Note to Reader: You may not be able to appreciate this post if you are a man or wear a size zero. All others, read on.
I was shopping online at Piperlime (something I do more often now that I have a little girl) checking out what the new styles and colors are for spring. Never one to resist a good sale, I clicked on this button:

When the page loaded and I saw a pair of skinny jeans, 60% off and FINAL SALE - I thought to myself - are you COMPLETELY CRAZY? What girl would buy a pair of skinny jeans online that were FINAL SALE? Finding a great-fitting pair of regular jeans is a 1:100,000 odds of winning, finding a great pair skinny jeans? 1:1 million - if you're lucky.

It made me think. What would I feel comfortable buying at Final Sale and what makes that different from the jeans? And then I thought, when are the times when we make people feel like they are buying a pair of skinny jeans at final sale?
Most of the time, marketing is oriented towards aiding the sales process. It is about creating a connection with a strong brand, clearly articulating features and benefits of a product or service and making a complex story accessible and easy to understand. We must be aware; when doing marketing for ourselves at Element Three or working with one of our clients - that we don't present an offer that contains too much risk for the buyer. Clients and prospects will be turned off by the giant leap you are asking them to take. Offer a party shirt for $30 - something you can wear once, discard and not feel bad about it. To parallel business, it's like a free trial, a small project or an online demo.
I'm even fairly comfortable with risk - but Final Sale, Skinny Jeans? Are you crazy?
What about you, where in your business are you asking people to buy Final Sale, Skinny Jeans?
I was shopping online at Piperlime (something I do more often now that I have a little girl) checking out what the new styles and colors are for spring. Never one to resist a good sale, I clicked on this button:

When the page loaded and I saw a pair of skinny jeans, 60% off and FINAL SALE - I thought to myself - are you COMPLETELY CRAZY? What girl would buy a pair of skinny jeans online that were FINAL SALE? Finding a great-fitting pair of regular jeans is a 1:100,000 odds of winning, finding a great pair skinny jeans? 1:1 million - if you're lucky.

It made me think. What would I feel comfortable buying at Final Sale and what makes that different from the jeans? And then I thought, when are the times when we make people feel like they are buying a pair of skinny jeans at final sale?
Most of the time, marketing is oriented towards aiding the sales process. It is about creating a connection with a strong brand, clearly articulating features and benefits of a product or service and making a complex story accessible and easy to understand. We must be aware; when doing marketing for ourselves at Element Three or working with one of our clients - that we don't present an offer that contains too much risk for the buyer. Clients and prospects will be turned off by the giant leap you are asking them to take. Offer a party shirt for $30 - something you can wear once, discard and not feel bad about it. To parallel business, it's like a free trial, a small project or an online demo.
I'm even fairly comfortable with risk - but Final Sale, Skinny Jeans? Are you crazy?
What about you, where in your business are you asking people to buy Final Sale, Skinny Jeans?

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