A colleague suddenly sent a link during the morning at work, saying that it was possible to get a free face mask. Actually, this kind of cheap deal wasn't the first time I'd encountered it, but I still opened it out of curiosity. Following the step-by-step guidance on the website, I successfully claimed a natural collagen hydrating face mask. I wasn't scammed; it was really free with no charges at all, including shipping. I just registered an account, provided my contact information and delivery address, and finally participated in a referral program where you could claim a hundred-yuan gift! Outsiders might be curious: wouldn't the merchants lose money? What's the purpose behind this? But this was indeed a successful marketing effort! So what was included in this series of simple actions that took less than 5 minutes? Below is the method for claiming the product and my personal thoughts on the marketing approach.
Out of curiosity, I opened it:
1. The link received from a colleague came from a Fuzhou internet company.
2. Related searches and investigations: It looked very nice and good. Seeing the page, I thought about verifying the product quickly. After checking Baidu Tieba and netizens' reviews, which were all positive, I felt reassured and returned to that page to take a closer look.
3. Completed the claim and participated in related activities: Starting to pay attention to the product itself, after getting some verification, I carefully browsed the related features, chose the product I needed, read the collection rules, registered as a member, filled in the delivery address, QQ email, mobile phone number, successfully claimed the product, and finally participated in the friend recommendation. Just by copying the link and sending it to 10 friends, if a friend successfully claims the product through this link, you can get a gift worth 100 yuan! And that's how the entire process ended.
Why did this old-school marketing tactic succeed?
Grasping consumer psychology:
1. Widely distributing links: Sisters, are you curious how this link spread to your hands? Almost all of them come from friends or colleagues, or perhaps from advertisements. Due to the Chinese mindset of loving bargains and caring for friends, one unconsciously joins the sales pitch ranks. Without considering the success conversion rate, excluding those who aren't interested or don't seek bargains, anyway, there's no harm in taking a look. The probability of this link being opened is almost 100%. Some might even complete all the preliminary methods to verify that it's not free, thus increasing the browsing rate, leaving some impression on users to a certain extent.
2. User experience and trust passed the test: After opening the webpage, whether to continue looking is actually very critical. Either you close it directly or stay. The website structure is simple and elegant, passing the customer's first impression test, offering a good user experience, which is something the sales side strives to achieve. Therefore, I chose to stay and observe further. Nowadays, internet users are very security-conscious. When seeing unfamiliar brands, what do they do? Not because they're outdated, but out of verification and vanity psychology, it's very convenient to start searching for relevant information and user reviews. This is also the second step immediately after opening the link. The next step is crucial, bridging the gap between the previous and subsequent steps. Regardless of whether the positive reviews were pre-arranged or if the product is genuinely good, leaving a good reputation, customers find positive and proactive evaluations, greatly enhancing trust. At this point, we're already very close to the final step. This was told to me by a senior programmer in the Fuzhou website construction industry.
3. Mutual benefit: The anticipation of receiving a gift feels great. For the customer themselves: confirming that it's free, happily following the method to claim the product, and kindly sharing it with friends. For the salesperson, obtaining valuable customer data facilitates future QQ messages and emails to continue promoting their products. The final friend referral step brings more people into the team helping you promote for free, spreading from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred. Like me, targeting the customer base, only sending to sisters, if it's a mass send, the spread will be even wider. All methods are completed briefly, yet they are interlinked. One failure would lead to the interruption and end of the transaction.
Will the product really be delivered to the customer? Is the product quality up to standard? Is the after-sales service in place? These factors will determine whether the customer will be willing to continue purchasing your product in the future and become your permanent fixed customer. The initial marketing goal has been reached, and the next steps depend on whether the salespeople can continue to perfectly execute them to achieve profitability. Overall, the marketing was successful!