American consumers are, apparently, once again consuming at record rates. Market watchers report that US consumer spending is at the highest it has been in six years. More importantly, the indicators used in this report depend on markets such as automobiles and other big-ticket purchases, products that suffered tremendously during the Great Recession.
Economists are now calling the consumer increases a trend, one that many expect to continue. That’s great news overall, but it won’t help any particular company move any specific products. That takes effective marketing and public relations as well as application of several proven PR fundamentals.
People must know what you are offering and what that means to them. Features and benefits are overrated as a selling point. If you want your products to move, what they can do is less important than what they can do for the person buying that product or service. Don’t just tell people What It Comes With. Tell them about the experiences it will create and how it will make them feel. Talking bulleted features makes the buying decision strictly a subjective calculation. Sharing potential makes it an objective experience. The latter will always be much more effective.
Keep your message simple. Complex messaging invites debate, conversation and qualifying when all a consumer wants to do is feel good about a purchase. Forget trying to convince people to buy. Instead of telling them why they should buy whatever it is, show them that they already want it. That connection, which entirely bypasses the vaunted Buying Decision, goes deeper and strikes truer to what makes people trade money for stuff. Remember, they are looking because they WANT to buy. They don’t need to be convinced to do something they already want to do. They need to be shown why yours is the one they really want. Keyword: shown.
Never forget, you are not selling a product or service, you are delivering a message the consumer already wants to hear. They are emotionally prepared to connect with the right message. If you insert anything other than the message they want to hear, you add too many dynamics into the conversation. Sure, you might be proud of your widget’s superior ability to … whatever … but assuming your customer cares is a great way to push them out the door and over to a competitor.
