Bill Myers on How To Write an Ad "What's In It For Me?

Have you ever noticed that on the TV commercials for almost any national product, they rarely talk about the product itself? For example, when they show a commercial for a new car, they never show you the engine or the tires or the trunk or the interior.

One of the most effective ways to market any product is to provide answers to the question, 'What's in it for me?' before the question is asked.

What you will see are happy, healthy, good looking people surrounded by friends, all living the good life.
From the looks of it, these 'commercial people' don't have jobs (but always have money), don't eat right (but are never overweight), drive recklessly (but never get tickets), and rarely bathe (but have plenty of social partners).
And somehow, it is all because of the car they drive.
Of course, the TV commercial doesn't tell you that they live this dream life because they bought the right car - but subliminally, that's the message they are sending.
Basically the subliminal message answers the question, 'What's in it for me?' that most consumers ask themselves before they make a purchase.

Give them the answer before they ask the question
One of the most effective ways to market any product is to provide answers to the 'What's in it for me?' question before the question is asked. By doing this, you can provide answers to questions the consumer may not have considered possible, but certainly will consider appealing.
For example, I recently saw the following description of a book available at Amazon.com:
"In this book, you'll learn:

• How to get soda machines for FREE
• How to find the best deals on equipment purchases
• The three most profitable types of vending machines
• Four ways to boost sales
• How to find storage facilities and banks that will meet all your needs
• How to increase your business's credibility with prospective customers
• The three biggest scam warning signs
• .... (there were ten other items on this list)"

In essence, the above list answers 'What's in it for me?' several times. Starting with 'How to get soda machines for FREE'.

And maybe that's why the book Vending Business-In-A-Box shows up as number 32 on the Amazon best seller list for its category - because the description quickly tells 'What's in it for me?'

Answer the question first, then create the product
As I mentioned in two previous articles (The 5 minute guide to writing a script for your how to video, Part III and Brainstorming the perfect product) I am a firm believer in creating the marketing material for the product before you create the product.

Doing so allows you to create a 'What's in it for me?' list before you create the product.
Then you can use that list of answers as the development outline for product (ie. chapters in a book, report, DVD or video.)

Answer the 'What's in it for me?' question early and often in your marketing
One of the most effective ways to attract attention and win the hearts of paying customers is to answer the 'What's in it for me' question quickly and often within your sales message.
A good way to start your sales message is include a 'What's in it for me' answer in the headline (ie - Lose Ten Pounds This Weekend). And then follow that headline a few paragraphs later with a bullet list of at least 6 (but no more than 10) other 'What's in it for me' benefits to having the product.
Be careful not to confuse product features with customer benefits. Benefits are 'whats in it for me?', while 'features' are the technical details of the product (tire size, how much it weighs, mpg, etc.)
Initially the customer wants to know the benefits to owning the product. And only after they have been presented the benefits, should you consider covering some of the features of the product.
When providing details about the features of the product be be careful not to overwhelm the customer with too many details - as doing so might cause the customer to forget the benefits.

Examples
In addition to the description of the book, mentioned above, you can see examples of the 'what's in it for me' in almost all my product descriptions.

 For example, visit http://www.sitebank.com and notice how the 'what's in it for me' question is answered in the headline of the page, and then again in each of the four following paragraphs.
Then notice how each product description again answers the question.
Here's an example of a product description that answers the 'what's in it for me' question early and often:

Press Release-O-Matic

$34.95 |Demo | Order

Press Release-O-Matic! Automatically create ready-to-use Press Releases by Bill Myers Imagine being able to create a perfect press release in under a minute , formatted for printing or for use on your web site. With Press Release-O-Matic you can do just that. No other tools needed, no coding, no special skills. Just one button click, and your perfect press release is created for you. Even creates perfect 'cover letters' to go with your press release. This package includes the Royalty-Free Resell Rights to the Press Release-O-Matic software, the web page, and product delivery system. Easy to set up and sell from your web site. Plus a great tool you'll want to use! Press Release-O-Matic and resell rights - $34.95 Rating:

Take the test
Take a look at your own product description and marketing materials. Do they pass the 'What's in it for me?' test?
Do they quickly and compellingly answer the question, 'What's in it for me?'
Are you sure?
If 'What's in it for me?' isn't being answered, you might want to change your marketing material (and perhaps even your product), so that the question is answered quickly and often - as doing so will increase sales.

