Pricing Advice for Annielytics

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

I recently came across a discussion about an SEO self-guided site audit checklist. While I can't speak to the quality of the product, I can speak to its pricing strategy. Long story short? There's ample room for improvement.

This post will outline three simple steps that Annielytics can take to start improving its pricing page and increase its profits.

Here's a screenshot of the product offerings and prices:

What are my recommendations?

1. Combine existing options into a single package - The three offerings (Spanish, Portuguese and English) take up too much valuable space (not only on the website but in the minds of potential customers as well). Given that all three offerings are priced at the same level, and the fact that most potential customers would only be interested in purchasing a checklist in their native languages, I'd combine all three products into a single offering.
   
   Not only would this remove an unnecessary decision from the buying process (reducing friction), but it would add the appearance of more value to each sale (Wow, a bundle of three languages!) without delivering any additional actual value due the effects of the effort heuristic.
2. Add new options - Now that there is only one existing package, more profitable options can be added without causing the deleterious effects predicted by the paradox of choice. Although tiers can be used to target different types of customers, it's often a better idea to use them to target increasingly profitable customers. Here are just a few potential tiering options that might be worthy of investigation:
   • Depth of analysis - Would some businesses pay a premium for a more thorough audit?
   • Automation of analysis - Would some firms be willing to pay more in order to avoid having to perform complicated or tedious analyses? Releasing a version of the checklist with a handful of powerful macros might result in a small fortune.
   • Licensing terms - Would some companies benefit from being able to use the checklists for multiple clients? The video testimonial from Moz sure seems to suggest that they would. Why not allow firms to pay more in order to use the checklists for multiple clients?
   • Bundling of materials - Would some companies pay more, if the checklist came with videos demonstrating optimal use, data collection methodology and the suggested application of results?
   • Bundling of personal consultations - Would some companies pay more for personalized advice? More importantly, would some companies that try the bundled consulting service be so impressed that they would be willing to sign up for a recurring retainer?
     
     Some sneaky vendors actually use bundled consultations as a means to charge customers for the privilege of receiving an upsell for retained consulting services. It's a no-brainer - especially when the owner already offers one hour consulting slots already. Yes, the owner says that she's not accepting new retained clients, but I have a feeling that if I showed up with a big enough check, she'd make an exception for me - and not because of my charming personality.
3. Describe at least one benefit of the checklist - When selling to business customers, some well-known brands rely on FUD. The owner has not taken this path, but she also hasn't emphasized the benefits of her product.
   
   In the case of the sales page, we learn a bit about the product. We find out that it is "long" and that it's "for you if you're... an in-house marketer on a shoestring budget." We even learn that it's "aesthetically pleasing." What we don't learn is how it will help potential customers achieve their business objectives. Even a simple, straightforward statement like "it will show you how to receive more business by ranking higher on Google" might work. Sure, this marketing line could be reworked, and prettied-up, but it gets the value proposition across.
   
   Ideally, the description of each product tier would highlight the important benefits over the next-lower tier. This would help push customers to buy more expensive offerings. In a similar vein, the testimonials would be far more effective if they praised the results of using the product, rather than the product itself. Of course, I've already made my feelings about testimonials quite clear, but many customers are not quite as cynical as I am.

Wow! Useful advice to increase the profitability of a product line that I know nothing about. Just think about how I could help your business with a personalized consultation.