How Not to Sell Cartoon
When I go to a store, like Target or Old Navy or pretty much anywhere, I like to move around at my own pace. I don’t like when people come up to me the minute I walk in the door and ask if I need help. I just smile and say, “no thanks I’m just looking” and move on. I do try to be nice and listen to them because having worked in retail, there are things you offer to the customers as last minute deals trying to boost store sales, and sometimes they do have good sale coupons to offer but generally I will come find someone on my own if I need some assistance.
The cartoon on The Oatmeal depicts just that. People respond positively to genuine help and do not like to have things forced upon them. I had to laugh at the last guy because he reminded me of a used car salesmen, like the dad from Matilda. The cartoon also kind of spoke to the point of why do the salesmen, like the mustached man, want to sell that product so bad? Is it solely about commission? Or is there something fishy about the product?
The second guy in the cartoon reminded me of an infomercial salesman; buy now and we’ll double the offer but you have to call with in the next five minutes. Both of the last two men in the cartoon had an element of sleaze to them and there always seems to be a catch with places/people like that.
It all comes down to time and money. Are you getting a good value and is it worth your time? People do not like to have their time and money wasted. By salesmen being upfront about a product, people are more likely to listen and buy because they feel that they have had an exchange of value—this is also true with customer reviews.
Role Change
Having just recently become a fan of MadMen, it is interesting to see how the Ad world was then and how it is today. Though some may have considered advertising then selling a lie, and creating a want I considered it to be selling an idea (which I suppose could be a false idea so yeah, lie). They were selling the American Dream.
In the first season of MadMen one episode was about marketing this one particular steel company, Bethlehem Steel. The strategy was to sell the idea that the Steel Company was the backbone of America; America was built on Bethlehem Steel.
Now it appears there has been a shift in advertising. It is almost the same kind of shift seen with Journalists and citizen journalists. Firms still create a want for a product but because of the advent of social media, people have in a sense exposed the products. Rather than being fed products or told what to do, consumers now can think for themselves. Customer reviews provide potentially honest opinions of a product so that others can make decisions based on the review given.
Though it is useful for helping potential customers to hear what others say, it is also an excellent market research tool for companies. It is an easy way for customer feedback and they can also see what customers want through means of popular purchases and then make similar suggestions for what a customer may want to buy; this also helps bring customers back to the site so that they want more which in turn creates more revenue for a company.
The Rise of Testimonials
More and more we now see real people instead of paid actors in ads. Dove has the real women campaign, fast food places like Wendy’s are using real people to sell their hamburgers etc. Places like Weight Watchers and Subway, though they have celebrity spokespeople, they also use real success stories in there ads. When people can relate to something they feel some kind of call to action. However, testimonials can be misleading. For example some “diet pills” like Xenedrine Ultra or NV have fit people endorsing their products. Like Ronnie from the Jersey Shore; we all know his GTL routine and that some pill does not make him look the way he does. Proper diet and exercise delivers results where these so called quick solutions can have serious health implications.
Good Social Media Practices
Email used to be a very popular way to continue reach to potential consumers besides post mail. Now Facebook, Twitter and other social sites have overtaken email.
Social media is a smart and strategic move for companies to have a social media campaign incorporated to their website for a few reasons.
1. Facebook is a good way to reach a mass audience because pretty much everyone has a Facebook. And most recently the older generation has seen an increase of new members.
2. Personal connection enables peer-to-peer contact which creates interaction and motivation for return to the site
3. It is a good chance that you will like things that your friends like so word of mouth and relevant content are connections through personal connections.
Websites to look at:
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