I was fortunate enough to discuss a few points with Tom Lambert and another individual—who needs to remain anonymous due to the nature of his site—through a forum about marketing. In this instance, we were discussing the ideas behind marketing a superior product and some of the complications that arise. I think there is a common mentality that one product is only applicable to one niche, and I think this is vastly untrue in most cases. Here is the discussion:
Individual: It’s like there’s not enough smart people in the world to sell to. Everyone in business school learns the 80/20 rule, “80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers.”
It should actually be “80% of the population is stupid and will buy crap, yet this is the group you must target if you want to make money.” I feel like I’m always selling to the intelligent 20%.
Me: Try not to think about it in those terms. People are people. It might be more enjoyable to work with more well-informed people, so consider it your job to inform them. Include information with your product that will help them become more intelligent (in terms of your product or industry) so that next time they aren’t oblivious or ignorant to the things you deem important.
We didn’t become obsessed with Coke and McDonalds because we’re stupid. We were told why they’re important and we adapted to liking them at the core levels over time.
Tom: You’re completely right but what it boils down to is people want instant gratification and results in whatever they buy. If I have a legitimate plan for relieving your debt that takes 6-10 months but works people will buy a plan that says ‘GET OUT OF DEBT IN 4 DAYS WITH 3 EASY STEPS!’ people are obviously going to choose that one over mine regardless of the likeliness that it doesn’t work. That’s the main reason I’ve noticed why it’s hard to sell wholesome, working, and legitimate products.
Me: This is true, which is why “finding your niche” is the cliché’d epitome of market analysis. I’ve found that rather than sticking to one approach in selling your product, it’s best to branch out—this is assuming it’s not specific enough in the first place. So instead of trying to target the smart shoppers, you set up a site and campaign for the intelligent, well-informed shoppers and then also one for the instant-gratification shoppers.
If we took your guaranteed credit relief product for example, you can market it as a safe and logical choice to make on one site, explaining why it’s so great; on the other, tell the prospects with bold statements “GET RID OF YOUR DEBT, GUARANTEED” and egg them on about the 1-3 most ‘powerful’ (not necessarily the most important—these are the type of people who might not know what’s best for themselves) benefits your product will have for them.
It’s succumbing a bit to lame marketing, but a good marketer knows that it’s part of the business and will excel at both. There’s a major difference between sleazy marketing and marketing sleaze. I’d prefer to avoid both, but I’d rather sell a product I believe in and help people who don’t know how much they need my help rather than push ring tones in their faces.
Tom: Great post! I completely agree. I’m trying to get into selling worthwhile products but it’s not easy with all of the garbage around.
