The always-interesting Freakonomics blog in the NY Times recently cited a recent study that confirms the importance of providing lots of product information in your marketing and sales material.

The MediaPost headline says it all: “Majority Of Online Shoppers Check At Least Four Reviews Before Buying.” Take-away point: A solid 68% do their homework before making a purchase.

As a savvy marketer, how do you respond to this knowledge?

1. First, make sure you satisfy this hunger by providing all the facts and figures your prospects need to make a buying decision. The more complex — or expensive — your product or service, the more information you need to provide.
2. Differentiate yourself. Find something different, unique, special about your widget that nobody else can claim, and emphasize that in your collateral.
3. Make your product data available in a variety of formats to please every kind of buyer: Web page, pdf, print (e.g., spec sheets), free samples, etc. Give the people what they want, the way they want it.
4. Triple-check your facts. Make sure everything is accurate and complete. Fresh eyes find mistakes that eyes tired miss.
5. Add a case study or two. Customer “success stories” demonstrate how you’ve helped other, similar customers in the past. Pretty compelling and persuasive stuff.

Then, of course, you somehow still have to find a way to keep all these facts interesting — better yet, fascinating — to your prospect. After all, you can’t bore someone into buying. A few tips:

• Good copywriting and graphic design are essential. Here’s how it works: An attractive layout catches the eye and encourages further reading. The headline makes you want to read the first sentence. The first sentence makes you want to read the second, then the third, etc.
• Effective copy itself begins by addressing the buyer’s wants, needs, fears, etc. Don’t just start bragging on how great you are. Instead, tell me how my life is going to be better if I make your widget part of my life.
• Balance features and benefits throughout the copy. Don’t just tell me about the advanced anti-lock braking system (feature), for example. Tell me why I should care. Safety, peace of mind, better protection for my loved ones — those are benefits.

And benefits are why people buy.

The mortgage market is in turmoil, thanks to the subprime fiasco. Millions of homeowners face foreclosure, mortgage lenders are losing billions, new loans are impossible to get — hey, wait a minute.

If mortgage loans are so hard to get, why are Countrywide, Ditech and other big lenders still running TV ads every 5 minutes? Even the National Association of Realtors is running ads, saying there’s never been a better time to buy a house. (Better for their members, maybe.)

Despite all the foreclosures, lawsuits and investigations, the mortgage industry is still spending money on ads like a drunken sailor. A big chunk of the buy has shifted to the Internet, but the total spend is staggering.

In fact, they’re spending more now than they did during the height of the housing boom, according to today’s New York Times.

Naturally, what’s good for the advertiser is not necessarily good for the customer. “There may be some good, legitimate offers,” a spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission told the Times. “But it’s a good time for consumers to be especially wary.” Gail Cunningham of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, adds, “Consumers need to read between the lines of everything (the advertisers) are saying.”

No, not me personally, of course. I’m nearly perfect just the way I am. (cough-cough)

But after nearly three years on Blogger, it was time for this blog to get a facelift. (No Botox shots, however.)

So now this baby has a whole new look, a sporty leather interior and fuel-efficient hybrid engine. It even has its own domain, www.attract-more-customers.com. So gentlemen (and ladies), start your engines and adjust your bookmarks.

Don’t forget, you can also subscribe via RSS by clicking the icon in the right sidebar. That way, every post will come waltzing into your feed reader with no effort on your part. Life is good.

Now if only spring would arrive… (sigh)

What’s in a name? Or any word, for that matter? A lot, it seems.

Take those rebate checks Uncle Sam will soon start mailing out. If the government really wants us to stimulate the economy by encouraging us to SPEND that money, they need a better name than “rebate.”

Like “bonus.”

In a recent experiment, social psychologist Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business discovered if you call a rebate a “bonus” instead, the recipients spend twice as much.

What’s in a name? A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but calling a rebate a “bonus” stimulated a 100% increase in response!

Here’s the reason. A “rebate” was perceived as getting your own money back, so you were less likely to splurge. But a bonus — hey, that’s new money — found money!

Wait a minute, you’re thinking. You mean you can DOUBLE someone’s spending — just by substituting one word for another?

Yes! In fact, finding and using exactly the right word(s) to stimulate spending is what makes a good copywriter worth the money.

Who says winters in Maine are boring?