Written by: Vickie Sullivan | August 15, 2023
How to Introduce a Low-Cost Option to Your Buyers
When you have a low-cost option, you always have concern that buyers will want only that and that it will pull customers away from your premium options. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Consider social media influencer Caryn Marjorie. This 23-year-old is a great example of how to position a low-cost option and scale your popularity.
Marjorie’s backstory: The Snapchat star couldn’t keep up with demand from her fanbase, so she used AI to clone herself and introduced a new service for fans to interact with the digital version.
Marjorie is on track to earn about $5 million per month. Talk about monetizing popularity!
One obvious reason for her success is her popularity among men (98% of her followers are male). Beyond that, though, how Marjorie tells her origin story has lessons for people concerned that their low-cost option will cannibalize premium-priced options.
2 Ways to Position a Low-Cost Option
Here are two ways to apply Marjorie’s strategy for positioning a low-cost option:
• Lead with intention: Marjorie expressed regret that she couldn’t interact with everyone who reached out to her. Key quote: “I feel … bad that I can’t give that individual, one-on-one sort of relationship to every single person. I wish I could, but I just simply can’t.” Describing why you created a low-cost option—how you feel about it—sets up context that accepting less is better than receiving no help at all.
• Promote the similarities: The influencer also reassured her followers that this experience would be private and personalized. She uses a key word: immersive. In other words, the AI version will still “cure loneliness from my fanbase.” For B2B folks, this can be a double-edged sword, so be careful to differentiate between your digital alternative and the personal, premium-priced options.
Marjorie’s formula (situation, emotion, intention, and similarities) is a great way to introduce an “almost good as” solution.
Listen: How to Differentiate Premium and Low-Cost Solutions
Now Read This:
- How to Compete with Low-Cost, Less-Effective Options
- Competitive Branding for B2B Professional Service Firms