In my market funneling mastermind video I talking about the power of niche marketing when you combine a problem with a good product. When you add in the person you’re selling to – the persona, avatar, or whatever you decide to call it (I like “Mary” for a gal) you are really in a place where you can multiply your efforts.
But what if you’re not selling a “how to clean cat urine from the carpet” pamphlet or the latest “Break 100 In 21 Days” DVD or the Back Master 2000 (guaranteed to remove your lower back pain in just 7 minutes a day or your money back)?
What if you’re trying to sell pepper spray?
Or soap on a rope?
Or customized horse reins?
Or salad dressing?
Now, you could be thinking right now,
“Ummm… Dave, how about I leave the salad dressing sales to you and just go work on the get out of debt crowd and the golf gadget suckers?”
Well, you have a point. Feel free to target whatever niche you want. Because here’s the secret:
- The 3 P’s (problem, product, persona) are just a selection criteria – they are a framing method.
- 3P is only PART of the formula…
But before we get to the next part of the formula I want to talk to you about surfers, researchers, and buyers.
Surfers, Researchers, And Buyers
When people use the internet they are generally in one of three modes:
- surfer – browsing around, (maybe) looking for information – or cat pictures.
- researcher – looking for reviews, comparisons, specific information
- buyer – credit card in hand
Here’s the thing – “buyer traffic” is the easiest to convert. Since they are (by definition) READY to buy all you need to do is not screw up the shopping cart transaction or affiliate link. Conduit pages are simple stripped down ecommerce-like datasheets that are great at converting buyer traffic because they only on presenting the facts about the product and then get out of the way so the visitor can press “Add To Cart”.
NOTE: (Chris Rempel coined the term “conduit page” and his Conduit Method ebook is the best book on the subject for these types of pages.
Buyer traffic is the easiest to convert because there is little preselling involved (or needed). You present the facts on the page and the visitor clicks or they don’t. In fact, with conduit only pages you really don’t have to worry about a “problem” or a “persona” – you just have to find a product.
Physical product makes and model numbers are classic buyer keywords for conduit pages because they seem like easy conversion targets. This isn’t the holy grail though. You’ll have tons of people researching a product by make and model number. Traffic will also be (relatively) low for most specific product makes and model numbers except when you’re in peak buying season for a hot product.
Researchers are visitors who either
- have a problem they need an answer to
- are refining what they want specifically
- need confirmation that their choice is a good one
Someone searching for ‘gluten free pancakes’ has a specific problem and solution on their mind. A person looking for ‘best heart rate monitor watch’ might not know if they are going to get the Polar F11 or the Timex Ironman Digital Heart Rate Monitor Watch but they are certainly thinking about getting a heart rate monitor. And the 37 year old soccer mom searching for “Paleo Diet reviews” isn’t thinking of joining Jenny Craig most likely.
Researchers are not yet buyers. So you can’t just present them with the facts – they aren’t ready to buy. The thing about researchers is that they have a broad perception of their problem (whether it be a pain, passion, or pleasure).
Research traffic can be very broad and if you are good at preselling you can convert this traffic quite effectively. Classic review pages, direct marketing sales pages for information products, and category pages like “best left handed infield gloves” all fit here.
Now, there’s more possible traffic here than with buyer traffic. But it isn’t as targeted so you have to work harder to get it to convert. But the upside is huge. That’s where the 3P’s come in. The visitor in research mode has a problem. You need to present a solution (the product). And the best way to do that is to understand the emotion of the visitor.
empathy maps
The fancy (and ninja powerful) term for this is developing an “empathy map.” In addition to some great books there are some excellent blog posts about empathy maps online.
The point to all this is that in order to get a researcher to purchase you have to help them get from point A (researching) to point B (buying).
The buying process is emotional – not logical – and understanding the visitors to your page gives you the best chance at crafting a presales message to get them from A to B.
Surfing traffic is most general of all. Surfers aren’t looking for solutions to a problem. They may not even know they have a problem. The good news is that there’s a lot of traffic potential here. The bad news is that converting this traffic can be hard.
Becoming an authority – gaining trust – can be key here. By understanding the related interests of surfers that stumble onto your page you can walk with them down a path that ends up in a sale. And you become an authority by demonstrating that you have insight into their innermost thoughts and feelings.
If you have lots of surfer traffic then understanding personas is key. Because the visitor won’t feel you have insight unless you can align with them (“he’s one of us”). Actually, the visitor will never truly feel that you are just like they are. They’ll know you are better. Why? Because you “get” them. You “speak” to them.
Now, this can be pretty polarizing. You probably don’t appeal to a 63 year old widow the same way you appeal to a 23 year old dude. At least I hope not. The point here is that you can’t target everything with 1 page (or one message). You have to choose.
There’s an emotional flow with both surfer and research traffic that converts. This isn’t the case in 100% of the time but it’s pretty darn close. The thing is – it can operate at an unconscious level. So unless you know what to look for you might miss it completely.
Here’s the essence of the flow – you have to align with the visitor before you can presell them on your product. In order to align with them you have to validate that you understand their problem. So you webpage has to target specific persona(s) so the visitor can self-select and get the emotional belief that you are aligned with them. From there – you have alignment – you can demonstrate insight and with that build trust. Finally, you’ve earned the right to walk with the visitor right up the cashier.
Effective preselling DEMANDS that you align with the visitor, provide trust/insight, and then “walk with them” to the buying decision.
Now, like everything there are some tricks you can apply to borrow trust (3rd party reviews being a popular one) but you still have to frame your product within the context of the visitor’s problem. And the best way to do this – and have repeat buyers – is by understanding their thoughts, emotions, interests, etc. (i.e. understand the persona of your visitors).
But isn’t that hard?
Pepper Spray, Soap, And Salad Dressing
So how do you sell “mundane” things like coat hangers, soap on a rope, horse leads, salad dressings, and pepper spray online?
Is it all about fancy voodoo SEO linking techniques and cloaking? Nope.
We have the 3P’s – problems, products, and personas.
The missing piece to the formula is “S” – stories.
3P + S = $$$ is the magic formula (one of many) for selling online.
Here’s why – people don’t want salad dressing. They want a great meal, a successful dinner party, or to get laid after the first “home cooked” meal they’re making for the new girlfriend.
A college girl isn’t buying pepper spray because it looks cool on her key chain. She’s buying protection. She’s buying a little peace-of-mind. She is buying safety.
Don’t get me wrong – if you’re the ecommerce vendor you need the product page. That’s your conduit page. But if you’re the affiliate – or if you just want to increase your traffic (say you’re dropshipping) – then you need to expand your keywords.
And more importantly, you need to differentiate yourself from all the other ecommerce and review pages out there.
You do that with story.
Tell a story that solves a problem (using your product) a specific person has and you win. It’s that simple.
Ken Giddens (RIP) was one of the best online marketers and story tellers I ever met. Listen to Ken talk about storytelling and preselling.
If you’re interested in learning more on how to apply story with the 3P’s I hope you’ll check out the market funneling mastermind video I made.
postscript: as I was working on a draft of this report I read posts by Justin Brooke and Andre Chaperon that influenced some of what is here. The graphics and webpage snippet screenshot from from two of Ken’s old sites – atozpepperspray.com and pepper-spray-store.com.
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