Bits to atoms – take two
Sep 27th, 2005 by jim galley
Interesting enough, looking through many online marketing forums, many are complaining that their users “just don’t get it” when it comes to downloading acrobat documents or “ebooks”. The story goes that the customer reads the site copy, makes a buying decision and expects to receive a honest to goodness book. The support lines then clog up with “yes, I got your email with some attachment, but where’s my book?” banter, confusion ensues, then ultimately a chargeback.
A few vocal members in these online marketing communities argue that these customers just don’t get it, posting customer email threads, bemoaning how unskilled these customers are, etc.
Well – if you look at these sites, you see that many of the images that they use to reference these ebooks look just like a physical book – actually, a book with a customized cover. Its no wonder the customer expected a book when the site shows a book – even if the site copy states electronic book.
And if you are targeting a niche market, it is wrong to expect that since they are online they understand how to download, save and possibily install something.
Yes – it is more profitable to sell bits – an electronic book costs next to nothing to distribute. But digital doesn’t work for everyone, so the solution isn’t bits or atoms – its both. Offering a digital and physical version of the product meets the needs of all users, increases customer satisfaction and reduces chargebacks.
I’ve been doing this for years and it is a problem outside of the “internet marketing” world. The only way I have found around this is to explain to them that this is an “electronic or digital” product made for viewing on your computer.
But with publish on demand services and the lowering costs of creating copies on CD’s – this shouldn’t be a big problem for anyone.
Ed Charkow
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