Setting Up a Television Studio

eBook Video Trailer

The software used in the above video was Sparkol's VideoScribe.

I purchased the PRO version because the free version has watermarks rendered in. Also, with the PRO version, you can render to Quicktime or FLV and without watermarks. It does take some time getting used to but it's been a great promo tool and something clients have been wanting done for them as well. 

Real Esate Video Home Tours

This one here was produced by Brian.

Meanwhile, here's one I did. I created "duplets" - meaning pairs of shots. I take the original photos and for each one I created an "art" shot in Smart Photo Editor. Then the "show" consists of a sequence of artshot-->original, artshot-->original, artshot-->original, etc.

VisualTour.com.

Gary North's Ad

My Ad for My Mississippi Home.

Gary North - June 25, 2013
 

If you need four bedrooms and two baths, but you only have enough money for a starter home, this is the best deal in northwest Mississippi.

Think about your situation. You need more rooms. Maybe you have a growing family. Maybe you want a separate family room, in addition to the living room. Or maybe you need an office for a home business. Your kids will have their own living space, but you can set aside at least one of these rooms for yourself, and still have two bedrooms for your kids.

There is a spacious master bedroom and bathroom.

The back yard is completely fenced. Your kids can play outside, and you will not have to worry where they are. There is plenty of room for a swing set. The back yard is a great place for dogs. It also has a concrete patio. You can set up your grill, and barbecue anything you want. Your family will enjoy the weekends.

The home is on a quiet street. It is conveniently located. It is only two minutes away from a Dollar General store, and about three minutes away from a Walmart Supercenter.

It is only about three miles away from Interstate 55. If you are commuting into Memphis, you can be inside the city limits in about six minutes. Right across the interstate is the beginning of the main shopping area of Southaven.

Another great advantage is this: you are not under the immediate flight plan of FedEx jets taking off from the Memphis airport. By the time any of them are overhead -- and there aren't that many -- they are high enough so that you don't notice them.

There was a new roof put on in 2011. The home's interior was freshly painted in June. It is ready to move in.

The kitchen is spacious and well lit. The appliances work fine.

It has a two-car garage. It has fully insulated walls. If you keep dogs in the garage at night, they will not freeze in the winter. You can put a space heater unit, and they will be fine.

This home is doggy heaven for a city dog. Right outside the back fence is a permanently open area that can never be used to build the subdivision behind you. The city has power lines going down the middle of this huge open area, and it stretches for miles. You can take your dog for a walk every day. It is like living in the country. There are even woods close enough to take your dog for a walk. The owner used to take his two dogs out every morning, at least if it was not raining, and all three of them got the exercise they needed.

There is a partially floored attic for storage space. There is a pull-down ladder for easy access.
At $107,000, it's a very good deal.

The owner plans to rent the home, beginning in September, if it doesn't sell. He owes nothing on it. Rental income will give him 10% on his investment -- far better than the bank pays. That's why time is running out on this opportunity.

Call for an appointment.

The Power of Directional Cues

From Robert Wenzel . . .

The Power of Directional Cues

Using visual cues to guide visitors to key areas of your site is nothing new, but just how effective is it?

According to studies such as the aptly named Eye Gaze Cannot be Ignored, it is incredibly effective. Human beings have a natural tendency to follow the gaze of others, and we have been coached since birth to follow arrows directing us to where we should be looking/going.

Consider the following example that included a page with a baby and a compelling headline for taking care of the baby’s skin.

It’s obvious that the baby’s face is drawing a lot of attention. (As a matter of fact, faces of babies and pretty women draw the longest gazes from all visitors.)

Unfortunately, from a marketing standpoint, this is a problem because the copy isn’t commanding enough attention.

Now look at the browsing patterns when an image of the baby facing the text was used.

As you can see, users focused on the baby’s face again (from the side) and directly followed the baby’s line of sight to the headline and opening copy. (Even the area of text that the baby’s chin was pointing to was read more!)

Lesson learned: Visuals are an important part of a site’s overall design, but most pages can be optimized by including images that serve as visual cues for where visitors should look next.

More marketing lessons from eye tracking studies, here.

Matt Drudge, 1998, National Press Club