Sell the Sizzle

Sell the benefit to the customer, not just the product. You shouldn’t be selling the drill, but the hole in the wall. In Hanoi in 2012, I saw a beer ad that reminded me of that point.

Sell the benefit to the customer rather than what you supply

Outside a café was an ad showing a couple of beer kegs. There was no doubt the company supplied draught beer. But how thirsty does looking at metal kegs make you?

I’d rather see a glass of foaming beer. That’s what the guest buys, while the keg is what the supplier delivers to the café.

The drill and the hole in the wall

The same applies when selling a drill. The customer might need to drill a hole in concrete to put up a shelving unit. So talk about what the drill makes possible rather than just listing revolutions and watts.

I also used the American expression Sell the Sizzle: Give the customer a sense of the experience and what the product can be used for.

Show it being used

On a website, you can show the product. But you can also show what it does for the customer. In the beer example, that could be a hot, thirsty guest relaxing with a cold glass.

So ask yourself what the customer really needs. Is it the technical item itself, or the result the person gets from it? That was the marketing point I took from the ad in Hanoi.

Two metal kegs outside a pub in Hanoi

We’re in Hanoi, Vietnam’s communist capital. I think it’s a far-out place where lots is happening, but also a place that seems far behind in several ways. Outside a café or pub, I see an ad showing a couple of beer kegs.

It’s clear the brewery supplies the draught beer the café sells. The company made the ad to get people to buy more beer. But tell me: How thirsty does seeing a couple of metal kegs make you? Not very, right?

A big mug of foaming beer, on the other hand, could make me want a beer. To me, the ad is an example of thinking too much about your own product and too little about what the end customer wants.

Sell the benefit to the customer, and understand the difference between supplier and guest

I imagine an employee at the brewery thinking: We make draught beer, not bottled beer. We sell kegs. So we’ll show kegs so people know what we sell, and put the ad outside the pub.

But does the guest buy a keg? No. He buys a mug of foaming beer. That’s what the ad should make him dream about.

It reminds me of the drill and the hole in the wall. The customer might buy the drill, but the need is to make a hole so he can put up a shelving unit. So don’t just tell him how many revolutions the drill does or how many watts it uses. Show what the customer can get out of it.

The smell of a steak and a happy person with a cold beer

As the Americans say: Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle. I explain it as the smell of the steak, so people can almost feel the experience. That’s the idea I call Sell the Sizzle.

Perhaps you’re making the same mistake in your own marketing. Sit down and think about the end user: What are they actually buying? What do they need?

On your website, you’re most likely showing the product. But perhaps you could also show what it can be used for. In other words, show it in use. In the beer example, a happy person with a mug of foaming beer could show that he was hot before, but now feels cool, comfortable and relaxed.

Coca-Cola doesn’t just show a cola keg either. They show happy people finding partners, running fast or whatever the hell the ad is trying to make people believe. Or they show you can quench your thirst. They’re trying to sell the experience.

Think about both the website and how you talk about the product. Can the drill go through concrete and make putting up a shelving unit easier? Then tell that story instead of just listing specifications. Also read E-pusher about selling and marketing online.

The lake, the mopeds and my political comment

At the end, I show the lake in Hanoi. It’s actually very beautiful. If it weren’t for all the mopeds, noise and the bloody enormous amount of pollution, I think Hanoi could be a really good city.

I also make a sharp political comment: I connect it with communism and say everyone wants as much as possible, but nobody wants to contribute much. In my assessment, that ends in pollution and mess. I say those sitting around doing nothing could be sent out to clean up.

That’s my opinion and my impression on the trip in 2012. The marketing point I take away is still: Sell what the customer gets out of the product. Take care.

Best wishes, Martin