Monetization Law Number #22

Monetization follows occam’s razor. simple normally works best, so avoid feature fog

Offer a limited number of clear value differentiators to avoid feature fog.

Ensuring your key-value determinants are clear is an important part of the buyer process and hence monetization.

This chapter explains that less [features] is more [monetization] when communicating features.

The Rule provides a quick monetization heuristic i.e. a rule of thumb in operation, a kind of —do this— and you’ll be 80% of the way there.

Rationale explains why the rule works with deeper insights and its use in practice.

Rabbit hole provides more in-depth resources and recommendations for anyone wanting to spend more hours researching each topic.

⓵ Rule 📖

⓶ Rationale 🧠

⓷ Rabbit Hole 🐇

⓵ Rule: Monetization Law #22 📖

Ensuring your key-value determinants are clear, concise and communicated simply.

⓶ Rationale: Monetization Law #22 🧠

Feature fog - occam’s razor

Occam’s razor is a mental model embedded within our thought process, which confers that the simplest form is usually the best.

This concept, as seen in many popular products such as iPhones, Netflix, etc, is also fundamental to your pricing plans. 

Features becoming less valuable

Over the last decade, product engineering improvements have resulted in exceptionally well crafted and reliable software being released by most companies.

As a result, most features that would have delighted users in 2010 have become ‘table stakes’ - expected entry-level non-differentiating features.

The proverbial feature ‘race to the bottom’ means that a re-think of the pricing page construct is emerging.  

⓷ Rabbit Hole: Monetization Law #22 🐇

Feature fog

The automated nature of sales means that customers now need to be fully informed by text as no salesperson is available for persuasive Q&A’s.

This lack of persuasive charm or other humanistic bias approaches has led to a proliferation of features thrust into the customer domain.

This is partly because most companies believe it better to tell all, rather than risk a sale through lack of detail.

In reality, all psychological studies have shown that the opposite is true. Increasing a customer’s cognitive load is unlikely to result in a quicker sale.

The more features they have to compare, the more cognitive load-bearing activities they need to carry out and therefore the longer they’ll take to decide or buy.

The rule of 5 is a simple way to force articulation of your key differentiators while enhancing your customer’s decision-making abilities.

The rule of five

The rule of five is a good starting point when thinking of pricing models. Your key five differentiating features should be sold and explained to the potential customer in simple, clear language that resonates with their goals.

This does not preclude that the other 20 or so table stakes features are not explained via listing details, etc. However, it does suggest that no more than five elements should be emphasised.

Following this theme onto your pricing page, no more than five features should be shown above the fold

…[[the fold is the term used by web professionals to describe a web browser’s window. Above the fold, is the content that is visible without any scrolling]]...

The critical task is to identify the game-changing feature and partner it with a value-aligning metric that indicates that your customer’s success is your number one priority.

🐇 Additional Research 🐇

Fortunately, pricing pages are everywhere. I recommend doing a google search for ‘best pricing pages’ and scan through them, paying particular attention to the companies that achieved high growth or unicorn success.

For example, the pricing table below is clean, concise and communicates value.