Top reasons people buy – and why they’re not buying from you!
It’s your biggest nightmare
You’ve put so much time and effort into your business and you just can’t make the sales, or get the bookings you need. It’s super easy to feel disheartened when you have put everything into your enterprise and you just don’t see the results you want.
But what about exploring the reasons why people buy. These reasons seem almost too simple, yet this is how the human psyche works. Take a moment to refer back to my article Beware! Do You Know Your Target Audience? Mostly, people spend money on products and services that are going to ease some problem or solve some issue for them. You can have the best product or service in the world, but if people can’t relate to the benefit they will receive then they won’t buy.
So, without further ado here are the top 10 reasons why people spend money on something:
- Save time
- Save money
- Make money or prevent losing money
- Avoid effort
- To attract others
- Be in style
- Protect their family
- Gain recognition/praise
- To be unique
- To feel good about themselves – altruism
What are your Features and Benefits?
The most common problem in sales emails, newsletter, or product and event advertisements is that the business owner lists all the features and none of the benefits.
You might be thinking “what’s the big deal as people need to know the features”. But features don’t sell anything. If you refer back to some of my previous blogs you will see that prospective customers will buy your classes, products or events because they connect with you, trust you, and know that you are the one who can solve their problems.
Look at it this way. During my copywriter training program we were given the perfect example of this. A tube of toothpaste. The features are that it contains a whole bunch of chemicals. No one is going to buy it if you list these in your sales copy. What about if you list the benefits of using that toothpaste – white teeth, fresh breath, confidence, ready to kiss….and so on. Do you see the difference?
People buy from you because they have a need. They buy benefits. However, most businesses continue to promote features, which is just plain boring and does not tell them ‘what’s in it for me’. This is the Number One rule for writing great copy.
Similarly, we can look at a pair of high-quality, well-made boots. What’s good about these boots? Well, Feature #1 could be they last longer. That’s great, but what’s really great about that is that it means they will take longer to wear out so you can save money by not having to replace them for 10 years. That’s the Benefit.
Feature #2 is that they are water proof which means that your feet don’t get damp or wet if walking in the rain. Again, that’s nice, but what’s really good about that is your feet stay dry which means you stay warm, comfortable and arrive at your destination in a great mood.
So, one of the first things you need to do in conjunction with your copywriter is identify the features and benefits of your product or service.
To do this, we need to first identity every feature that your product or service offers. There could be dozens of features. It’s my job as your copywriter to find as many features as possible. Of course, not every feature and benefit will end up in the final copy, but together we can work out what they are and identify the three most important ones to use in the copy.
Next, we then need to convert each feature into a benefit. Remember, people buy benefits, not features.
To deduce what the benefit is, you simply insert the words “which means that” after the feature.
Tone of voice
You may think this is strange. However, the tone of voice you use in your copy will create the personality of your product or service. This is super important to attract the right customers. Because if your ideal customer can’t relate to the words in front of them then you’ve missed the mark.
Consider 3 or 4 words to describe the voice of your products, services, and website. For example, warm, friendly, officious, classy, blue collar, down to earth, elegant, hip, academic, and so on. This is a really important consideration. Attract your ideal customer through the tone of your words.
Of course, it is possible to have more than one target market. In fact, many businesses do. But make sure you are clear who you are ‘speaking’ to. You might be creating two or three different ads or sales pages for the one product or service in order to capture different aspects of your target audience.
Competitors – What are other wellness brands doing well?
Investigate three websites that you consider to be in direct competition with you. What do you do or offer that is different to them? What is your point of difference that will make a buyer choose you over them?
For example, if you are running wellness retreats check out the competition and seriously consider what you can do differently. What unique value can only you bring to this space? Who will be attending your retreats? What words can you use to speak directly to these people and get them to click on the Buy Now button?
Remember the reasons people buy
You can entice your customers by keeping the Top 10 Reasons People Buy at the front of your thoughts. People buy to solve a problem of some sort. Remember that when you are writing your blogs, your ads, your social media content.
Sound like hard work?
Sure, it can be. Writing copy that has a positive impact on the growth of your business, and importantly, on your customers, is tricky. If you have the time and skills to do it yourself that is terrific. Good on you. However, if not, please don’t worry. That’s what a great copywriter can do for you. Their job is to create the match between what you sell and the person who needs to buy it.
Thanks for reading this far.
Silva x
P.S. What was the last thing you bought and why did you buy it? Shoot me an email and let me know.
P.P.S. Have you downloaded my FREE e-book yet. Keep scrolling down this page and you’ll see it “7 Steps to Building a Heart-Driven Business”
Main Photo by Queens on Unsplash
Small Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash