Perception is Everything

Perception might not mean everything, but it does control or at least play a large role in most of the decisions we make.

Why is it important that we focus on perception? When someone is thinking about purchasing a product, one of the main decisions they need to make is if their perceived value of the product is worth (or greater than) the cost of the product.

We all know the saying “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. Unfortunately many of us do, this is why it’s so important for us as marketers to ensure we have a catchy “cover” and engage our audience from the very beginning. When our audience first seeings anything, they get an initial perception and that will dictate whether or not they keep reading, watching or interacting. If they have the wrong perception, changes are they will leave and we will never get the chance to give them the full story (they judge the book by it’s cover).

Think about it, what are some of the things that will give the initial impression – product name, product price, packaging(if applicable), product creator, product seller, etc.

To give an example, I’ve seen many people attempt to launch their own product or make money online by selling information. I actually saw one recently (last week), where they were charging $0.10 (yes, 10 cents) for a “once in a life time opportunity to make thousands”. What do you feel when reading that? When I saw that, the first thing that came to my mind is for $0.10, the information must be useless. Think about what you can buy for $0.10, not much, so if someone is willing to sell you something for that cheap, chances are the value isn’t that great.

If your product has value, don’t be scared to charge what it’s worth. Often people would rather pay higher for value than lower for something with no value. Again, it all goes back to perception, if you are charging more for a product, you better make sure that the perceived value is more than a product that costs less.