1:37pm Tuesday, April 2
Saint Paul
Hey *|FNAME|*,
There’s a shrinking middle class in the United States.
From 1971 to 2021—a span of 50 years—the middle class has dropped from roughly 61% of the population to roughly 50% of the population.
The lowest income group, meanwhile, expanded from 25% to 29%.
And the highest?
High-earners also expanded, from 14% to 21% of the US population.
So, while there is still a decent-sized middle class, it is trending downward.
Now, I’ve sold—via sales copy—at all levels. Here are my experiences:
On the low-income level, people are hard to sell to. They don’t trust that anything can solve a problem for them. They’re wary of being taken advantage of at any price point, and small-ticket sales don’t add up to a huge windfall for the seller. They’re also more likely to spend today, because tomorrow looks like it’ll be more of the same.
In the middle class, they’re generally looking for a good deal. High value, low price. And it’s still a large segment of the population, a large market. But if they can find something similar for a lower price, they’ll often take it. They’ll save up money for larger purchases.
High-income earners buy for status. They want the best, so they can show that they recognize the best—and can afford it. And, because they have stacks of cash, economic ups-and-downs don’t affect them as much (if at all). They don’t always buy, though, because they have limited time and your offer better help them make the most of their time. They don’t need more headaches to look after.
Luckily for us marketers, the concept of “best” is vague. Is the best watch one that keeps perfect time? One that matches a pair of shoes? One that stands out due to its size?
Is the “best” marketer one who answers the client’s call, day or night? One who puts up ads with the client’s name, large and prominent? One who increases sales? What if that sales increase causes customers to demand refunds due to missed promises?
With positioning, you can pick your “best” attribute and play that up as a reason to buy from you.
And for those who resonate with that attribute, you’re the right pick.
Now, of course, these are generalizations. And there is overlap among these groups—plenty of low-income people buy expensive things for status, and plenty of high-income people buy cheap beer to save a buck.
But if you have to position yourself to market to a single group… my advice is to market to high income people. They have money available. And if that means you have to improve the quality of your product or service to meet their expectations, do that.
But there’s more to all of these groups than just status and price.
Each wants to know that you’re like them, in some way, because that’s their comfort zone. So, build up your perceived status to get yourself into the high-income market.
“Best” to you 😉
Jeffrey