This week I’m pulling the topic post from my real life (and SEO be cursed because this post isn’t optimized for it).
I recently came across an Etsy seller allowing full product customization. This meant I could choose the charm, type of beads, and gemstone I wanted.
Pretty cool, right? Especially since there were oodles of combinations. So, I ordered a handful of this same product with the customizations I thought would look the best.
Guess what happened after I received my first shipment?
Yes, I now own over 15 of this same product. It was like an addiction. I couldn’t stop trying out new combinations. Knowing that I was the one who created them (in my mind) made them that much more special.
Unique.
Mine.
One of the easiest ways to turn first-time customers into repeat customers is to allow options to customize your product.
Why?
Because all of us want to think we have good taste.
And if you offer multiple combinations, buyers suddenly become involved in the creation process. This appeals to their emotional desire to own something exclusive to their tastes and maybe even make their friends envious. (Envy is a pretty powerful emotional tile to play).
This Etsy seller has been so successful that she quit her full-time job and now creates these products to replace that income.
The moral of the story is the more choices you allow your customers to make within the buying cycle, the more unique they feel.
This doesn’t work for everything. But it’s something to keep in mind as your marketing strategy evolves.
It’s better to get your prototype to market, though, even with only one primary offering, so you can gauge interest and perhaps open up doors to customization that you hadn’t thought of.
And adding a customization element can also breathe new life into existing product lines.
Imagine you have a basic widget that comes in black. I own this widget. But now I find out you are also offering the lavender widget, which is my favorite color. Whether or not I need the widget is irrelevant. I want the widget because it is lavender.
End of story.
P.S. Expect shorter posts in November, as it’s National Novel Writing Month, so typing hurts right now.
