Do You Sell a Necessity or a Luxury? They Are Marketed Differently

by Kevin Nunley

Products and services are a mixed bag. Some are downright
necessities. If my toilet explodes, I need a plumber. If your
child wakes up with a high fever, you need a doctor. Raging
termites, aching teeth, and lawsuits also require services that
are necessities.

But most products and services are more luxury than necessity. I
often hire a young man to mow my lawn. But if he's on vacation
one week, I'll get my out-of-shape self out there and push the
mower myself.

Businesses buy out of necessity 90 percent of the time. Consumers
feel a purchase is a necessity more like 30 percent of the time.
In many cases consumers could do the job themselves or make the
product. More often they simply want to buy to save time and
trouble.

It's important to think about how your product or service is
considered by customers. Do some consider you a necessity while
others figure you provide a luxury?

This can figure in how you promote your business and write your
advertising. Necessities should be promoted as an affordable
solution to a pressing problem. Stress your competence and
caring.

Promote luxuries by pointing out how much better the customer's
life will be after she buys. Stress how your product or service
saves time, money, and hassle. There is an old saying among
advertising professionals: When your ad stresses everything, you
stress nothing.

Let me give you an example. Lots of web sites list every single
benefit their product or service can give you. You're faced with
a long, long list of bulleted points.

Kudos to these sites for putting their features and benefits in
easy-to-browse bullets. But they would do far better to focus
their sales copy on just a few key advantages.

People tend to skip over copy that tries to stress every feature
and aspect of a product. Even worse, many people simply skip
over copy that tries to cram in too much.

Make a list of the top three things about your product or service
that seem to impress customers most.

Create a headline for your copy that extols the virtues of one of
your advantages. Then have your copy introduce the other two
points. This keeps your sales copy from becoming overburdening
with too much for busy customers to think about.

Of course, many serious prospects want all the information they
can get. Save your complete list of features and benefits for a
second all-you-can-read page.

Stressing the main points and advantages of your product works
well on your web page, but it's a great way to structure a radio
or televion commercial, too.

Radio and television are excellent buys for many small
businesses. It's pretty affordable to advertise through these
mass media outlets, not to mention they also allow you to
advertise to a very specific audience.

Radio stations format their programming for certain age groups
and life styles. Whether you want to reach blue-collar men
between the ages of 25 and 35, or white-collar women over 50;
there is a radio station for you.

Cable TV systems are dramatically increasing the number of
channels they offer. New low- power TV stations are popping up
everywhere. Soon, thanks to new digital technology, regular
broadcast stations may be able to split their single channel into
several. All these new channels need advertising to survive.
Many are offering very affordable rates easily in reach for small
business people.

Start by calling the sales departments of radio and TV stations.
Ask about rates for advertising at different times of day. Also
ask about package deals, where you get a price break for buying a
number of spots over time. Keep in mind the kinds of audiences
you'll be reaching.

After you have all of this information, you can look at the
demographics of your audience and decide if it would be better to
push your product or service as a necessity or a luxury. Remember
to stress the most important points for a better response.

About the Author

Kevin Nunley
Get your business or organization covered by radio, TV, and
newspapers. See Kevin's affordable press releases packages at
http://drnunley.com/release.htm We write your release then send
it media nationwide. Reach Kevin at mailto:kevin@drnunley.com or
801-328-9006.