Your Product is an Experience!

Imagine this:
A man scoops up a big slice of pizza with his hand, and as
he pulls it closer towards his mouth fat strings of
mozzarella cheese drip around the slice and cling stickily
to the rest of the pie on his plate. The man takes a bite,
and more hot cheese oozes out, while thick red sauce and
golden brown pepperoni and round juicy mushrooms bunch up
against his mouth.

Now how about this:
A woman in a trench coat walks through a foggy drizzle, then
pauses underneath a street lamp. She looks down at a
creased card with the words "meet me" in her hand. When she
looks up again the fog seems to lift, and she sees him --
standing cold and unsure in front of the French café. He
sees her and smiles, then at the same moment they run
towards each other and embrace on the cobbled street. As
they dissolve into a kiss the drizzle disappears, and shy
beams of sunlight begin falling on the poignant Eiffel
tower, watching over them and the café and all the lovers
in the world.

Now, these may seem like the kind of images you usually see
on tv commercials. As a matter of fact, they ARE.

But as marketers let's give them each a closer look, and
find out what makes them affect not just our minds, but
also places in our stomachs and our hearts.

The first image is asking you to order their pizza. The
second is asking you to make flight reservations to Paris.
Both are offering you tangible products & services.

But what they're really selling you on -- and what their
images vividly show -- are the EXPERIENCES they promise
you'll get when you purchase what they offer.

Because although emotions are at the heart of all human
decisions, it's EXPERIENCE that catalyzes all emotion. And
knowing that can help you win most any round of this
marketing game.

YOUR Product Is An Experience
-----------------------------
Our lives are made up of strings of experiences, and they're
what define our memories, awaken our feelings, and influence
our decisions both personal & professional.

As business owners, we need to understand that when clients
start asking about our products, they're really not that
interested in speed, gigabytes, or all the flashy buttons
(although they might seem to at first).

At the heart of all their questions they really need just
one answer: How is your product going to affect their
lives?

And this question can only be answered by describing the
experience.

Fairy Tales and Coffee Mugs
---------------------------
Disney initially defined itself as a maker of cartoons, then
eventually went into other business ventures as well.

But now whether you think about movies, or toys, or a trip
to Disneyland, you are clearly aware that Disney
consistently promises you the same kind of experience:
The chance to have fun, to play, to make believe and be a
child again.

And for many adults this is an experience worth saving for,
or travelling hundreds of miles for -- making Disney a
leader in its field, and a phenomenon in the marketing
industry.

But suppose you're not as big as Disney, and are offering
something that many other entrepreneurs also have the
ability to offer?

This was the situation for most coffee shop owners before
Starbucks entered the scene.

Although they offered the same thing (coffee & pastries) in
essentially the same way (in cups and plates), Starbucks
made its mark by opening shop in the busiest cities and
promising urbanites a distinct experience:

The chance to break away from the chaos of city life, sink
into a quiet couch with a steaming cup of coffee, and relax
the hours away without anyone bothering them or asking them
to leave.

Your Turn
---------
Based on these examples, you can see how it's entirely
possible to turn any feature into a benefit, and then
package all your benefits into an emotional experience.

The question now is, how do you work in this image /
message / promise into your marketing materials?

Here are 3 ways:

1) Show.
Experience your product through the eyes/ears/nose/skin of
your client, then translate those sensations into an image
they can understand.

This "image" may be an actual photo, a video, or a
compelling paragraph of words. Use them on your website,
in your ezine, on your pop under ads -- and make sure you
truly deliver on your promise, so first-time clients become
long term patrons, who in turn tell others of their
experiences with you.

2) Testify.
When you use client testimonials, you actually give
potential customers the most convincing evidence for buying
your products: actual accounts of other people's positive
experiences with you.

Because a testimonial comes from someone outside of your
company, it quickly eliminates most prospects' doubts,
because they're more inclined to accept it's true.

3) Demonstrate.
With the interactive capabilities of the Internet, it's now
easier more than ever to actually let potential clients get
a first-hand taste of what you're offering before asking
them to commit to a purchase decision.

This act of giving them full control of the process is a
positive experience (for them) in itself, usually leading
to a satisfying ending -- both for the client, and for you.

So no matter what you're offering -- whether it's widgets
or ebooks or software or potato chips -- people will always
remember if buying & using it was enjoyable, or easy, or
frustrating, or fun.

And THAT first experience is what could make them want to do
it all over again and help you convince others who haven't
tried it to say YES.

© Tatiana Velitchkov