How anti-aging supplement companies are getting ahead, and how any company can do the same, is the focus of this article.
As you’ll see, marketing anti-aging supplements takes some remarkable creativity and savvy in developing strategies for persuading older audiences to buy them.
It starts with a case study.
MEET THE PATIENT
I’ll call him ‘Mr. X’ – just to keep his story private.
Mr. X was aging fast – way too fast for the number of years he’d already been on this planet.
He was a former smoker and drinker.
His blood pressure was creeping up.
He had the growth hormone levels of an 80-year-old – when he was only 42!
Unsurprisingly, he was taking a number of prescription medications.
He was an old man before his time.
On top of all that, his family health history wasn’t inspiring. His family tree was sprinkled with diabetes, allergies, heart disease, neurological disorders, and senility.
That was three decades ago, when the ‘anti-aging’ movement was starting to pick up steam.
Mr. X was a smart guy (he still is). He paid attention to new developments in what might now be called ‘functional medicine’.
His focus was on nutritional science – i.e., supplements for rejuvenating his ‘old man’ metabolism.
He did thorough research of published studies. He chose a number of supplements based on what he found.
His efforts worked.
Fast forward to the present.
Mr. X is currently 72.
By all health measures, he now lives in a younger man’s body.
He enjoys lower than average blood pressure, resting heart rate, fasting blood sugar and insulin levels, cholesterol, triglycerides, and body fat percentage.
His functional strength, lung capacity, and cardiac capacity are now all better than those of an average 40-year-old.
At an age when many in his age group are slowing down, Mr. X is busier than ever. He can snow ski down the steepest slopes, climb to the top of the mast on his sailboat, and keep up with the 30-year-olds in his bicycling club.
Mr. X is the poster boy for anti-aging supplements.
MUSIC TO MY EARS
Mr. X’s story seemed to be directed right at me. We’re both about the same age. We both had so-called ‘age-related’ health issues. We both sought natural ways to slow down and even reverse our symptoms of rapid aging.
Now, because of his story, we both share better health because of anti-aging supplements.
Although my health status wasn’t as bad as his, I still benefited from the products he endorsed.
My blood pressure dropped. My fasting blood sugar went down. My body fat percentage decreased. My muscle tone improved. The skin on my cheeks became rosy again.
My personal youth movement keeps getting better.
Most importantly, my prospects for a longer and healthier life are right where I want them to be.
It’s a great feeling.
OH, WHAT A FEELING!
Mr. X’s story led me to take action – the right action – for slowing down my own aging.
That’s what a good story does.
First off, it’s irresistible reading. As soon as I started reading about his experience, I had to read all the way to the end.
By the time I finished, I’d already made a list of the supplements he recommended.
And then I started buying them.
Ultimately, my becoming a customer rested on the persuasive psychology of good storytelling.
This is a powerful principle behind persuasion marketing. It may be the most powerful one of all for anti-aging supplements.
THE 1-2-3 OF PERSUASION STORYTELLING
On reflection, the supplement company behind Mr. X’s transformation did three main things leading me to become a customer.
They are what any company selling anti-aging supplements can do.
1) First, they got my attention with a bait piece I couldn’t live without.
It was offered right on the homepage of their website. The language in the offer convinced me to click on a link leading to a ‘persuasion’ page – i.e., a page designed to persuade me to give up my name and email address so I could get the report.
This is a common list-building strategy. What was uncommon was its success in breaking down my resistance to giving up my contact information.
2) The report itself was essentially a long-form sales letter about the company’s anti-aging supplements. The heart of it was Mr. X’s story.
3) This step was perhaps the most important of all: the company communicated with me, one-on-one, to establish a human connection with me personally.
They followed up my purchases with messages from a real person with a real email address.
Not from someone at [info@companyname.com].
Not from someone at [no-reply@emailprovider.com].
Nope, a real person with a real ‘reply-to’ address.
The reason I say this is perhaps the most important step of all is because of how I felt about it.
I felt significant. I felt valued.
Psychologists explain how everyone seeks these feelings every day.
The experts are spot on.
Good storytelling got my attention and converted me into a customer.
Good psychology keeps me coming back.
ASCENDING THE GROWTH CURVE
Rapid growth in the anti-aging supplements market is tantalizing. All by itself, however, the predicted CAGR of 7% over the next five years is a moot piece of data.
How a company capitalizes on that growth is what makes all the difference for ascending the curve.
That’s where good storytelling plays a crucial role for sales conversions and customer retention.
WHAT ELSE?
Several kinds of written materials drive the anti-aging supplements market.
For starters, marketing copy behind what I’ve described here entails a ‘subscribe’ page, a bait piece, and follow-up emails.
It also rests on finding and curating ideal stories like that of Mr. X. In other words, stories talking directly to the target audience.
One more item, without which even the best marketing copy flops, is an effective call to action (CTA). I don’t mean merely a ‘Buy Now’ button. I mean copy that drives people to click on that button in the first place.
(Believe it or not, I’ve seen plenty of marketing copy with no CTA at all!)
These are some of the most persuasive elements behind marketing strategies for anti-aging products.
In addition, persuasive copy for supplement marketing must be based on good science.
This means citing and explaining data from the best available studies in terms the lay public understands.
That’s is where I come in.
I am the rare combination of a persuasive writer and a research scientist.
I leverage my scientific expertise and my writing skills for nutraceutical marketing.
Would you like to explore what I can do for you? Then let’s talk.
