Henry Ford once said about his Model T’s: “Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black”. This reflects the old adage that you needed to sell your product to everyone the way you wanted it. Not the way the customer might have wanted it.
Nowadays we’ve found that this isn’t the best approach after all. It certainly doesn’t work if you want repeat buyers. And most companies understand that it’s not the first purchase which floats their bottom line. It’s the repeat buying and buying of other company products that really matters.
If you sell the right product to the right customer, you foster trust and loyalty. And that makes for lifelong customers.
Learn About Your Customer!
So how do you do this? Learn about your ideal customer and sell to that person!
For instance, say you are selling the above cat tunnel toy (with apologies to Chewy.com, I just picked this one, I don’t care if you buy it or not). You think every cat in the world would love this toy, in just this configuration, and you want to sell it to every cat owner on the planet.
But… some cats don’t like being enclosed in tunnels. Some cats are physically unable to get in and out of these tunnels. And the colors may not fit into the owner’s décor.
You shouldn’t just say in the description something like: “This is a fun toy, cats love it, and you’ll love watching them play in it”. Because it’s not universally true. And the cat parent who buys it and finds their cat hates it won’t be very happy with you and your company.
So how do you sell it?
Sell Your Product’s Uniqueness
First you do some research. You’ll find that only certain types of cat personalities like tunnels.
Next check out what the competition has. Maybe some tunnels are just a straight tunnel. Others could be right-angle tunnels. Perhaps yours is the only one that’s configurable into this shape. Or maybe it can be made into this shape, or a big long tunnel, or u-shaped. What makes it different from others on the market?
Next figure out what kind of cat parents would like a configurable tunnel. It could be people that move a lot and need the tunnel to fit into different rooms. Or people who like to change things up often.
So now instead of the description above, you’ll want something that’s more along these lines:
“This cat tunnel is perfect for kitties that love to hide under things and attack others walking by. You can see if your cat has this personality by throwing a light blanket over him when he’s in a playful mood and seeing how he reacts.
You can configure this tunnel in multiple ways, so it can fit into different rooms. It is light and collapsible, so moving it is easy, if you want to just change things up. And the colors are customizable as well upon ordering.”
Can you “see” the person and cat personality this description is written for?
So, what about all those other people who don’t fit into this category? If you sell more than one product, then one of your other products may fit the bill better for some of these people!
How Does This Work?
All this takes research, research, research. Interview your target market. Read reviews from your potential customers on Amazon and your competitors’ websites. Find out what these people read and look at the advertisements there. Join groups that your target market is in and see what those people are talking about.
And then… look at your products. What makes them different from the competition? Is it the material, the way it’s manufactured? Your company’s culture? Are your dyes organic? Perhaps your company is woman-owned or gives some of the profits to certain charities?
But I Don’t Have This Kind of Time – Can’t Someone Help Me?
Granted, all of this takes a lot of work and a lot of time. Maybe this part isn’t “fun” for you.
Did you know that copywriters are ideal for this? They don’t just write copy, they do this type of research before writing a single word in order to target your promotions and content. They make excellent team members, and often have a good grasp on marketing concepts.
When you hire a copywriter, don’t think of that position as only writing copy. You will find that you have hired not only someone who can write, but someone who can help with your marketing strategy.
Conclusion
The best sales come from having the right product targeted to the right customer, not from trying to sell a product to everyone. Fulfilling that customer’s needs makes for a happy buyer who will be loyal to your product and company and will enter into a long-term relationship with you.
As a bonus, they will not only stick with you and give you free word-of-mouth advertising but will probably try other products from your company and possibly buy them as well.
A copywriter can help you with research, marketing and writing. Where else can you find so much value in one person, who can be an asset to your company and an integral part of your team?
Want to explore how Farm and Pet Copywriter can help you with your marketing strategy as well as your promotions and content? Please contact me and we’ll talk!