Congratulations on getting your business to this point.  It is a statistical fact that 9 out of 10 small businesses will never reach this phase.  And while there are no hard numbers on the success rate of “internet businesses” or information products, I’d have to guess the failure rate is about 1000 times that.  Encouraging hunh? 

But these numbers don’t apply to you.  We have made it into the growth phase where your chances for success improve significantly.  You now have the clout and cash to make a few mis-steps – and trust me you will.  I actually encourage it at this point. 

This article is going to be about Accelerating the Tipping Point.  If you remember, one of the things we discussed in the Introduction Phase was targeting the innovators, early-adopters, and influencers.  In this phase, we are going to start to leverage those relationships to help pass our message to the mass market.

Please note: In other phases, the role of innovators and influencers can be quite different, but in this context they play a similar role.  I will be using them interchangeably in the course of this article.  Either will do just fine. 

The mind of the Mass Market 

The mind of the mass market is VERY different from that of an innovator or influencers.  What appeals to the early folks is not the same as what appeals to the mass market, and we need to take that into consideration. 

I hate to say it, but the majority of people, particularly in group situations, are sheep. They try not to stand out in a crowd, avoid confrontation, are moderately averse to any type of real risk, tend to revert to the lowest common denominator in a group decision making process, and for the most part, want to keep their head down and do their thing.  

As such, motivating them to try something different is always a challenge. Two motivators I have found that are particularly effective in reaching the mass market are Reassurance and Pain.

Reassurance

 Have you ever noticed how a bunch of people will gather at a street corner and wait for a light change to cross?  Even if there is little traffic, people will look down the road to see if it is safe, and then do nothing.  Now introduce an innovator or influencer.  They will look down the road, see it is safe, and then run across.  What happens next?  That’s right, the mob, lead by the innovator, now crosses.  

That’s a perfect example of crowd behavior and the role of an influencer in real life. There are thousands of examples of this psychology ranging everywhere from the following of Hitler, to the famous Bronx stabbing witnessed by 38 people where not a single person tried to help or even phone the police. 

The mass market is dominated by these constraints; And, for good or bad, we better find some way to use it if we are to tap their collective buying power. 

The easiest method is to use your innovators and influencers gathered in the introduction phase.  The very characteristics that made them try your product in the first place are the same that will make the mass market look to them for guidance and reassurance. Nifty hunh? 

What you need to do is target those influencers and innovators which best represent the “every man” quality of the mass market you are going after.  Believe it or not, demographics will be more important than psychographics when choosing.  Mass market people tend to relate to age, race, sex, location, salary, and similar activities, over beliefs and other more intangible characteristics (Remember lowest-common denominator in group psychology) 

What the mass market needs at this point is reassurance.  They need to feel like they are making the right decision, they need to feel that they are not risking money or time, and sadly again, they often need to put the decision in someone elses hands.  It’s up to you to give them those hands. 

Testimonals, product ratings, infomercials, and case studies work excellent at this point.

Pain 

Most marketers believe that the pursuit of pleasure is what will really motivates people.  How many campaigns present images of wealthy people, in exotic locations, with fancy cars and beautiful women?  Well, pretty much all of them. 

There is another method which is exponentially more powerful.  Pain.  

Avoidance of physical, mental, or emotional pain is the one thing that will make people open their wallets and pay whatever it takes to make it go away.  In psychology terms it comes down to Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs. You need certain things to be taken care of before other things become a priority.  The absence of pain is going to be one of those top priorities, long before the pursuit of pleasure. 

For example, I get migraines.  I have since I was a kid.  If you get them too, I don’t need to tell you how much they suck. Like no other suck in the world.  If you don’t get them, this is a reasonable approximation: 

1. Get a nail gun.
2. Point at your temple
3. Fire.
4. Repeat until you wish you were dead. 

How much would I spend on a miracle drug that had a real chance of making them go away forever?  Anything. I seriously would sell my shiny BMW Z4 for that. No lie.  Over the course of 30 years, I probably have spent that and more on every type of medication, relaxation tape, psychoanalysis, and biofeedback there has been on the market. 

That’s powerful isn’t it? 

How to use pain 

In order to use this method effectively you need to do a few things.  You have to make your prospect realize they have this pain (and it has to be legitimate pain), you need to ramp up that pain as much as possible by illustrating all the reasons it sucks, you need to show them explicitly why whatever they are doing now is NOT working, and you need to show them how your product will relieve that pain. 

The reassurance method above is an excellent way to do this.  Find an “every man” influencer, and make people relate to him or her.  Because they were an innovator or influencer for your product, they were either a leader in general, or were acutely aware of their existing pain, and sought you out to solve it for them.  Either way, it makes them a perfect spokesperson for your solution.  They are relatable, capable of leading, and if they are still with you, have found that you have provided a real resolution of their pain.  That’s more than enough to convince the masses that you have what they need. 

Prepare for demand to go through the roof. Good thing the next article is going to be on how to manage that demand. 

Stay cool. See ya soon. 

Here are a few recommended reads: (What’s this?)

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Pain Killer Marketing: How to Turn Customer Pain into Market Gain