Bad Marketing Advice: Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak!
2007-08-21
It's funny how time and experience changes our perceptions ...
Years ago, the common wisdom in marketing was "sell the sizzle, not the steak", a phrase which reminded us to promote the benefits of a product or service instead of simply highlighting features.
However, the most important marketing step isn't promoting features or benefits ... it's having the customer know that you understand their problem.
So, instead of trying to sell the sizzle or sell the steak, the new marketing wisdom is:
First, remind your customer that they are hungry.
Russ Jackman is the principal of Internet Advisor, a web design and internet marketing firm located in St. Thomas, Ontario.
The concept of the "Internet Advisor" is that the designer becomes a partner or trusted consultant, who can simply provide advice and direction, completely implement a solution from start to end, or any degree in between. This insures that the strengths of a client are utilized, to minimize the investment required and maximize the benefits to their organization.