I think part of the reason I love marketing is because of the excitement. Creating a new product and launching a new advertising campaign is always exciting, and when the first sale comes in, it’s always a big rush.
(Well, the “rush” may have something to do with tequila… You see, we have a little tradition around here where we take a shot of tequila when we launch an ad campaign, and another when we get the first sale…)
Anyways, advertising is fun. But, like tequila, it can also get dangerous. As an entrepreneur, it’s pretty easy to fall in love with your product and lose sight of the need to SELL it. So, I’m going to share some thoughts and advice about how to sell a brand new product online.
First off, you must understand that you can’t just rely on having a great product. I’m going to assume that your product is great. But the fact of the matter is that a mediocre product with a great sales message will always outsell a great product with a mediocre sales message. Your ability to sell your product is WAY MORE important than the quality of your product.
Sure, it’s possible your product could sell and thrive solely via on word-of-mouth. But that’s a very risky proposition. If you want to have control over your growth, you’ll want to be able to profitably advertise – and that means convincing TOTAL STRANGERS to pull out their wallets and give you money in exchange for your product. That is not an easy proposition… but it IS possible.
When I’m writing copy to sell a brand new product, I’m looking for 2 big things:
1) The Unique Hook
When I’m searching for The Unique Hook, I’m asking questions like:
What’s new or newsworthy about this product?
Why does this product deserve to exist in the marketplace?
In other words, I’m saying “Who Cares?”
Here’s an example of a Unique Hook for a new product.
Through our Main Street ROI division, we recently created a do-it-yourself search engine optimization (SEO) course for small business owners. The Local SEO Formula teaches small business owners how to get ranked #1 in Google’s local search engine results.
Say it with me… “Who Cares?!”
Well, the first aspect of this Unique Hook is news.
Over the past year or so, Google has changed the search engine results to show local businesses far more prominently. This change has made it easier than ever to get your small business ranked in Google.
(This isn’t technically “news” because the change happened a while ago, but most small business owners are unaware of it, so it still qualifies as news in my view…)
The other aspect of the Unique Hook is “do-it-youself.”
As you may know, most small business owners are flooded with spam emails, cold calls, and other solicitations by SEO companies offering to get them ranked #1 in Google. We are standing out in the marketplace by offering a do-it-yourself solution.
So, I can boil the Unique Hook down to this statement:
“Google recently made some big changes to their search engine algorithm, and now it’s easier than ever for small businesses to rank #1 in Google’s local search results. In fact, with the right information, you can easily do it yourself instead of hiring an expensive SEO company.”
2) Your “Simple Selling Statement”
Once you have people’s attention, you need to provide a convincing argument for why they should buy your product. That sounds pretty obvious, I know. But you really need to be convincing, and then boil your message down to 1-3 sentences — the simpler, the better.
Here’s my “Simple Selling Statement” for The Local SEO Formula:
“If you’re going to hire an SEO company, it’ll cost you thousands of dollars. But the Local SEO Formula shows you how to do it yourself for only $197. Order today, and you’ll save thousands of dollars because you won’t have to hire an SEO company.”
Once I figured out the Unique Hook and the Simple Selling Statement, it was much easier to create the whole sales argument. And as a result, our initial ad campaign for this new product has been a success.
Here’s What to Do Now
1. Find Your Unique Hook
What’s new or unique about your product? If you were going to write a press release about your product, what would you focus on? What would the headline of your press release be?
2. Create Your “Simple Selling Statement”
Keep it simple and conversational. If somebody walked up to you and asked, “Why should I buy your product,” what would you say in response?
Most importantly, it has to actually be convincing. If your basic sales message isn’t convincing, go back to the drawing board. You may need to modify your product, your pricing, your target audience, etc.
“But Wait, There’s More…”
I believe these 2 ingredients – the Unique Hook, and the Simple Selling Statement – are two of the most important parts, but there are many more pieces to a complete sales argument.
If you’re interested in seeing the complete sales argument I scripted for The Local SEO Formula, you can watch the video here:
