- Who is the Teach Me Buyer and what motivates him?
- How to speak in the Teach Me Buyer’s language.
- The two non-negotiables for the Teach Me Buyer.
- How to flatter the intelligence of the Teach Me Buyer instead of insult it.
If you read Sculptnation’s website about health and fitness supplements, you’ll be bombarded with tons of fun facts. For example, did you know that:
- Yohimbe Hydrochloride and Rauwolscine boost lipolysis
- Epigallocatechin Gallate increases fat oxidation and reduces BMI
- Lactobacillus sporogenes help support gastrointestinal function
- Epimedium grandiflorum improves sexual performance by inhibiting the activity of PDEs
What? You didn’t know that…
And you didn’t even care? (except maybe for point #4)
Hmmm.
At this point, some of you may be wondering, how could anyone sell stuff with such boring copy?
Sculptnation pulls it off by combining that scientific minutia with big, bright, bold claims like these:
You see, Sculptnation is a newcomer in the market of health/fitness supplements. Their ideal customer has the highest standards of physical perfection.
Yet, at the same time, these customers are experts in the science involved in their quest for the body beautiful.
So, Sculptnation’s avatar is an experienced fitness zealot who demands the finest and most effective supplements. To break into this market, Sculptnation can’t be shy about using bold claims and strong language to prove the max benefits of their products.
But this highly knowledgeable buyer also demands to be persuaded with the BEST available Science. Which is how…
Sculptnation Targets the Teach Me Buyer
Who is the Teach Me Buyer?
In a few words, this sums him up:
Sgt. Joe Friday, from the early TV police drama, Dragnet
The Teach Me Buyer is smart. Smarter than most people (at least he thinks he is.) He wants to live in a world of facts, reason, logic, and most of all, of Science.
Possessing elite knowledge and logical capacities, he will ask the seller to prove, intellectually, that the product/service he is offering is the very best, with the fastest results, and the highest return on investment.
His hidden question is: “Do I understand everything correctly?”
By understand, he means, do the facts and science prove that this is the best choice.
To address the logical objections of the Teach Me buyer, the seller must prove the value of the product/service using facts and high-level science.
TIP: The standard rule of copywriting–”make it understandable to a 6th-grader”–may not apply to this buyer.
That’s because this buyer takes emotional pleasure in his elite intellectual understanding.
He feels satisfaction when you can prove, through numbers, statistics, scientific studies, etc., that your product/service provides him the greatest value.
I would be tempted to say that you should flatter the intelligence of the Teach Me Buyer, but don’t be too blatant, he’ll see right through your ploy. However, appropriately placed “Ph.D.” level scientific information helps this buyer feel certain that he is getting the most value.
This buyer trusts Science. It provides a mental roadmap for him. It is how he understands the world and how he makes decisions.
For the Teach Me Buyer, a scientific basis for buying just “feels” right.
In the end, for him, the decision to buy should be clear cut, proven. “Just the facts, ma’am.”
How Sculptnation Targets the Teach Me Buyer
Sculptnation sells about a dozen supplements. They target the Teach Me Buyer in each campaign. Let’s analyze the marketing on the website of their most popular product, BURN, step-by-step, to see how they do this.
This is the first thing you see when you land on the BURN sales page.
Sculpnation introduces the product right away with a big promise of value couched in scientific language.
BURN’S Thermogenic Agent Matrix helps to send your metabolism into hyperdrive, burn extra calories, and torch body fat.
Not just ingredients, mind you. Burn has a “Thermogenic Agent Matrix.”
Genius.
The terminology is just right for appealing to the hidden “genius” in every Teach Me Buyer.
To prove the science of their products, Sculptnation takes you through a logical and complex progression with many slides. Next on the website, as you scroll down, we see more of BURN’S big promises, while hinting at the science behind them.
The first bullet introduces a curiosity-inducing scientific acronym. What’s B.A.T.? It beckons the reader. Teach me, please.
And in yellow, ATTENTION: There’s a new scientific breakthrough. (More on that later.) This breakthrough will turn your body into “a fat-melting machine.”
Next, Sculptnation shows another picture of the product with more stated benefits. (not shown) Then they take on Buyer Objection #1:
“Isn’t losing weight just as simple as eating less calories and running more?”
Of course not. If this is so, why buy a supplement?
“The reality is, the ability to burn body fat without losing precious lean, toned muscle is flat-out difficult.
For decades, it was almost impossible for most people.
Until now…”
Here, Sculptnation hints that the real secret to weight loss is more complicated than what “ordinary people” understand.
And now’s time for the secret science you’ve all been waiting for:
Taken down to its essence, here Sculptnation analyzes the science behind BURN. It is counter-intuitive, as Science often is.
The secret is to get more B.A.T.
B.A.T. is fat, but it’s good fat that will destroy the bad fat. (I’m over-simplifying to illustrate my point, but you get the idea.)
Sculptnation then reveals the scientific breakthrough that will get you the needed B.A.T.; the ingredients in the “Thermogenic Agent Matrix,” shown on the right.
It’s all very complex. And very scientific. And very satisfying to the Teach Me Buyer.
But not fully. The Teach Me Buyer can’t be satisfied with just one scientific explanation. That’s why Sculptnation gives him three. Here are the other two:
Elevate your metabolic rate
Notice the second box. “We’re not talking about simple calorie burning.”
That’s what average people think. In boxes three and four, Sculptnation sets the record straight for their intellectually elite customers.
Rip fat from your cells
“The problem with old-style, ineffective fat burners.”
The Teach Me Buyer wants the latest, greatest, most scientifically proven, technologically up-to-date products/service, not the same old stuff. BURN not only burns calories like other thermogenic products but burns loose fat “that is mobilized in your blood.”
Very cool.
