Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [91]
This sparks the question of how many other products would benefit from interested purchasers seeing the manufacturing process. Food Network has remarkable success in showing the processes of making our favorite foods in shows such as Unwrapped; Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives; and Good Eats. People are fascinated by knowing the behind-the-scenes work that goes into developing products. Many times businesses are so focused on their own sales and return that they neglect the very people who provide those sales.
Defining Value
Do companies realize the return on investment for their customers? What are the intrinsic values shared by your customers beyond the monetary investment?
Information on some sites is so company focused; I have no idea what it can do for me. On other sites, the information is simply presented in a “here it is, now buy it” format, with no persuasive content to convince me to purchase. The winners are those companies that realize that if they sell to the benefit of the customer, they will create a lasting impression:
Fisher-Price sells parenting advice more than toys on its website (www.fisher-price.com), as discussed in the previous chapter. It provides age-appropriate toy selection advice and information about how you can educate using toys—the company helps you be a better parent.
Woot makes it fun to buy impulse items that you really don’t need, as covered in Chapter 7. The goal is to buy it before they run out, because many products are sold at discounts or they are hard-to-find technology toys.
Wine.com doesn’t just sell wine; the site helps you become a little more intelligent about wines—you may be able to even hold your own in a discussion about a Pinot Gris.
ThinkGeek (www.thinkgeek.com) sells fun in the office and products for distraction or enjoyment. Its product benefits often include stress relief or even (gasp) self-improvement. This is how it positions a shower curtain decorated with the periodic table of the elements:
How many times has this happened to you? You’re showering, lathering up your hair, and as you read the ingredients, you notice Sodium Laureth Sulfate. Of course, you know it’s a straight-chain alkyl benzene sulfonate (I mean, who doesn’t?), but you forgot what Laureth is! The horror!
If only you had paid more attention to your Chemistry professor!
This might not remind you what Laureth is (it’s a contraction for lauryl-ether, made from the sulfation of lauryl alcohol, but you knew that), but it’s hard to deny the Periodic Table Shower Curtain’s usefulness. All the time you spend in the bathroom, you might as well brush up on your transition metals, and your lanthanide and actinide series. Jog those brain cells with some steaming hot water, and a giant six-foot tall periodic table.
The Periodic Table Shower Curtain is 71 inches square, and made from 100% EVA Vinyl (Ethylene vinyl acetate, but you knew that), and is semi-transparent with the Periodic Table of Elements printed in large friendly letters and colors.
The willingness for a customer to purchase more products, buy from a company repeatedly, and recommend products to friends increases as they realize more benefits. Sometimes that realization takes days, weeks, or maybe months. Additionally, the more benefits realized over a longer period of time, the greater the return will be, including a personal ROI of an investment in a good company and the increased positive perception of the company that provided the product or service.
Here are some examples:
A family vacation creates bonding and memories for a lifetime, and you can see your children marvel at the world, which is invaluable.
Toys are more than toys; they are educational opportunities.
Software is a time-saver, relieving hours of stress and work, while increasing productivity.
A hotel is a relaxing and rejuvenating experience—not just someplace to sleep.
Interestingly, the reverse holds true as well. The worse a product is or is found to be,