\u201cAll advertising does is try to convince people to buy things they don\u2019t want and don\u2019t need.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n
Ever heard that? If you have, it was probably a statement made by an employee. A non-sales employee of some large company. A non-sales employee who doesn’t understand commerce and has never been involved in attracting new customers to the company which employs him.<\/p>\n
Owners of businesses (as well as their salespeople) instinctively know two things:<\/p>\n 1. you can\u2019t convince anyone to buy what she doesn’t need (at least, not more than once), and<\/p>\n 2. without advertising, you’ll be primarily conducting business with people who just happened to pass by and see your sign.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Nobody buys anything she doesn’t want or need. What? That can’t be right. People don\u2019t need tattoos. They don\u2019t need newer cars. They don\u2019t need the latest hot video game.<\/p>\n Kind of arrogant, isn\u2019t it, to assume that just because you don\u2019t feel the need, that no one else does, either?<\/p>\n The only reason a purchaser buys anything is because she feels a lack in her life. Advertising only speeds up what would have happened anyway by helping Ms. Prospective Customer to recognize her feelings of dissatisfaction, and to help her to learn about ways she could eliminate the gap between what she has, and what she wants. No gap, no reason to buy.<\/p>\n As marketers, our job is to manage the gap.<\/p>\n What makes up the gap? What\u2019s the difference between the customer\u2019s ideal and her reality? How can purchasing from you satisfy the need she feels? How can purchasing from your competitors satisfy her? Inside her mind, where do you and your competitors rank in your ability to eliminate that gaping lack she perceives in her life?<\/p>\n Those questions inevitably give rise to other questions:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The gap is always based on perceptions, and feelings. If she doesn’t feel the need, she won’t buy. What can you do to help her to understand what it is she’s feeling, and how buying from you will satisfy the need she feels?<\/p>\n Could this \u201cmanaging the gap\u201d concept provide a key to creating your own powerful marketing program?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
\n