Pain Points

One of the reasons online marketing is so successful is that smart marketers know their niche, that is, their prospective customers. In particular, they know their pain points – the things that cause them the most problems. Knowing their pain points allows you to offer them real solutions to their issues through the products and services you sell.

Price Pain

Price pain also referred to as “spending pain” or “buyer’s remorse,” can be defined as a person being either upset by the amount they have to pay or regretting the purchasing decision once they have bought the item.

We can see the effect of price pain if we look at the rate of shopping cart abandonment online, which varies between 60% and 80%. This means that the consumer goes through all of the steps involved in shopping such as searching for products and putting them into the cart, only to balk at the last hurdle and click away rather than pay and complete the transaction.

There are several reasons for abandonment, but the most common is what is termed “sticker shock,” Hence, they are surprised when they see everything added up on the page and the final total is revealed. This is often the case due to taxes, shipping and handling, and other fees, which often make the “bargain” they were hunting for look like much less of a good deal.

Buyer’s Remorse

We can also easily see the effect of buyer’s remorse in return and refund rates. Some people will regret the purchase so much, simply by having spent the money, that they will ask for a refund. It might have nothing to do with the quality of your product at all, but rather their state of mind – that of simply finding it too painful to “indulge.”

This is why a 100% money-back guarantee, no questions asked, can be a great way to try to win over the tightwads. It makes it risk-free to do business with you. It also makes it easy to deal with refund requests because your customer service people don’t have to argue about the reasons for the refund.

Price Pain – a la Carte versus Buffet/Meal Deal

Another price pain you can address easily is to offer a “buffet” or “one price for everything” deal rather than a per-item price.

We can see this at work with the McDonald’s Happy Meal. If they were to buy the burger, fries, and drink separately, it would make tightwads much less likely to buy all three. By offering a complete meal for one low price, they feel they are getting a good deal. While McDonald’s won’t get as much money as they would if the items were purchased separately, they are certainly getting a lot more than if the person were to order only a burger.

Don’t nickel and dime your customers. Put together a great deal for one low price. Be prepared to absorb the cost of the taxes (if any) and the shipping and handling fees into your one all-inclusive price.

Price versus Need and Value

The price paid will vary depending on how much the person needs the item. For example, a tightwad person might not be happy about the cost of toilet paper, but they know they can’t live without it. Then it is a case of perceived value. Which brand is best?

A bundle offers real value. Add even more items to create higher perceived value. Emphasize why they need the item and its benefits. For example, create an ebook with a free audiobook version they can download, plus checklists and a workbook, and this will boost the value even though it will cost you little to create these extras.

Understand pain points and price pain, and your marketing messages will speak to the needs of even the most tight-fisted shopper.

1. Tightwads = 25%
2. Spendthrifts = 15%
3. The average consumer = 60%

The trouble is, how can you tell which type of customers you have? In part, we create the customer we have. This might sound strange, but it has everything to do with our marketing tactics.

For example, if we worry about the “price-sensitive” tightwads all the time, we will tend to price our products lower than their potential real value. However, if we aim our offers at spendthrifts, our prices might seem too high for our competitors.

Aim for the Average

Since the average consumer makes up the lion’s share of the consumer market, it’s safest to aim for them. The spendthrifts, not caring about the price, will probably become happy customers also, giving you 75% of the market interested in your niche. It might be tougher to lure the tightwads, but if you clearly show the real value of all your products in your marketing materials, chances are they will open their wallets as well.

Some marketing techniques will work well no matter which type of customer you have. When in doubt, trot them out to see what a difference they make to your conversion rate – that is, the number of people who buy your offer.

Emotions

Appeal to emotions such as desire, need, and pain points – problems they have that they need a solution to.

Facts, Figures, and Statistics

Your marketing material should contain enough facts, figures, and statistics to fill your prospective purchaser with confidence that your product is the “real deal” and will do what it says. It will solve their problems, make their life better, and do all this at a reasonable price.

Features and Benefits

Most sales letters focus on features, but they start to read like laundry lists after a while. You can sell well if you include the benefits of those features and emphasize the benefits of the niche you are working in.

For example, if you are selling cars, leather seats offer different benefits to different consumers. If you are selling a sports car, leather seats are stylish, sexy, and sporty. If you are selling SUVs to a soccer mom, leather seats are durable and easy to clean no matter how muddy your kids are when you drive them home after every game.

