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I think we can all agree by now: Marketing is hard.

Building has its challenges too. But seeking attention is way harder.

Many see marketing as tricking people.

Good marketers see it as: showing people how you can help.

But that’s NOT the full story.

GREAT marketers do one more thing.

Today I’m sharing what it is. Let’s begin.

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Tricky as hell: Showing people how you can help

Demos, free trials, all that show & tell... People do benefit from your product. But still. They don’t buy.

Why?

Because buying is a human behavior. And human behaviors are unpredictable. And weird.

So when I was reading This Is Marketing by Seth Godin, one particular story stuck with me.

The story of how Seth found a way to minimize human weirdness.

Eliminate this from your marketing

The story:

Seth was in a small village in southern India. He was there to support a startup selling affordable ($3) reading glasses to help people (literally) see better.

People lined up in front of their stand. Seth could see most were qualified buyers.

• appropriate age (over 50)

• no glasses (can’t see well at that age)

• enough money (visible through their shirts)

The process:

1. Buyer tries on a pair of glasses.

2. Buyer sees an instant improvement.

3. Buyer picks a style they like out of 10 styles.

4. Buyer pays $3.

Simple, right? Not quite.

People tried on the glasses. Admitted gaining better vision. But 66% of them walked away without buying.

Perplexed, Seth sat in the scorching heat and in one hour he came up with an idea.

New process:

1. Same.

2. Same.

3. Buyer picks a style they like out of 10 styles. Seller asks: “Do you want to keep this pair of glasses for $3 or give it back to us?”

4. Buyer pays $3.

Only 1 out of 3 people were buying. Now 2 out of 3 people started to buy.

Conversion rate = doubled.

Why did this work?

People didn’t want to go back to NOT seeing. That was the decision they needed to make. An easy one. NOT the decision of, “Which pretty pair of glasses do I like?”

Decision = Brain effort.

BUT decisions are an important part of marketing. People LOVE to feel empowered to make a decision. They want to know they can just say no and walk away.

The real question is: what decision do you actually want them to make?

“Which one is prettier?” was not relevant.

“Vision or no vision?” was relevant.

Your turn:

• Do you show people how your product helps them?

• What’s the one important decision your customer has to make?