When marketing your product or service, think carefully about your use of numbers, and the means by which you quantify something as it can make a real difference.

Getting the full impact of the offer.

Consider offering a “two week online educational programme” versus a “14 video online educational programme”! The second option sounds much more substantial and gives the prospect a much better understanding of what they will get. With the first option, you have no idea how many times in the two weeks that you will need to set aside time for the course.

You can also choose your numbers carefully, to downplay the negative. Which would be more enticing?

a) Our course consists of 3.5 hours of videos or             b) Our course is only 15 minutes a day, for 14 days!

A big number can be both enticing and off-putting. You need to choose wisely for the circumstance! In the case above, you want people to feel that they are getting a lot for their money, but you also don’t want to overwhelm them with a feeling that it will be a massive undertaking. It is a careful tightrope to walk to get the right balance!

Choose your unit of measure carefully!

You want to choose the units of measure that is most likely to be understood. How many people understand how far 1,000 miles is, or how far is 1,000 kms? Why take the chance of people not understanding, when an alternate option is travel time? Everyone will understand what it means to take a two-hour drive, but not everyone will understand what it means to take a 1,600 km drive!

Another similar example relates to the size of things. People are much more likely to understand if you said something was the length of the local swimming pool, rather than it is 25 metres long! Or the height of a one storey house verses 4 metres high.

If you confuse people, you will turn them off. It is important to use units of measure that people can easily grasp, not making them feel stupid!

Pricing comparisons can make all the difference!

Giving people a real-life comparison of the cost of what you are offering versus an everyday expense can give a great perspective, that helps to sell your offering. As an example, you have the choice of two advertising options at the cost of:

a) $300 per month or                b) for the cost of less than two coffees per day.

Which would you choose? The price is actually the same, yet option b) sounds so much cheaper! A person is much less likely to complain that the cost is too high with option b), given the real-world comparison with the cost of a coffee!

Order of expression can also make a difference.

Which sounds better?

a) You get 12 biscuits for $2 or             b) For $2 you will get 12 biscuits.

Option a) sounds better as the emphasis is on getting 12 biscuits. The cost of $2 is secondary. With option b) the emphasis is on spending $2, which is a negative, with the fact that you get 12 biscuits being secondary!

Put your quantity or your added value first with your price last ie: a) Get 10 services for your car for only $1,000 or  b) Get a house load of insulation batts for only $2,000!

Make it easy for people to do the maths!

Some people will want to break down your offer to see just how good it is. If you make it difficult for them to do the maths, then you could lose them. So long as the numbers will reflect well on your offer, then it pays to do the maths for them!

An example: “Purchase our two-week diet shake programme for $42. That is only $3 per shake!”. That is a lot more appealing and less confusing than: “For $42 you get our 1kg diet shake programme”. With the second option, who is to know how long 1kg will last and therefore just how expensive it will work out to be!

Don’t underestimate the importance of how you present your offer as it can make all the difference!

Related articles:

https://msofmarketing.com/it-can-all-be-in-the-way-you-present-your-offer/

https://msofmarketing.com/use-images-to-sell/

https://msofmarketing.com/how-to-sell-on-value-not-price/

https://msofmarketing.com/solving-internal-and-external-problems/

https://msofmarketing.com/customers-can-be-unforgiving-and-businesses-can-be-arrogant/

https://msofmarketing.com/win-the-relationship-not-the-deal/