From cheap deals to expensive, knowing when the price is right based on what you are buying is key. When buying products this can be somewhat easier to measure as you are buying a tangible product. Some things that are shorter term may warrant a cheaper price point and those longer term purchases tend to require the quality that bumps up the price tag.
Service is where things can get really interesting on price. Why? Because buying a service is somewhat intangible. I mean take brand and marketing. Sure there is the famous question of ROI. What’s the return on investment is a question that is asked in almost every project and yes there are ways of locking down measurables of success to tick off the ROI pointer. Get ready for a big statement for some people, the reality is that ROI on majority of brand, creative, design, campaigns and marketing projects isn’t the way to measure. In fact it’s restrictive of the entire process. Think of the good old days of true advertising done by the big brands out there. These companies took risks to get seen, stand out in the market, gain traction. Did they know for certain that it would work? No. Did they have targets that they put in place to satisfy and ensure everyone at the top table was comfortable. No. Instead they trusted in the creative process to deliver value and that value was tracked over time to learn, evolve and build on to create bigger and better ads. This mentality allowed the creative process to be focused on the new goal of connecting with customers to gain a following which seems a much bigger win long term than to convert sales.
So the question to ask yourselves here is, what are you looking to achieve? If its a short term sales rally to convert customers then great place targets and ROI all day long however true brand and marketing and all that comes with it is really about creating a following and loyalty which is done by connecting on a level that is all about getting to know your customers.
So how do you know when the price is right when buying a service? It’s simple, when the value is delivered. A brand is about creating a connection with your audience and marketing is to deliver your messages in a compelling way. The creative process, when done well, is a scientific process based on psychology. It takes a certain type of person, you know the ones that use the creative side of the brain to come up with ideas, concepts, messages and designs to sell businesses, products and services. So it is all about value when it comes to price and this is what should be clear when gauging whether the price is right.
