Direct Mail/E-mail Secret #5: Deliver an Excellent Product or Service That Excites Customers and Offers Many Benefits
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Although this secret is last on our list in this series, it’s really the very first thing you should think about. Every successful marketing campaign begins and ends with the product or service being sold.
This may seem obvious and you may be wondering why I’m even bringing this up in a series about direct mail and e-mail campaigns. After all, you probably already have your product or service, right?
But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to write killer hypnotic copy to sell a product of poor or ordinary quality, that has little or no unique qualities, and that won’t really benefit customers in any significant way. Somehow, I’m supposed to write copy for this stuff that is supposed to make the prospect believe that he or she just can’t live another day until they’ve bought it.
It can’t be done—not without lying, which is obviously not a good idea.
Good copy—copy that sells—is easier to write when the product or service is truly unique and truly benefits the customer. The more benefits your product or service offers, the easier it is to develop a successful campaign for it. Plus, a quality product or service gives your company a positive reputation that encourages future purchases from your customers.
It is true that just about anybody can be sold once. But few people will buy again if the product or service doesn’t live up to the promises in the copy. Most successful businesses thrive on repeat sales and the best way to ensure repeat sales is to deliver a product or service that gets the customer excited and enthusiastic. That sets them up to buy more from you and the next time you send out a mailing or e-mail blast, your customers will look forward to seeing what new thing you have to offer.
If you’re about to launch a new direct mail or e-mail marketing campaign, take a good look at your product or service. What makes it better than the competition? What makes it better than what your prospects have right now? What makes it unique? How will it benefit your customers—does it make their life easier or get them closer to their goals?
Is there anything you can tweak or add that would add value without adding significant cost? Is there a way you can make it more convenient or easier to use? Software packages are a good example of this. Most software comes with very poor instructions. If you can add a tutorial package or have a particularly easy-to-use set of instructions, you can advertise that fact to improve sales and your customers will be more satisfied with the product than if they have to struggle and figure things out on their own.
The bottom line is that the more value you can pack into your product or service and the more you can differentiate your product or service from your competitors, your offer will be better, your copy will be easier to write and your campaign will be more successful. So, before you do anything else with your campaign, take a good look at your product or service.
That’s it for this short series on Five Secrets to Generating Huge Response and Outstanding Profits for E-mail and Direct Mail Campaigns. But don’t forget to check back here each week. Upcoming topics include:
- How to Use White Papers, Reports, E-Books, and Other Custom Publications to Generate Interest and Cultivate Your Prospect List.
- Emotional Hype vs. Fact-based Persuasion in Copy—How to Sell Without Getting a Bad Reputation
- What to Test in Your Promotions to Improve Response Rates
- Your Marketing Circle of Influence—You Know More People than You Think You Do
Talk to you then.
John E. Fike
www.fikopy.com
posted by John E Fike @ 5:32 AM,
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