How much is infotainment worth? I mean, how much do stories and pop culture analogies and outrage in your marketing sell, above and beyond what you could sell by appealing to personal interest alone?
I don’t know. As far as I know, nobody has ever tried to quantify it.
But I do know of an analogous situation, one that has been quantified. Check it:
Back in 1946, baseball club owner Bill Veeck was the first to introduce fireworks at a baseball game. The baseball establishment was outraged. “It cheapens this great and noble sport,” they said.
Veeck was undeterred. Eventually, other team owners came around, and today, fireworks are a standard addition to many major league games.
Of course, the change in attitude came down to money.
As Veeck argued and found to be true, fireworks at a baseball game pay for themselves many times over, primarily in the form of keeping fans at the stadium longer and selling more hotdogs and beer. When combined with a home-team win, the results are multiplicative. Here are the stats:
1. Lose game, no fireworks: X
2. Lose game, fireworks: 1.4X
3. Win game, no fireworks: 2X
4. Win game, fireworks: 3X
In my mind, this is analogous to selling with or without infotainment.
In this analogy, fireworks are the fun, infotainment, insight.
As for “winning the game,” that maps to your customers actually profiting from the product or the service that you sell.
And “extra money made via concessions” maps to how much more money your one-time customers are willing to spend with you in the future.
Do the baseball numbers above map perfectly to selling?
Again, I don’t know. I would be surprised if they mapped perfectly, But I do suspect they are indicative.
The fact is, infotainment has value in terms of customer loyalty and future willingness to buy. But it has far less value than a product that delivers real results. You can be unlikable or dull, and people will still buy from you, over and over, if they get value from what you sell.
Of course, if you both have a great offer that actually produces results… and you add in your stories and analogies and outrage… then you can look forward to really amazing profits, ones that insulate you from the ups and down of the market and the claws of the competition.
Now I got a favor to ask you, or rather, a deal to make with you:
I’m always on the lookout for great products to promote. The problem is, lots of stuff looks great on the outside. But does it actually deliver results? That’s where I’m hoping you can help me.
What’s a product or a service that you paid $200 or more for over the past year, which really delivered?
It could be an info product, a service, or something you paid to have done for you. And by “really delivered,” I’m not talking about being fun and diverting, but of giving you real value in your real life.
If you’re game, hit reply and let me know of stuff you’ve paid for that was a good investment.
In turn, I’ll reply to you and tell you three offers I’ve bought over the past year or so, all of which cost around $1k, all of which delivered real value to me, and all of which happened to be sold via infotainment.
Do we have a deal? If so, hit reply, and fire away.