Use Decoy Offers
Have you ever wondered why some stores sell an item for $100 and in the price tags says “Was $200”? That makes the current price look a lot better. Some people might think $100 is a lot of money for that item, but hey, it was $200, so you’re getting a great deal, right? Well, believe it or not, it works. This is because everything is either a great deal or an awful deal based on what you compare it with.
Psychologists call this “the principle of contrast.” How can you use this to your benefit? My favorite way is to present two or more offers. One will be your current offer and then you’ll add some decoy offers. The decoy offers will be really bad deals, but they’ll make your main offer look great. For example, you can sell one can of your product at $19 and three cans at $25 with free shipping and feature this last offer as the weekly special. Try it; it works like a charm and there’s nothing unethical about it. You’ll keep your main offer and all you’re doing is making it look better by adding some not-so-attractive offers.
Write Your Marketing Copy First and Develop Your Product Around It
I’ve found this tactic to be extremely effective. Instead of creating a product and then writing the marketing message, I like writing the copy first because by trying to sell it with words, I get a much better understanding of what the audience really wants and I can give them that product or service.
People Buy from People, Not Companies
Your customers might have known your company first, but they bought from you because they liked you or the salesperson they dealt with. This is especially true in B2B. The takeaway here is: do a good job explaining how your company can help your clients but do a much better job connecting with your prospects at a personal level.
Acknowledge Your Biggest Fans
Do some of your fans re-tweet your posts, email your articles to their friends and send business your way? What are you doing for them? Are you taking the time to thank them at least? You should always monitor your brand, your website link and your own name (I use SocialMention) and every time someone says something nice about you, you should thank them. If you can do something else in return, by all means do.
Understand the Golden Rule of Blogging
Most blogs sucks and here’s why: they’re not appealing to the audience they’re writing for. The writing might be good, but the topics aren’t. Let’s say you sell electronics. Your blog shouldn’t be about your specials, the new employee you hired last week or you going to Aruba on vacations. Your blog should be about electronics.
Always ask yourself this question: who am I writing for? What kind of content do they want? It doesn’t matter if you don’t offer all the services you write about. For example, I own an online marketing agency and my audience is business owners. But, I don’t write about online marketing only; I write about topics that are of interest to business owners, such as lowering costs, motivating employees and off-line marketing.
Find out what your audience wants and give it to them.
