Reasons why people buy products

Copywriting is a big part of my day-to-day work. In the product design field, there is often an overlap.

I consider myself a novice when it comes to writing to sell. Unfortunately, I’m not very confident in my capabilities so I’ve been studying about it more by reading a book called The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert W. Bly.

In an early section of the book, Robert lists twenty-two reasons why people might purchase your product. As someone who is trying to build software and other products on the side, I felt the urge to share the list. It’s not all that eye-opening but it’s a great thing to keep in mind when you’re writing copy aimed to sell:

Reasons why people might purchase your product:

  1. To be liked
  2. To be appreciated
  3. To be right
  4. To feel important
  5. To make money
  6. To save money
  7. To save time
  8. To make work easier
  9. To be secure
  10. To be attractive
  11. To be sexy
  12. To be comfortable
  13. To be distinctive
  14. To be happy.
  15. To have fun.
  16. To gain knowledge
  17. To be healthy
  18. To gratify curiosity
  19. For convenience
  20. Out of fear
  21. Out of greed
  22. Out of guilt.

I’m 100% certain you have bought products for any number of the reason listed above.

When it comes to buying software five of these reasons stand out to me that apply to most SaaS-style businesses.

  1. To make money
  2. To save money
  3. To save time
  4. To make work easier
  5. To gain knowledge

Most people who are professionals want a way to get ahead. By learning new things or by saving time doing other things, many are willing to pay to get there. It’s fascinating to me.

Seeing this list is a great way to think about positioning products and services when selling something. If you can tap into the needs and not just the wants you’ll often find a patch of an area where people are ready to pay up.

I’m excited to keep reading this quite thick book. So far the knowledge shared by Robert has been great.

The content in the book I have already been aware of. Being in the space of software and selling things online exposes you naturally. Robert happens to reiterate principles that are refreshing to remember after reading.