Joey Tung's Blog

For fellow insomniacs out there who’ve found themselves doing nothing but sitting in from of the television watching infomercials, have you ever wondered if anyone in their right mind actually falls for the exaggerated benefits and supposedly limited time offers?

It shouldn’t come as a surprise though, that infomercials are still airing because they do work!

An article by Rohit Bhargava simply sums up why infomercials are so effective. According to him, there are 5 core lessons to be learned from watching these half-hour long commercials:

1. They have a backstory
2. They show the product in action
3. They use real testimonials
4. They make a specific offer
5. They give a reason to act now

By providing a backstory, they are able to pique interest in the product in customers who weren’t even aware they were interested. They suddenly find themselves curious as to how the product came to be and why it was invented. Once they’ve hooked the customer in, the show the product in action. This proves to potential customers that the product works. It shows off how easy it is to use, how convenient it’ll make your live be, and so on and so forth. They do so until you’re convinced you might actually need this over-sized blanket with holes for your arms and head.

To reinforce that, they provide testimonials of people who gush about how great the product is and how it changed their lives. Finally, they give you an amazing offer, a special pricing or discount, and for the finale, they give you a reason to act quickly.

How many times have we heard “pick up the phone now” or “call within xx minutes” for such and such limited time offer? Too many times to count.

This tried and true method has proven to be gold as the infomercial industry is currently a $4 billion one.