There it is, the eternal question: “Why I’m not selling?“. “And why should you?” is the most natural answer you can give. “Because my product is great!” replies the conscientious manufacturer of anything, who puts only the best raw materials in his products and is ready to swear on the effectiveness of his products. “And who cares!” the average consumer replies loudly. Asking the innkeeper if the wine is good is no longer a buying strategy for anyone and, as a result, shouting loudly that you have a great product and squandering on the conscientiousness with which the product is made no longer leads to anything. Nobody believes you anymore. And why doesn’t anyone believe you anymore? The good Bill Bernbach knew: “The truth isn’t the truth until people believe you, and they can’t believe you if they don’t know what you’re saying, and they can’t know what you’re saying if they don’t listen to you, and they won’t listen to you if you’re not interesting, and you won’t be interesting unless you say things imaginatively, originally, freshly” – Bill Bernbach.
Put another way, you have two options:
- Your product is so extraordinary that you don’t need to do anything, only by word of mouth your sales increase at a glance and it manages to make itself known to a large number of people.
- You need personality, to distinguish your product from all other products identical to yours (or otherwise perceived as identical) or, worse, perceived as better than yours.
Now, let’s be honest: there are very few people or companies holding a product that is part of the number one option. If you or your company recognize yourself in this description turn off your computer and go billing, you’re wasting your time here. If, like most companies, you have on your hands a product that you believe in, that you think is valid but that does not sell as you would like, then try to get out of the shoes of those who created that product (or that service) for a moment and sell it and ask yourself: “Why would anyone want to buy my product (or service)?“.
And here we pick up on the initial question, but follow me because I’m going to give you a series of questions and answers that maybe can help you clarify your ideas.
Question: “Why would anyone want to buy your product or service?”
Manufacturer/Seller: “Because it’s a good product!”
Question: “Do you know anyone who says that their products are bad?”
Producer/Seller: “Ehmm… lol But I’m telling the truth! Those who try my product then understand its quality and go back to buy it”
Question: “No doub about that but, if we are here to talk about this, it is because you have a problem that comes before the moment your customer tries your product. Your problem now is convincing him to give it a try! Or at least consider buying it. Right?”
Producer/Seller: “Right. But if the quality of my product is not enough, how do I sell?”
The answer to this question, my dear, lies in personality. You need PER-SO-NA-LI-TY. In other words, you must be unique and be able to communicate your uniqueness. In order to do this, however, you need to be at peace with one concept: custumers will love you or hate you, but at least they will stop ignoring you. You’ll lose a slice of potential customers, but you’ll earn others who will appreciate your personality and share your worldview.
Only after you’ve clearly defined your personality I would suggest you to think to things like a Facebook/Instagram/TikTok page, ads on Google, and any other kind of advertising, offer, or campaign. If not, advertising is totally useless, believe me. Ads on Faceboook or Google Ads don’t work miracles, it’s not enough to pay. Behind it there must be a work on the brand and its personality, on its uniqueness, on emotion.
And here are some necessary clarifications.
First of all, let us be clear: to stand out, it is not enough to say that you are different. To be unique is not enough to say that you are unique. Even further. To stand out, you don’t have to say you’re different. I’ve never met anyone who was really unique and different who goes around saying, “I’m different from the others, like me there’s no one!” That status is something that you earn, that others recognize you. It is a medal that is earned and that cannot be made at home. Prove me that you are unique and different: if it’s true, I’ll notice it myself.
The second important element is that having a personality means knowing how to trigger emotions. Do you know the now well-known consumer journey? Awareness – Interest – Consideration – Purchase – Loyalty. It is the path that a potential customer takes from the moment he learns of the existence of a product until he becomes a loyal consumer. Now, on the first point, awareness, making it known that you exist, a lot of tools come into play: from the website to advertising on Google Ads and social media. But it is on the second step that I want to focus: the one relating to interest. I can let the whole world know that I exist, but if I don’t get anyone’s interest, if I don’t trigger emotions in anyone, they’ll forget about me in a second. It will then be in the third step, the one relating to consideration, in which I will be able to put in place all the most rational reasons why my product is good, indeed better than the others. First, though, you have to make sure to arouse interest.
Finally, one last important note. When I talk about triggering emotions, I mean above all ‘build a relationship’. Let me explain better: I can be really very fascinated by the story that tells me about your product, I can find it moving /funny/exhilarating. But if your story does not start to build a relationship with me, I will not buy your product anyway. The trick is therefore to know well your potential customer (target) to be able not only to arouse in him an emotion but above all to arouse in him an emotion that represents him, to engage him, to become for him a symbol of values in which he believes.
Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
