Attract More Customers

What happens when making a purchase is quick and easy? You guessed it — people tend to buy more often. D’uh.

It’s one of the most important marketing principles, especially in online marketing. But making it easy just as effective in the offline world. Here’s a great example.

Despite the economic gloom, student applications to the the tiny College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, have soared 25% or more every year for the past few years. Remarkable. How’d they do it?

Simple. They adopted a technique long used by credit card companies. (At least they did back in olden days, when credit card companies mass-mailed pre-approved applications. Remember?)

The college application is packaged in a bright, shiny package to catch the eye. The forms are already filled in with the student’s name, address, etc. They don’t have to do much more than sign it and send it in. The school even waives the usual $40 application fee. Talk about making an ordeal easy!

They’re not the only school using this approach, of course. More than 100 other colleges and universities, including Marquette, Minnesota and Rensselaer, sent out variations of these fast-track applications last fall. For many, applications have doubled or even tripled.

Impressive results, but it’s no surprise when you consider the simple principle behind their success.

What about you? Is your business making it as easy as possible for customers to buy? Or are there roadblocks that require thought and effort by the prospect?

If so, maybe it’s time to take a fresh look at your business processes, especially customer-facing ones. What obstacles can you clear out to speed and simplify the process of making a purchase?

Is there confusion you could eliminate, or objections you could overcome, by re-writing and clarifying your copy? “Don’t make me think” is just as important as “Make it easy to make a purchase.”

Source: NY Times

Buying anything online or from a TV infomercial these days seems to automatically include a one or more bonus items. (“And if you call right now, we’ll double your order!”)

Would you rather get one (or more) free bonuses when you purchase a Snuggie or Sham-wow? Or would you rather buy them as a set, for the same price? Same items, same price, just presented differently. Which approach has the higher perceived value?

Let me ask the same question a different way, which might make the answer clearer. On Christmas morning, would you rather open one huge box containing all your presents – or lots of smaller boxes?

In a soon-to-be-published book, “Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It),” author William Poundstone explains that the central principle of infomercials is what the economist Richard Thaler calls “Don’t wrap all the Christmas presents in one box,” meaning that consumers value freebies that come with a purchased item more than purchasing the same items presented as a set.

“Thaler deduced that marketers should devote less energy to promoting how absolutely wonderful their product is, and more to breaking it down, feature by feature, or selling several products in one bundle,” Poundstone writes. “The one thing you can’t buy in an infomercial is one thing.” NY Times

By the way, Consumers Union tested the Snuggie and was less than impressed. The Snuggie was hard to walk in, created lots of static electricity, pilled and shed when washed and left your backside uncovered. Watch the video.

People buy your services or products for a lot of complex reasons — or so you think. But if you dig a little deeper, you find there are really only two reasons why anybody buys anything –  and that’s great news for your marketing efforts.

I just posted this article on my main website, Maine Creative Services. Please check it out here. If you find it helpful, please spread the word.

Thanks and happy holidays to all!

Tom “No figgy pudding for me, thanks” McKay

Talk about a hot and sexy USP (Unique Selling Proposition): Reebok says their new EasyTone walking shoe will firm up your butt and sculpt your legs so well, “your boobs will be jealous.”

That’s according to one of their ads. I haven’t seen that particular ad, but I read about it in the NY Times, so it might be true.

I did see one TV ad claiming the new sneakers tone leg and buttock muscles better than regular walking shoes. Is it just marketing BS, or could it be true? A lot of people seem to think (or at least hope) so. Sales are smoking hot, just like your legs will be.

Reebok says the EasyTone is their biggest hit in five years. And no wonder. They were designed by a real rocket scientist, former NASA engineer Bill McInnis, now Reebok’s head of advanced innovation.

But what about the controversial claim? Can the shoes live up to the boast? According to the Times,

“The claim is backed by a single study involving just five women, walking on a treadmill for only 500 steps. Some wore the EasyTone or another Reebok walking shoe, some were barefoot. Sensors indicated that the EasyTone worked glutes 28% more than regular walking shoes. Hamstring and calf muscles worked 11% harder.” (Edited slightly for length, clarity and emphasis.)

Wait — who cares if your leg and butt muscles work a little bit harder? All we want to know is, do boobs really get jealous?

What happens to a company’s image, brand and stock price when the news gets out that it foreclosed on a farm, evicted the owner, and made no provisions for taking care of the animals?

That’s what Wells Fargo did in Rhode Island, according to the the Providence (RI) Journal (via Consumerist, who incorrectly reported that it was an animal shelter rather than a farm).

Wells Fargo claims it arranged for the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals take care of the 130+ cats, dogs, chickens, pigs, horses, sheep, goats. Not so, says RISPCA. According to its president Ernest Finocchio, the bank said it didn’t want RISPCA’s help.

An inspection yesterday revealed that some animals had no food or water. Others had been carted off by strangers – hopefully for humanitarian reasons.

“Two llamas are gone. A turkey is gone. Some waterfowl have left, as well as a number of pot-bellied pigs. I don’t know where the animals went, or who took them. I saw people walking around the farm yesterday and have no idea who they were,” said Finocchio.

But wait a minute. The bank isn’t the only bad guy here. Foreclosure laws require multiple eviction notices, so the farmer himself knew a long time ago that trouble was brewing, yet made no plans for taking care of his animals. Mucho bad karma for him.

UPDATE: Wells Fargo says hey, it wasn’t us who foreclosed– it was them, that mortgage company. But we’ll do the right thing and take care of the animals. Actually, it’s the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that’s assuming care, according to the Los Angeles Times.