Karl Craig-West

Remember: it’s all about WIIFM

I love receiving marketing material. To some people it’s just junk but to me it offers a great lesson for my clients. Now if you’ll allow me to explain you’ll see why.

When you’re sending marketing stuff out to your clients and prospects the most important thing in the mind of the reader in WIIFM or “What’s In It For Me?”

It amuses me when I read all about the bells and whistles that a product has or how experienced a service provider is. But when push comes to shove and I have to part with some money for a product or service, I’m only interested in how it’s going to help me. In other words - What’s In It For Me?
And most direct mailers plainly miss it completely. They’re far too busy telling the reader about how great the product is or how terrific they think the company is (often little more than a paper-based pat on the back).

Even large companies with large (and expensive) marketing departments miss the opportunity to convey the benefits of the product or service to the prospective customer when sending out marketing literature.

Even more surprising is the number of companies who advertise in the magazines of the various marketing institutes who do the exact same thing. They absolutely fail to communicate the benefits of their particular offering.

So, what am I getting at here? What I’m trying to say is that next time you send out product or service information, try to convey what the customer will get when they buy from you. How will it benefit them? What will be the end result?

In other words – WIIFM?