AN IDIOT'S GUIDE TO EDUCATING YOUR SHOPPER

As I’ve previously talked about, education is almost always a critical part of getting shoppers to buy your new product.  Yet many shoppers have little desire to listen and learn.

So you'll be fighting an uphill battle.

After repeating our common caveat that the particular needs of every product and every category are always unique, here are some guidelines to consider when developing the educational materials to support your new product launch.

12 Principles for Creating More Educated Shoppers

Plan for a very limited attention span:  If the rest of the world is like me, the hesitation to play YouTube videos begins once they exceed a few minutes.  And I quickly give into the temptation to scroll down to the bottom of written material to decide if I should start skimming or bale completely.  Make sure you know the limits for your category and keep your educational material even shorter.  If you have to say more, break it into multiple, smaller elements.

Create tiered educational content for shoppers to dive as deep as they want to:  The goal of education is to convince people to buy and to make sure they appreciate and use your product as it as designed.  Some may clear this threshold quickly while others require a lot more learning and convincing.  Make sure there are multiple paths for people to select based on their personal needs.

Consider the different roles for text v. image v. audio v. video:  Depending on the audience and the content, a traditional owners manual might be appropriate while other questions might be better addressed simply with pictures in context or in use.  In some cases (less common in the CPG world) podcasts or audio tracks are the right platform to educate.  In more instances, a brief, but simple and well-produced video is more informative (and engaging) than the classic owner’s manual.

Focus on useful, not just informative, content:  As you consider what education is necessary, but sure to focus on the information that matters.  Apple products and software updates typically launch with hundreds of new features, yet they might highlight only ten or twelve when the product is initially launched.  Make sure you know how to prioritize education based on what is most needed to sway the purchase decision for your product.

Use education to remove barriers:  When done well, education should anticipate and address the likely barriers or concerns preventing someone from wanting (or thinking they need) your product.  Often times, this includes making a complicated product appear less complicated.

Use education to connect with desire:  Often, the desire people have for a product grows with their understanding of the product.  The emotional side of education can translate new knowledge into new need which should result in new sales for you.

Personalize the education:  When possible, start with what the shopper needs to know, not what the company wants to say.  Shoe stores do this particularly well by starting their shopper engagement with studying their stride and matching that to specific shoes designed for their needs.  This allows the education to just be focused on the particular need of the runner, not the dozens of ways shoes are designed for different needs.

Remember that a demonstration can be worth a 50-page instruction manual:  This is why in-store demonstrations continue to exist, despite the high cost.  Experiencing the product is almost always more educational than any amount of literature.  And an amazing video demonstration can attract shoppers for years.

Use education to change expectations or standards:  More than most companies like to admit, shoppers are frequently far more ignorant about the products they use or what makes certain products better or worse than others.  Education helps shoppers understand what makes products different and reduces the chance that they’ll by the wrong one for their needs.

Don’t use education to mask a sales pitch:  Despite my prior claims that shoppers are idiots, most know when they’re being sold to.  Just about the best way to lose trust and be viewed as unbelievable is to make people suspicious that you’ve got an ulterior motive.

Be careful about using fear as a motivator:  While fear is known to prompt action, it can also be perceived as a ‘boy who cried wolf’ threat being utilized because there is nothing more compelling to say.  In the long run, it is far better have people want to buy your product versus being scared not to buy it.  If your fear-mongering produces any meaningful results, anticipate your competition to quickly reeducate shoppers on other things they need to fear.

Be careful about bashing competitive items:  While your product might be dramatically better than any other item out there, don’t forget that buyers have been using (and probably have some degree of emotional attachment or positive associations with) existing brands.  Aggressive bashing of competitive items can come across like mud-slinging political ads, making shoppers less likely to vote for any product.

Do most of these make sense and sound like they would apply to your category?

Do you realize you’ve missed the opportunity to use education to drive more demand for your new product?

If you’d like to develop a better educational campaign, but aren’t sure how to do it, drop us a note.  We’d love to help figure out what education matters in your category and how shoppers would be most receptive to it.