1 Simple Tactic to Increase Sales By 27%
Written by Dave Lavinsky on Thursday, April 8, 2010 Categories:
I think you'll find it useful. And I think it's something you can implement right away to improve your sales. But what I'm even more excited to tell you about is what the manager did wrong. Which, when done right, should increase sales by even more, perhaps by 27%.
So, what did marketing manager, Brian J. Maynard, do when marketing his company's Jenn-Air and KitchenAid appliances?
He communicated, using statistics, how his products were superior. And his actions lifted sales and website traffic more than 10%.
"Consumers tell us that what they care about are the results -- ultimately how well the product cleans," Maynard says.
So, Maynard executed on the following plan:
Step 1: Conduct market research
First, his team conducted research to prove that its dishwashers outperformed the competition; it did so by 25%.
And to avoid criticism, they tested according to industry standards established by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
Step #2. Communicate results in consumer-friendly way
Rather than use jargon, or promote multiple findings from the research, he sited one statistic that was 1) easy to understand, and 2) most important to customers in their decision making process. This statistic was the fact that their appliances yielded 25% better results than the competition.
Step #3. Include the results within all the company's marketing messages
The "improved results by 25%" message was included in all Jenn-Air and KitchenAid marketing efforts including:
- Television advertising
- Search PPC and online display ads
- Website landing pages
- Print advertising
- Point-of-sale displays (e.g., stickers on machines in stores, in-store flyers & in-store banners)
The resulting 10% increase in sales makes sense, doesn't it?
By PROVING, using statistics, that their products were better, and by marketing this improvement in multiple venues, sales increased. All very logical.
So, clearly, if you can conduct research to prove that your products or services are superior, do so. And then tell the world about it.
But, I want you to correct what Maynard did wrong.
He failed to leverage the Law of Specificity which states that specificity encourages believability and credibility.
Specifically, Maynard stated that his products were "25%" better. If he would have said "24.7%" better, the results would have seemed more credible and believable to his target customers. As a result, I expect that sales would have jumped significantly more.
One great example of specificity is Ivory soap, which claims itself to be "99 44/100% pure." Not 99%. Not 100%. By being extremely specific, Ivory's claims are more believable.
So get specific.
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