
aren’t stupid. You can trick us one
time, and maybe trick us two times,
but eventually we are going to be
skeptical…..
So
what is this new concept? It’s the
concept of “FOR”.
I’m
sure that created an instant, “huh?”
so let me explain.
You
want to construct your ads and
marketing pieces is such a way that
prospective clients feels like you
are talking directly to them. That
you are addressing their wants,
their needs, their frustrations and
their desires. They want to be
convinced that your product or
service is right for their unique
situation.
It’s
a strange phenomenon that almost all
of us think that our situation is
unique. Our business is different.
Our lives are different. Our family
is different, etc.
Long
ago before I opened my own marketing
firm I sold radio advertising. When
I was out prospecting I ran into the
“my-business-is-different” mentality
all the time. I can’t tell you how
many people said, “oh sure, I
believe radio is an effective medium
– it just doesn’t work for ME. My
business is different, blah, blah,
blah.” Now admittedly some of them
were right – radio wasn’t for them.
But most of them that I talked to (I
pre-selected them) were right for
radio, they just didn’t see it. And
they never would have seen it had I
not crafted my pitch in the right
way.
If I
talked to a restaurant owner he or
she wouldn’t give a rat’s back side
if I had helped a cell phone dealer
grow their business, they wanted to
know if I had any success with other
restaurants.
I was
much better off to approach a
restaurant with a specially tailored
“restaurant program” that was
designed just for restaurants to
tackle their frustrations, and to
meet their needs, objectives, and
goals. Then I would talk their lingo
using such terms as table-turn,
average ticket, whether it was lunch
or dinner traffic that they needed,
etc.
You
and I as marketers have to let our
prospects know that our product or
service is FOR them. That it was
designed to meet their unique
situation and needs.
Everyone wants to feel understood,
but very few people do.
If I
wanted to sell a weight loss product
I wouldn’t show slightly overweight
people who lost weight. I’d try to
show REALLY overweight people who
lost weight. Otherwise big people
wouldn’t believe that my product was
for THEM.
Unless you go out of your way to
show your prospect that your product
is FOR them – they will just think
it’s another product that won’t work
for them. And if they don’t think
your product is FOR them, it won’t
matter what kind of FREE offers you
come up with – they won’t buy.
Yes,
FREE still has its place, but the
concept of FOR has replaced it as
the most important concept in
marketing. You must learn to use the
“for” concept or suffer mediocre
results as a consequence.
|
|
About The Author
Brett Curry is
the president of Curry Marketing, Inc. a
direct response marketing agency. Brett
is a skilled marketer, public speaker,
and is the author of the Marketing
Muscle Newsletter. For more tips, ideas,
and money-making strategies visit
www.currymarketing.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
