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Too Much Is Too Much Even In Internet MarketingWritten by John W. Furst, has got 9 Comments. Frank Kern He had produced at first 2,000 and then another 1,000 sets of his best marketing material containing 9 DVDs, a book, a 150 page special report, and a newsletter. Mid August 2008 he gave it all away for shipping cost only. Actually less than that, because it was a heavy box and Frank sponsored the cost out of his own pocket. This was not called a product launch, but a marketing experiment. A first time try for him and he, therefore, was not sure about the outcome at all. The goal was to get as many new paying subscribers for his monthly printed newsletter as possible. As everybody had expected the first offer of 2,000 sets was sold out in less than 1 hour (the kind of usual scenario with Frank's The first part of this marketing experiment worked quite well. Many of those who have ordered the “almost free box of good stuff” said,
“The best package they ever received.” As a result many people stuck with the newsletter for US$297.00 a month. Quite an expensive item, but obviously worth it to them. However, some people had a huge problem! Overwhelm! The single biggest complaint and reason for cancellation was, “This is too much stuff!” Those customers thought the materials they received in the first box will last them for several month and therefore they wouldn't be able to keep up with the new materials being sent each month. The Big Lesson
Frank's values are obviously, “The more the better. Give me as much as you have. I will lock myself in a room for days and study it from A-Z” His customer values were different, they'd prefer the “Give me chunks of info at a time” approach. They did not care for the “firehose” kind of attack. What Frank thought will demonstrate immense value simply overwhelmed his prospects. By forcing his values on them instead of honoring theirs, he lost the ability to serve them on a long term basis. What should you do? Build your products and campaigns with the end user in mind. Just because you like it, doesn't mean they will like it, too. I keep this short and don't risk to overwhelm you. You can view Frank's original video message about this experiment on his blog as Frank Kern's Marketing Disaster -- However I don't think I left out anything important… Only one thing. Frank has left 390 boxes of the last 1,000 made. He sells it now. Click the link above for details, if you are interested. Once they are gone, they are gone. I don't think Frank will give away comparable heavy boxes in the near future again. Anyway, this is not a sales pitch. So let me just repeat the main message here.
Yours John W. Furst
Posted by John W. Furst in Marketing
on
Friday, November 7, 2008
has got 9 Comments.
Comments
I've often had to hold myself back from giving too much to folks. The idea of providing value is key to sustaining clients and customer and the question at times is whether what I want to give is what people want? Thanks for the reminder that overwhelm can best be managed when things are chunked down into smaller pieces and the same is true for giving and receiving material. Best, Lorraine www.powerfull-living.biz
#1
on
2008-11-07 12:31
Matt Kettlewell Kettlewell Enterprises  if they don't need that they can throw it away
Your statement is wrong twofold in respect to this blog post. (1) People don't through out the "too much" part of it easily. It dilutes their focus, they get paralyzed and don't take action. (2) They are less likely to buy, when they feel it is too much. Though it is possible that you have observed different behavior in your sphere. Giving customers little by little is the way to go if you want long term. It keeps them on their feet. Did you learn something new with this experiment? Thanks for the post.
#5
on
2009-07-23 19:21
#5.1
on
2009-07-23 20:42
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Frank Kern -- Internet Marketing Guru -- admits a recent mistake. He let's us learn from his lesson.
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