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To someone from outside of the US, selling products to Americans can seem daunting. But knowing a few things about the way Americans view products can help you make the right marketing decisions.
Americans are diverse and have a lot of varying opinions about politics. Most religions have representation even if most sides of politics are extremely 2 sided. With so many people in the US, trying to sell to Americans can be a daunting task. So here are a few tips I had found while living here.
First Marketing Tip: make it an identity purchase
One thing to know about selling to the US, is we tend to identify with the product. The clothes we wear, the cars we buy, our jewelry, the food, the phones, the tech, the interior design of our homes… EVERYTHING is considered an identity purchase.
That being said, if you are selling to the US, do everything in your power to create an identity in your products that others can identify with.
Are you selling a meme product? Really lean into targeted meme page advertising on Instagram. Are you selling a lifestyle product like a skate board or a yoga matt? Build a website that delves into the “Yogi” lifestyle or shows off rad skater vibes.
Second Marketing Tip, consider a “budget/midtier/flagship” pricing strategy
Everyone considers themselves good with money, even if they are terrible with money. When in reality, we make our purchase decisions based off what we value. If we value the latest and greatest iPhone, we might always have the new iPhone but drive a 10 year old budget car.
What this means for your shop is to have clear distinct options for consumers to make “value” assessments on what to buy at your store.
The worst thing that can happen is someone looks at your website and determines you only have one product type.
If I sell a widget on my Etsy store, I should have a budget option for someone to ‘experiment’ with. I should have a midtier option as a peCenaker between the budget and premium, and a “premium tier” product that I market everywhere.
Your budget option shouldnt be too different from the flagship, but should be a good representation of the “bang for the buck” product. You will probably make most of your money on these budget options.
Next comes marketing. This varies depending on your product but generally speaking, get it on social media. If it’s a physical product, you can get fairly good sales numbers just by promoting on Facebook/Instagram stores.
Especially because customers know how to purchase on fb / ig and they’re buying tendencies on these platforms are highly encouraged.
Lastly comes shipping and customer service. I encourage all businesses to have a “free shipping to US” option, even if it means inflating the price of your most expensive product to cover that cost.
Amazon has made consumers extremely wary of products that don’t come with free shipping. American consumers will even go as far as paying more overall for “free shipping.” Especially if they think they are getting a better “deal” for the money spent on the product.
Here are just some of the tips Ive outlined for selling to Americans. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help with.
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Disclaimer: None of the information presented on this site constitutes legal, business, tax, or medical advice. In each scenario, it’s recommended to first chat with a medical, legal, business, or tax professional before making any decisions.