As you can see from the wording in the last paragraph, benefits can often create an image in your mind of what life will be like once you buy the item. The sports car purchaser will feel attractive and “cool.” The mom will feel her life will be a lot easier, and she is making an intelligent long-term buying decision that will help her whole family.

Keep Gender in Mind

Studies have shown that up to 90% of purchasing decisions are made by women, even for typically “male” items like men’s clothing, toiletries, and cars. The items need to appeal to men but need to pass muster with the savvy female shopper as well.

Offer Guarantees, Easy Returns, and Free Shipping

All shoppers love an extra little perk. Guarantees and no-questions-asked returns make it as easy as possible for people to do business with you. Free shipping could be the tipping point in your favor. And free shipping over a dollar purchase, such as $49, will increase the value of every customer at your site looking for a good deal.

Aim to sell well to the average customer, and even the tightwads and especially the spendthrifts will be happy to buy as well.

1. Tightwads
2. Spendthrifts
3. Average

Tightwads are very price-conscious so it requires different strategies to sell successfully to them, as compared with spendthrifts and average customers. Several tried-and-tested strategies can get even tightwads to part with their cash because they can’t resist a great deal.

Bargains

The most obvious way to sell to tightwads is to offer them bargain prices. There are two ways of doing this. The first is to genuinely offer a discounted price that will make your product irresistible. The second way to boost your perceived value so high that they can’t resist a “great deal” is the “value-stacking” method. In this method, you list all of the items in the deal with a “real value” next to each one. Then, you total up the value listed. Afterward, you offer the deal for a significantly lower price. The comparison between the “real value” and the offer price will make even the stingiest buyer thrilled to get such a great deal.

Bundling

Bundle two or more of your best products to sell for one low price. The price won’t be as high as the total of the two products put together, but it will increase the value of each customer passing through one of your sales funnels.

You can also create a bundle of high-perceived value by offering things in the bundle that buyers won’t be able to get anywhere else. You can stack the value without spending a lot of money. Create checklists, fact sheets, tip sheets, how-to videos, and other free items that enhance the user’s experience. They will take some time to create, but they won’t cost any extra money. Add the value-stacking technique above and make it clear that the items are exclusive, and you should have no trouble selling your brilliant bargain bundles.

Annual or Lifetime Memberships

If you sell a membership or service and bill people monthly, consider creating an annual or lifetime membership. This gives you your money for a whole year upfront. If they do ask for a refund, you could give a pro-rata one if you wish, for any unused months. But in most cases, once a purchase has been made in the US, there is only a 30-day money-back guarantee; 60 days if you want to be generous.

For a lifetime membership, you can charge a lot more. Pack on the value by offering access to, for example, your backlist of products. Use the value-stacking method to show them what a great deal they will be getting.

Firesales

A firesale is a quick “flash” sale you can run a couple of times a year. In traditional businesses, it was used to clear out fire-damaged inventory. In the case of online marketing, it’s usually used as a means of creating a bargain sale that looks very attractive. It is also used to clear out “inventory” at the end of a selling season.

If you are an information or software publisher, for example, your products might get out of date, so you will retire or update them. Sell the old items for a seriously discounted price. You can also move products that are not great sellers by bundling them together to clear your inventory, especially if you are selling physical products.

Dimesales

Dimesales are rock-bottom price sales you can use occasionally as a “thank you” to loyal customers, or an end-of-season or end-of-inventory sale. These should not be run too often, or you will start to devalue your items, and people won’t want to pay the regular price for them.

Use these tips and tricks, and even tightwads will want to do business with you.

Show You Understand Them

The best way to sell to any audience is to understand their “pain points,” the things that cause them the most difficulty about the niche or industry you are working in. By knowing the most common things that cause them problems, you can offer them real solutions that work. If you can make their lives easier, they will be willing to buy.

Speak to Their Emotions

Everyone wants to be good-looking, popular, and enjoy the better things in life. Many marketers make the mistake of thinking that purchases are driven by logic. The truth is that buying decisions are driven by emotions and then justified by logic. If you’ve ever given in to an “impulse buy,” you will know this to be true. You spend the money and then come up with reasons why you “need” it.

