👀 the "auction" marketing strategy

Imagine you are at an auction.

The room is dimly lit, people are discussing art, and there is a certain air of mystery.

A few hours pass. You learn about the history of art, look at a few paintings, and sit down for the bidding on an antique painting.

Before you know it, you walk out $50,000 poorer. You don’t love the painting. Heck, you don’t even love art.

But for some reason you still bought it.

It’s because of a strategy that auctions mastered.

It’s a simple strategy that will completely transform your marketing.

They created the perfect “buying environment.”

You might be wondering:

Joe Sugarman, a legendary marketer, describes it as “the environment best suited for the selling activity.”

It is the mood and feeling your customers get before they buy:

Auctions have mastered this. They create the perfect environment where you get sucked into buying.

They start at a low price, so you claim the item for yourself — only to have it ripped away (unless you pay an extra $1,000).

Creating the perfect marketing environment is key to creating demand and turning it into sales.

Let’s get into how to do it.

For online businesses, it’s different from auctions.

You don’t have multiple buyers bidding against one another. You don’t play classical music. And you have less time to convince the viewer to buy.

But marketing online has advantages. You have complete control. Over your headlines, images, and copy.

And your job as a marketer is to arrange these elements in a way that grabs the viewer’s attention and gets them in the buying mood.

Here are a few principles you want to keep in mind for your ads and marketing.

DON’T start your advertisement with your features and benefits. Unless the customer already wants to buy, they will close up the moment you start bragging about your product.

Tell a story. Give interesting facts. And draw them in.

Then introduce the problem, the specific pains, and (conveniently) how your business can solve them the best.

The point is — Don’t always start with “BUY NOW.” Open their mind to the problem and later sell them on the solution.

Start with questions that you know they will say yes to.

“Do you want to lose 10 lbs in the next two months?”

Yes

“Do you think the weight-loss method you’re using now isn’t working?”

Yes

“May I show you how our training program is different?”

Yes

When you get your customers to nod their heads, you build rapport. They feel understood. And they are slowly getting in the right mindset to say yes to the ultimate decision: buying.

If you’re selling designer clothes…

Make the environment of the ad consistent with your brand.

- Warren

PS: Look at the Morning Brew ad. It’s a good example of a conversational and engaging environment.