Daniel Levis’ latest ‘Total Package’ article is titled “Do You Make Your Marketing Decisions in a Vacuum?”. [Copywriting Article]

Daniel Levis’ latest ‘Total Package’ article:

Do You Make Your Marketing Decisions in a Vacuum?

Dear Web Business Builder,

Any similarity between the characters in this article and actual electrical household implements is strictly coincidental. Furthermore, none of the aforementioned was harmed in any way during the preparation of this story …

Let’s suppose you’ve come up with a revolutionary new product. Let’s call it a Whoozit Dust and Dirt Destroyer, just for fun. It’s a vacuum cleaner on steroids.

The Whoozit uses centrifugal force to suck dirt instead of relying on a vacuum created inside of a paper bag.

Naturally, there are pros to centrifugal action (cleans deeper, eliminates back draft, maintenance-free) and there are cons as well (high sticker price, heavy, bulky).

Now suppose you’re trying to persuade people to buy your new Whoozit Dust and Dirt Destroyer …

Are you better off presenting only the advantages that centrifugal force affords the Whoozit? Or will you sell more Whoosits if you present both the pros and the cons of the new system and try to demonstrate how the pros far outweigh the cons?

If you take the first approach you butt up against skepticism. People read your copy and it looks one sided, biased.

If you take the second approach you appear to be an objective, fair minded source of information, and people are much more likely to trust you.

On the other hand, the mere mention of anything that could be perceived as negative may raise an objection that might never have occurred to many people reading your copy. And even if you counter the objection or turn it into a positive, you complicate the decision.

What’s the best practice?

What kind of approach works better?

Answer: like any other marketing dilemma – it depends.

Making a decision like this in the vacuum I’ve asked you to make it in is a classic marketing blunder.

The answer has nothing to do with the product and everything to do with the predisposition of your market.

Without asking questions, taking surveys, observing behaviors and all of the other discipline of research, there is no right answer.

All right smartass, let’s suppose I’ve done my homework, what then?

Of course, I was getting to that …

If your audience is already predisposed to the superiority of centrifugal action, then a one sided argument is likely to convert much better than a two sided one. They’ve already half made up their minds about it based on previous exposure to the concept. That existing predilection needs to be reinforced, justified, and turned into a decision to act now.

If your audience is neutral, or has already dismissed the overwhelming superiority of centrifugal force, the two sided argument is best. It allows you to begin with points of agreement and build from there.

Yes, the Whoosit is a heavy, bulky unit. It’s much heavier than a regular vacuum cleaner. It’s wider too.

That’s necessary for stabilizing the 800 foot pounds of force required to pull 453% more dirt and dust out of your rug.

It’s also why we’ve installed these heavy-duty spring loaded runners that actually make the Whoosit a joy to maneuver around your home.

Unfortunately quality like this doesn’t come cheap …

At four and half times the cost of a regular vacuum cleaner, you might feel the Whoosit pricey, perhaps more than a person such as yourself could afford.

That’s exactly the way many of our customers felt until they found out how much they would save by never having to replace another bag for as long as they owned the unit. In just three years they recovered the difference.

Heck, you’ll probably keep your Whoosit two or three times that long, won’t you? So your cost of ownership will actually be far less than a conventional vacuum cleaner.

Your house will smell cleaner and fresher with no airborne dust while you’re cleaning. Dust born allergies will never be an issue for your family. And those nasty mites hiding deep in your carpets and mattresses will be totally eliminated.

Does this approach look familiar to you?

If you’ve ever become involved in politics you’ve probably seen it before …

Politicians are totally plugged in to the power of intelligence gathering. Their pollsters have turned market research into an exacting science. And they use that intelligence to preach to the choir very differently than they do to the unwashed.

When addressing the party faithful, the candidate delivers a hell raising speech that shamelessly hammers home his platform and candidacy. If he mentions the opposition at all, it’s in a derisive, mocking tone.

Then when he goes on national television, he puts on his statesman hat and gives the opposing viewpoint a fair hearing before demolishing it.

The key lesson: Take pains to discover the prevailing prejudices and predilections of your target audience. Then tailor your pitch to dovetail with what they’re already thinking.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Daniel Levis

Editor, The Web Marketing Advisor

THE TOTAL PACKAGE

Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto, Canada and publisher of the world famous copywriting anthology Masters of Copywriting featuring the selling wisdom of 44 of the “Top Money” marketing minds of all time, including Clayton Makepeace, Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman, John Carlton, Joe Vitale, Michel Fortin, Richard Armstrong and dozens more! For a FREE excerpt visit http://www.SellingtoHumanNature.com.

He is also one of the leading Web conversion experts operating online today, and originator of the 5R System (TM), a strategic process for engineering enhanced Internet profits. For a free overview of Daniel’s system, click here.

Attribution Statement: This article was first published in The Total Package. To sign-up to receive your own FREE subscription to The Total Package and claim four FREE money making e-books go to www.makepeacetotalpackage.com.

The Total Package

*IMNewsWatch would like to thank Clayton Makepeace for granting permission to reprint this article.

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