Increase Response Rates… By Being Concrete

What a joy it is as a marketer to promote a product for which there is an objective, compelling argument… when the numbers simply speak for themselves… when people would have to be crazy not to buy it.

This type of product doesn’t seem terribly common, but my guess is that there are a lot more of them out there than we know.

We’d all like our products or services to fall into this coveted “no brainer” category, and as clever marketers, we do our darndest to build and convey the compelling case for our wares. So often, we make our arguments quantitatively.  After all, who can resist when the numbers speak for themselves?

The problem is that even when they do… often they really don’t.

For two years, I’ve been working on developing a portable health record product.  In a nutshell, it is a subscription service that enables a consumer to have his, her, or a whole family’s health records and other vital, health related information (insurance card, living will, etc.) gathered, organized, stored, and maintained on a USB thumb drive that updates itself whenever it is launched from an internet connected computer.

It has all the makings of a product that could be a real hit with consumers and medical professionals.

The concept is simple, and the numbers truly speak for themselves. Which is to say, this should be one of those coveted items to promote.

Here’s the quantitative argument.

Recent studies show that nearly 200,000 Americans die each year as a result of medical errors – many of which could be avoided if doctors had the information that they need (when they need it) about the patients they are treating.

What should you do about this?  Take a simple precaution that could save your life, and carry your health records with you – right on your keychain.

We’ve been experimenting with different approaches to selling the subscription for the last eight months and along the way, have tested different ways of making the above argument to consumers.

Judge for yourself, and see which is more compelling:

Quantitative argument: Recent studies show that nearly 200,000 Americans die each year as a result of medical errors – many of which could be avoided if doctors had the information that they need (when they need it) about the patients they are treating.

Concrete argument: More Americans die each year from medical errors that from breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, AIDS, and car accidents – COMBINED. Many of these errors could be avoided if doctors had the information that they need (when they need it) about the patients they are treating.

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that the concrete argument drives more than double the response rate of the quantitative argument.

Here, as is often the case when marketers make quantitative cases for their products or services, the numbers appear to speak for themselves, but really don’t say much of anything to the prospective buyer.

A marketing case made on numbers hinges on the treacherous assumption that the audience has the requisite peripheral knowledge to put the numbers into meaningful perspective.

200,000 deaths… that’s a lot.

Isn’t it?

How many people die each year?

How many Americans are there these days?

If this was a serious threat to me, wouldn’t I have heard about it before?

I must not be at risk.

MESSAGE FORGOTTEN.

Furthermore, arguing the numbers overlooks the fact that most buying decisions – particularly consumer purchases – are based in large part on emotion.  Numbers generally struggle to evoke emotion.

Now let’s look at the concrete argument. By framing the case relative to the combined death toll of several well known (and feared) causes of death, each prospect is immediately given perspective and a dose of emotion associated with whichever of these killers happens to have impacted him or her in any way.

Think about the action (often unpleasant) that we all take in our efforts to dodge these bullets. Mammograms. Colonoscopies. Digital rectal exams. Seat belts. Air bags. Donations to research. Miles walked for the cause. Pink ribbons….

Now you’re telling me that I can mitigate a risk greater than all of these combined simply by carrying my health records on my keychain? You’ve got my attention.

Is it any wonder that the concrete argument outperforms the quantitative?