Focus Your Small Business Marketing Message On The End Result, The End Benefits

A man walking into a hardware shop is not interested in buying a hammer; he is interested in making a table for his dining room. That is what you should market to him; the ability to make a table, not the hammer. A man who wants to make holes in wood is not interested in drills; he is interested in holes. So sell him the perfect hole, not the perfect drill. 'This is the perfect hole, and it just so happens that this particular drill makes that hole.'

Here is the golden rule to keep in mind: people don't buy products or features. They buy the end result.

They don't buy what the product "does", they buy the "advantage or profit gained" by what it does.

They are not interested in a hammer, they are interested in making furniture.

They are not interested in paint, they are interested in living in a beautiful house.

They are not interested in flying, they are interested in enjoying a holiday with loved ones on the beach.

The product itself, or it's features, are just a means to an end. Always, always, always, focus on marketing the end result, and only mention the product itself or the features to explain how the end result will be achieved.

Now, this end result is almost always connected to the 7 core human drives. What are those 7 core human drives?

1. To feel. We all want to feel something. Anything. Emotion. Any emotion, whether it is positive or negative, is better than no emotion at all. We live our entire lives driven by emotion.

2. To defend and protect. We like to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our things, our country, our ideas, our feelings, our honor, and more. We are instinctively driven to protect.

3. To bond, love and feel loved. This one is easy. We all want to belong. We all want to feel that someone loves us. And we love to love.

4. To acquire, possess, and collect. This drive is so manic that it dictates entire economies. Consumerism. Sometimes we even take it too far. People just want to have stuff. People want to posses not just things, but even other people. We feel safe, important even, when we collect, acquire, and posses.

5. To learn or satisfy curiosity. We are curious. We are nosy. And we love to know. That is why you buy books, watch TV, and use the Internet so much. You can't help yourself.

6. To seek status. People go to extraordinary lengths for the sake of status. They build empires, kill each other, study for that doctorate that takes forever to complete, marry from certain families and not others, wear brands, and much, much more. Society is an invisible ladder. That ladder is called status. Everybody is trying, in one way or another, in one area of life or another, to climb that ladder and be higher than other people. Of course, some people care about financial status, while others don't. Others care about artistic status while others don't. We don't all care about the same kind of status, but we all care about some kind of status.

7. To avoid pain, discomfort or hustle. Another easy one. We don't want pain, we don't want discomfort, and we don't want to be bothered or to struggle.

So, for best results, market the end result and even better, market how that end result connects with the 7 core human drives. That is how you make people care about what you are selling, and care enough to buy.