Marketing to High Income Customers
Posted on Nov 25, 2008 by
Paul WhiteSomething that has been growing in the past 10 years is the number of consumers who are now in the Middle Upper class. Maybe not by income, but by mindset. Successful people don't just judge something by numbers, look, or feel. They judge it by image too. Here are a few tips if you want your
business to appeal to this class of consumer.
Never state in your ads that you are Number 1
Being Number 1 doesn't mean you are better than another company. In many ways stating you are number 1 can be seen as a sign of weakness and insecurity. GM stated they were the #1 selling company for how many years? And every year they continued to loose market share.
Never mention competitors in your Ads
Its one thing when you are talking about generic products in your grocery store. Then by all means state " compared to brand X ". But in mass
marketing, if you even mention your competitors this will be scene as a sign of weakness. Especially if you are the leading product. By mentioning your competition's name, you have just alerted your buyers that there is an option, plus you just gave them a little free advertising. True market leaders do not mention those below them on the food chain. If you mention them, they you have just told consumers that you are below them. Consumers are used to underdogs reaching for the leaders. This behavior will tell consumers that you are the underdog.
Be subliminal about how you describe yourself
If you need an example on this, watch a Lexus commercial, and then watch a Cadillac commercial. What words you use and how you use them tells consumers a lot about your company and its products. If you want consumers to think your company is selling quality products, you can't say "we sell quality products". Instead you have to use other words that are synonymous for quality. For example use words like, Precision, refined, hand-made, taylored, engineered.
Made in America has no effect on upscale consumers
America is known for its
Entertainment, food, and arts. However when talking about quality goods, things like "German Engineered", "Italian Made", "French Cut", ext... have a my symbolic meaning from a
marketing stand point. Wealthy upscale consumers do not care if a product is made in America, and sometimes that can even be a turn off.
Your sales will come from word of mouth, not huge advertising campaigns
The majority of your sales when targeting this market will be from word out mouth. Upscale consumers talking to their friends ( other upscale consumers ) about their purchase. This has more influence on your potential customers than any Mass
Marketing Campaign. Treat every customer the right way, and fire any employee that fails to maintain the company's image.
Don't accept all endorsements
Your customers are drawn to your products because of your image. In their eyes your product is purchased by a certain consumer ( income, gender, race, age, personality ). They want to buy your product because they see them self fitting the image of your product's buyer. Now for example if you targeting baby boomers, who are male and white, Then it might be a good idea to play some old rock n roll, and show this consumer driving the vehicle. But if you accept an endorsement for the latest Gangsta Rapper for this product, you just insulted your baby boomer demographic. This is why companies like Lexus do not stereotype an image for their buyer.
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