Understanding marketplace shifts
A long time ago I read "breakthrough advertising" by Eugene Schwartz. I don't really even remember anything in that book. In fact, there is only one lesson I can recall learning directly from that book, but it is a lesson that has made me a lot of money over the course of this year.
And, I'm noticing this happening in Internet Marketing and a lot of people are overlooking it, so I wanted to share it with you.
In Breakthrough Advertising Schwartz talks about how markets evolve over time. For example, the weight loss market first start out with "lose weight!" as the claim for getting attention. But soon, that got over played, because so many people made that claim, and so few results were achieved from that claim.
Then, an advertiser came along and said "lose weight in 7 days", and the marketplace responded to that. Now it was something specific. Then, others made the same claims, and so few delivered on those claims that it became unbelievable.
Then, someone came along and said "lose 5 pounds in 7 days", and the marketplace responded. This time it was a specific amount in a specific time frame. But, of course others jumped in and made the same claims, few delivered on those claims, and pretty soon the claims became largely ineffective for getting attention and sucking people into their sales message.
Then it was "lose weight without exercise" "without dieting" etc. etc.
Marketplace evolution isn't exclusive to just the weight loss industry. It happens everywhere. And right now I've seen a very specific shift taking place, in internet marketing and so few people capitalizing it. I actually discovered it by accident.
When IM was in its budding youth, the best position to take was "I AM guru, I am all knowing, you should listen to me". However, that appeal has lost its effect, because everybody started making that claim, so few delivered on it and now it's unbelievable.
I'm finding the, "I'm just like you. I make a ton of mistakes. I try a lot of new stuff out, and there's a lot I don't know. However, almost by chance I did discover this one killer way to..." approach seems to be extremely effective in IM.
Like I said, I didn't deliberately set out to create this impression myself. I just did it because I WASN'T a guru, and I DO make a lot of mistakes, and I DID discover a few cool techniques. But what I find out a lot from customer feedback is that people resonate with me because I seem more human. I'm the opposite of the guru... I'm actually human, just like them.
What's the takeaway? If you're entering the internet marketing niche, or you want to get a better interaction with the list you're building or about to build, I'd consider the "authentic" positioning as an option to nurture your relationship.
What's your take on things?
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