Free Website Content - Educated Consumers
Educated Consumers
Not too long ago, a colleague asked me why we invest
so heavily in consumer education. We have made a conscious
decision to spend marketing dollars on consumer education
for a very simple reason. Educated consumers are simply
better customers.
Lets take a closer look at why educated consumers
are better customers.
Less Technical Support.
1.) Educated consumers require less technical support.
The reduced technical support results in lower overhead
costs. Often educated consumers can further reduce the support
burden by assisting or educating other customers or potential
customers in forums, newsgroups, user groups or elsewhere
in an industry community.
Often users with a strong technical background
or understanding will often assist in the forums and provide
users technical support. The result: an educated consumer
is a happy and helpful customer.
Easier Sales.
2.) Generally speaking educated consumers have a better
understanding of the technology, how it can be used and
how it will benefit them. A customers understanding that
an application will result in saved time, can easily justify
the software's expense. Cost becomes less of an issue when
long-term value is understood.
Reasonable Expectations.
3.) I hate to say it, but back in 1996 when we started
out, consumer ignorance resulted in unrealistic expectations.
Consumers purchased expecting that software would do their
dishes and vacuum. Regardless of how well the software did
what it was designed to do, if a customer expects it to
do something else, they will not be a satisfied customer.
Educated consumers have realistic expectations and understanding
of what can and cannot be accomplished.
Kinds of Consumer Education
1. Articles.
Educational articles not only propagate the success
and understanding of a technology, but well written articles
will often establish the writer as an industry expert.
Example http://www.feedforall.com/newsletter.htm
(on the bottom)
2. White Papers.
Real world examples of how other users are using software
to resolve problems or save time are often great illustrations
of technology in action.
Example http://www.notepage.net/whitepapers.htm
3. PPT Demonstrations.
Power point presentations not only assist with user
education, but also can be used by User Groups to further
evangelize and educate potential users.
All in all, educated consumers result in a happier user
with realistic expectations. Ignorance often results in
dissatisfaction and unrealistic expectations while education
leads to long term happy and helpful customers.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and
podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for FeedForDev
http://www.feedfordev.com
an RSS component for developers.
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource box
is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of
the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly
appreciated. Send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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