In sales, one of the dreaded questions is the “premature” pricing question, where the prospect asks “how much” before the salesperson has adequately “built up value.”
Of course, the question is only premature from the point of view of the salesperson. To the prospective customer, price is necessary to decide whether or not to waste any time entertaining the salesperson’s offer; why waste time on something she can’t afford?
And this thought process is absolutely crucial to Facebook Ads.
While an in-person sales professionals can dodge the question and personally engage the prospect in continued salesmanship, the online ad can not. Either the prospective customer decides your Facebook ad is interesting and relevant enough to click on, or she doesn’t. End of story.
So what happens when she wants to know the price but your ad doesn’t deliver?
It all comes down to presumed price.
And this is where it starts to get counter-intuitive, because the person who most values your offer assumes a higher price point, whereas the prospect who only sort-of values your offer, assumes a lower pricepoint.
So guess which kind of customer an ad with no pricing is more likely to attract?
This ad for edison light bulbs is a great example of this dynamic:
The more impressed you are with these bulbs, the more likely you are to assume that they are like nixie clocks — cool looking but inordinately expensive.
The more you think it’s just sort of a novelty, the more you’re assuming a relatively low price point.
So how much do you think these bulbs go for?
Actually, they range from $12 – $20. Fairly reasonable for a decorative bulb displaying eye-pleasing, old-school technology.
So why the heck isn’t Fab.com advertising that low price? They really should be.
Because the answer to “why isn’t that ad/salesperson telling me the price” is usually assumed to be “because the price is too high and they know it.”
Don’t let bad assumptions — or faulty sales training — ruin your sale. When you’ve got a solid price, why not test displaying it on your facebook ad?
You might just be surprised at the results…
