I was at a friend’s computer. When it logs on to the Internet, it brings up MSN.com.
At the top was a banner saying something to the effect “Make MSN.com your start page like so many other people have”.
And that benefits me how?
I don’t find it particularly thrilling to be part of a mindless horde of lemmings dashing to visit MSN.com whenever I log on to the internet.
They have nothing there - from what I see - that any portal site doesn’t have.
Now the impulse not to be “weird” is motivating to be sure. We don’t like to be socially ostracized because we’re “different”, but nobody’s been lynched for not having MSN.com as their home page yet. And on the flip side, nobody’s ever asked me what my home page was, so there’s little likelihood that someone will say:
“Wow, MSN.com’s your home page? I knew you were brilliant!”
So at the end of the day, really there’s no perceived advantage in me making MSN.com my home page. And for the life of me, I don’t know why anyone else does except for inertia - too lazy to change their start page to something else.
It comes back to the ultimate question all our marketing needs to answer: “What’s in it for me?”
What benefit does your customer derive from the transaction you propose?
This is especially important because I believe consumers OVERESTIMATE the benefit the sales person receives.
Consumers think that if they pay $30,000 for a new car, the dealer is keeping $29,995. I’m exaggerating, but just slightly. There’s a common suspicion that everyone in sales is getting “rich” and so many feel it’s their duty not to buy from you because they don’t want you to get too filthy rich from that $27 ebook you’re selling.
It behooves marketers to make clear to the buyer “What’s In It For The Buyer”. That’s something that never changes but which MSN apparently forgot.
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