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Bad Mouth Your Products For Success??
By Michael Stelzner
Expert Author
Article Date: 2008-09-25
Does it ever make sense to say to your readers, don't buy our product or service? This is the underlying question in an interesting post by Adele Sommers (a little hint, he believes your white papers SHOULD do this).
The claim: By appealing to consumer research, he determined that, "People who were exposed to both pros and cons indicated a greater intention to buy than those exposed only to pros." The conclusion was based on research conducted with bicycles and toothpaste.
His conclusion, "People who are exposed to both the pros and cons have the impression that the information is complete. Therefore, they don't need to put forth the effort to generate and then weigh out the cons before they can make a good decision."
The white paper connection: Sommers asserts, "Rather than trying to convince everyone to buy, you're trying to convince people NOT to buy if they're not good candidates for your wares."
He goes on to say, "Your white paper can therefore explain the product's features, benefits, and parameters in such a way as to clearly assert: ‘Please buy this product only if you meet the prerequisites! If the shoes do not fit, we can't be responsible if they hurt your feet!' "
Here's a few questions for you:
- Do you think this consumer research applies to the world of business white papers?
- Do you buy the claim that convincing people not to buy will actually improve sales related to your white paper?
I'd really like to hear your thoughts.
Comments
About the Author:
Visit http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/ for extensive resources on crafting compelling white papers and applying creative marketing tactics.
Michael A. Stelzner is the author of the new book Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged and has written nearly 100 white papers for companies such as Microsoft, FedEx, Motorola, Monster and SAP.
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