I learned a little lesson about marketing from an aborted Nook purchase over the holidays that I thought I’d share with you.
A year ago, I purchased a Kindle. I bought it used. As a Craigslist devotee, I arranged the furtive exchange of a Kindle for cash in a well-populated area, feeling like a spy on the lookout for my contact during the deal.
I was instantly pleased with it. Purchases were an easy process. Turned it on, connected to the internet, and within minutes I had made my first purchase. Based on my browsing history and purchases, Amazon has become uncannily accurate with its book recommendations.
My daughter requested a Kindle for Christmas. Quite an investment, but she loves to read – and anything that would encourage more reading is fine in my book. I had decided to go with a Kindle when I discovered that B&N was running a Black Friday sale on the Nook – and I nabbed one, thinking “how different can they be?”
I gave it a shot – I really did. I gave the Nook a solid try. While the device had a nice feel and size, the interface – that all-important part that allows you to choose and purchase books – was essentially broken.
I spent 20 minutes attempting to find a book for my daughter. Once I found it, the price was odd. (Why 6.51 for a children’s book? Why not the familiar .99, 2.99 and similar price points?) I got past that and pushed the button to make a purchase, then was alerted by B&N to the fact that I would have to purchase the book from an external site. No link to the site – no mention before hitting “buy.”
Wrong. If it was this hard to make a purchase, then the rest of the experience was going to be bad. I repackaged the infernal device and returned it to the store December 26th, and my daughter is getting a Kindle.
In the end, it didn’t matter how cheap the device was. (It was ½ the price of the Kindle I’ll be buying.) The simple fact is that based on my first buying experience, I was never going to use the device – even if it had been free. I’m more than willing to pay Amazon to make my purchases and user experience awesome.
- How easy is it for your customers to reach you when they’ve decided to give your product a try?
- Do they encounter amazing and instant service from the first point of contact, or do they wait for a return phone call?
- Does your promotion carefully describe your service? Does it make sense to someone who has never seen your product before or is your promotion filled with technical jargon?
- If someone decided right now that they had to have your product, how long would it take them to get it?
These questions are worth answering. They are an extension of your marketing efforts – if they aren’t taken into consideration, you may find your marketing dollars are wasted and your products or services forsaken as people find a better version – one that better answers the immediate needs and wants of your customers.