The biggest waste of your marketing dollar is believing you know your audience when you don’t.
And not necessarily because you’re wrong about what you know, but because you didn’t dig deep enough into the “why.” 🤔
Fact is, you need to know your audience BETTER than they know themselves.
One famous manufacturer found this out the hard way. 💸
So grab a helmet with a light on it and lower yourself into the cave… we’re goin’ in…
Here’s how General Mills learned this lesson real fast, as told in the book, “Story or Die,” by Lisa Cron.
In 1947 the first instant cake mixes hit store shelves. All you needed to whip up a delicious dessert was a splash of water, mix it up and voilà!
Cake.
There was nothing else like it on the market. It was cheap and time saving.
What more could a person possibly want? How could this possibly NOT sell?
Yet, the cake mixes sat on store shelves. 😕
GM was baffled. So much so they hired a bunch of psychologists to find out what in tarnation was wrong.
What they found was completely unexpected…
Since homemakers took pride in making their homemade cakes, they felt ‘left out’ of the process.
They literally felt guilty for claiming the cake was homemade when they only added water.
The solution?
In a case of “less is more,” the manufacturer removed the powdered eggs. So the baker was required to ADD an egg.
Sales skyrocketed. 🚀🚀🚀
Even the homemakers themselves didn’t know why an instant mix seemed “wrong” somehow.
Here’s the thing…
When asked, people will tell you what they think you want to hear.
The author concludes that while most people know how they want to feel, they often have no clue what will make them feel that way.
How deep do you dive into your audience’s hopes and dreams as they relate to your offer?
Other posts you may enjoy:
How to Use Curiosity to Boost Open Rates
How to Write For 4 Types of Website Visitors
How to Create Emotional Impact with Your Copy
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