The message to the Teach Me Buyer: BURN has unique, scientific qualities. That’s why it is the best.
So, Sculptnation gives three, detailed, complex, scientific reasons why BURN works and works the best.
Now, tell me true. Did you read all the information in those slides? Really?
If so, you may be a Teach Me Buyer. Only the Teach Me Buyer would enjoy following such a prolonged, technical, analytical, explanation.
But that’s not all. Sculptnation explains how each of the agents in its thermogenic matrix works. We’ll look at a couple of those analyses.
- Sculptnation often includes the molecular structure in its explanation of its ingredients. It adds nothing to the explanation but it looks and feels so scientific, like you’re in on a chemistry seminar.
- Technical jargon like “lipolysis,” normally avoided like the plague in marketing, appeals to the Teach Me Buyer’s feeling of belonging to an elite, scientific, fraternity.
Here’s another:
- Again, liberal use of scientific jargon, i.e. “fat oxidation,” “glucose metabolism,” “BMI.”
- Sculptnation makes frequent references to scientific studies including footnotes. Like the molecular structure pictures, this gives you the sense you are reading a scientific journal, not just an ad.
- Important: Sometimes Sculptnation stresses features more than benefits, whichs is normally a marketing no-no. That’s because the Teach Me Buyer already knows the benefits associated with the features. For example: “Boosts Antioxidant Levels.” This is a feature of BURN. The Teach Me Buyer already knows the benefits of antioxidants and would be insulted by a deeper explanation, which would seem like talking down to his education level.
But don’t think that Sculptnation doesn’t blast the benefits of their products with the volume on 10. Just because this buyer needs scientific proof doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use strong, persuasive language to help him see that he is getting the greatest value. For example:
Sculpnation loves the most graphic and violent images of how their products will destroy your body fat. Fat gets melted, blasted, blow-torched, and finally nuked!
Yet, even with such strong language, the Teach Me Buyer still needs to feel that his logical thought process has led him to choose the very best. Sculptnation gives this confidence by stressing that, unlike the competition, the ingredients in all their products are the finest, most tested on the market
So what is the final proof that BURN will work?
Scientific testing of course.
“We test, and retest, every batch of Burn from beginning to end. Then we use a third party verification system to ensure that each and every dose of BURN meets label claims.”
Notice that, as Sculptnation tries to close the deal, they remind the reader of the basic science behind their product, the “three essential levels.”
And the scientific ingredients, the “team of thermogenics” so powerful, “your fat cells won’t stand a chance.”
To most buyers, so much Science would probably distract from the claims of big benefits. Too much stuff. Too confusing. But to the Teach Me Buyer, scientific proof is the only way to make the big claims seem plausible. Big claims and scientific jargon are not contradictory; they are complementary.
My Personal Experience with Sculptnation Marketing
Author’s Note: I am a 63-year old male. I first encountered Sculptnation from a Facebook ad for their low-T supplement.
Understand, I hate ALL ads for low-T. HATE THEM.
“Do you feel tired? Irritable? Weak? Fat? No energy? Are you mentally confused? Are you not the man you used to be…wink…wink? It could be, as you age, that you have low testosterone.”
NO, I’M FINE. LEAVE ME ALONE. I’M DEFINITELY THE MAN I USED TO BE. AND I’M SURE I HAVE EXPLOSIVE TESTOSTERONE. GO AWAY LOW-T ADS.
But Sculptnation didn’t lead with the “you’re so pitiful” pitch, and since I analyze marketing (so I told myself), I clicked “read more.”
Then I clicked on their video, the kind where you hear a guy reading from the same script you are reading. This guy was really fit and macho, but he was also intelligent and had a certain manly kind of compassion. I liked him.
It was a science lecture, but very compelling, and I don’t consider myself any kind of Science Guy.
The New Science that Got My Attention
What got me was this was the only low-t pitch that understood how insulting all the other low-t pitches are. I don’t know if any of this is really true, but they said that testosterone levels DO NOT go down as you age. What happens is your cortisol levels increase, and cortisol blocks your testosterone.
OK then!
Sculptnation is telling me I’m still a man even though I’m 63. I still have all my manly juices, there’s just this bad stuff that gets in the way that this product will fix. I can buy that.
Of course, none of this really has anything to do with me. I’M DEFINITELY STILL THE MAN I USED TO BE.
But still, I bought their product, just to see if it did anything, of course. I never buy these kinds of products. But I couldn’t wait to buy this one.
They sent me emails every day with free stuff and cool tips.
They set me up on a comprehensive fitness regimen, a diet book, and an app that scientifically tailors a diet and exercise regime JUST FOR ME.
It was great. A real tour de force.
I still eat badly and don’t exercise. But at least I’ve got my pills, which, of course, I don’t really need…
BECAUSE I’M STILL THE MAN I USED TO BE, DAMN IT.
Good job, Sculptnation marketers! I love your product.
Key Takeaways:
- The Teach Me Buyer is motivated by a need to understand his choices at an intellectual level.
- The Teach Me Buyer thinks his intellectual abilities give him the discernment to make the choice that will yield the highest return on investment.
- Therefore, don’t shy away from big, bold claims, but always buttress those claims with plenty of facts and scientific support.
- The use of facts and scientific jargon that might be excessive, even boring, for most buyers is necessary to convince the Teach Me Buyer, both intellectually and emotionally.
- Big claims and scientific support are both necessary to the Teach Me Buyer, and complement one another.
- There’s a fine line between flattering the intelligence of the Teach Me Buyer and insulting his intelligence
William Metzger – MA History, teacher, writer, DJ, baseball fanatic, marketing analyst. Currently, lead writer and Managing Editor of the Crawfish Boxes, a Vox Media, and Houston Astros fan blog.