Successful marketing promises them a better, easier, or happier life if they buy X. Tell marketing stories with a “happily ever after” ending, and they will be eager to buy.

Offer a Solid Guarantee

There is a lot of competition out there, so one of the best ways to make your products and services more attractive is to offer a 100% money-back guarantee with no questions asked. This will inspire confidence in them. The no questions asked will make it easy for customer service to deal with any refunds without getting into any arguments, which could damage your business.

Create Great Main Offers

Smart marketers online use what are called sales funnels. They have a sales letter, an order form, a thank you page, and thank you email all lined up so they can market their product, sell it, get their money, and make sure their customer gets the item they ordered.

Your offer should list the features of the item and the benefits they will get from buying it. Make the offer sound so attractive that it will be a no-brainer for them to want to buy.

But this offer will be the first of two or more offers you will be presenting to them. There are several other kinds of offers as well. They are known as upsells, down-sells, one-time offers, and limited-time offers. Each of these offers can be introduced on the thank you web page for the product that has just been purchased, which we call the main offer.

Create Excellent Upsells

Your upsell item should be related to your main offer but an even more exciting deal at a higher price point. For example, you might have sold an ebook with handouts for $17, but the upsell is a multimedia version of the product complete with video and other goodies for $47. You have thus increased the dollar value of the order from $17 to $64.

Create Attractive Downsells

Even if they don’t take the upsell, you can offer a down-sell that will still boost the dollar value of the transaction. Offer the videos only for $27, no extra handouts, and so on, and you will be able to boost the per-transaction value to $44.

All of these methods can make spendthrift buyers even more eager to shop. Try them and see what a difference they make to your profits.

1. Tightwads = 25%
2. Spendthrifts = 15%
3. The average consumer = 60%

The tightwad will tend to be a tougher sell, the spendthrift an easier one. But what are the best ways to sell to the average consumer? The best ways are to understand their pain points and their price pain.

Know Your Niche

By pain points, we mean the problems people have about your niche, which they are looking for real solutions for. A good example would be a person who has just gotten a new puppy and needs supplies, has training issues, and wants to keep the puppy healthy and happy so it grows into a well-trained and well-behaved dog.

Offer Real Solutions

All shoppers want real solutions to their most pressing needs. If you offer quality and value, and your item works, they will not only try, they will buy it over and over again.

Be Competitively Priced

Average spenders have a good idea of their budget and are willing to spend to buy what they need. If your price is on par with your competitors, you should have no trouble selling to them.

Be Enticing Enough to Lure Impulse Purchases

Make your sales material “sexy” enough to seduce even the most sensible shopper into giving your product a try. Shoppers buy based on emotion and then justify their purchase with logic, rather than the other way around. Any product that offers them a better life in some way is sure to sell.

Make It Easy for Them to Do Their Research

If a sales page is vague about the features and benefits of a product, this leaves room for doubt in the consumer’s mind as to whether it will be the right choice. A well-written sales letter will speak to the emotional needs of the target audience but will also provide factual information to satisfy even the most practical buyer. Size, weight, height, composition/materials, and other specifications can help you sell physical products more easily.

The Question and Answers section under each physical product Amazon sells is a clear indication of how detailed a shopper’s search for information can be. It also allows real people to give real answers. This helps the consumer know what life will be like once they buy the item. Capture this in your sales letters, and you should have a winner on your hands. Consider creating how-to and demonstration videos to do this even more effectively.

Understand That Consumers Are Tightwads about Some Things and Spendthrifts about Others

Value and price are two different things in the minds of consumers. In many cases, we might find a consumer is tight-fisted about certain aspects of their shopping and much more impulsive with other items. For example, some consumers might clip coupons like crazy and shop at every sale like a vulture, but go for massages, spa treatments, manicures, and so on.

Price and perceived value also differ significantly. Some people see the products they buy as an investment. For example, it’s great to want to own two dozen pretty designer handbags, but a high-quality purse large enough to hold your tablet computer is a significant saving and can also be used for any occasion, including job interviews. Similarly, men may love t-shirts, but if they haven’t got a work wardrobe for their job, it’s better to invest in one good suit.

The average consumer is always looking for products that make their lives easier and work. Price yourself on a par with your competition (even if your product is better), and you should have no trouble making sales.