Great Options: How to create a no-brainer | Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

I just read something in Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely that blows me away. The Economist offered 3 options on their website for subscriptions:

Economist.com subscription – $59 for online access
Print subscription – $125 for printed issues
Print & Web subscription – $125 for both print and online editions

Wait a minute. Logically, this makes no sense. From a potential subscribers point of view, it's a no-brainer to choose option #3. Which is precisely what the magazine wants you to do.

This is really good marketing. It seems as consumers, we don't really understand the value of something unless it's relative to something else. When you can see options in context, it's easier to make a decision.

"In the case of the Economist, the decision between the Internet-only and print-only options would take a bit of thinking. Thinking is difficult and sometimes unpleasant. So the Economist's marketers offered us a no-brainer: relative to the print-only option, the print and Internet options looks clearly superior."

How can you apply this to your content writing? Well, if you're writing to get people to take some sort of action, give them options. Then make one option vastly superior.

I immediately thought about how I can apply this tactic to my own newsletter services business. I don't offer print subscriptions anymore, but I do offer long and short versions of articles.

Here's what I'm thinking for subscriptions to Coaching Matters newsletter services:

12 articles, condensed version (1000 words) – $450
12 articles full version (2000 words) – $600
12 articles both long and short versions – $600

You can get the short version, or the long version, or both at no extra cost. See how this works to put the value into context?