Jim Connolly Marketing

  • Home
  • About
    • About Jim Connolly
    • Jim’s small business marketing newsletter
    • Top Marketing Tips for 2026
    • Privacy Policy
    • How I use cookies
    • Contact
    • Disclosure
  • Let’s Grow Your Business

Elon Musk and price anchoring

Updated July 2024

By Jim Connolly | November 3, 2022

price anchoring, anchor price, marketing

Soon after taking control of Twitter, Elon Musk announced that he was going to allow anyone to have a verified Twitter account, for a monthly fee of $20. He knew he was never going to charge that much. He was simply using a very powerful marketing tactic known as price anchoring, which I am about to share with you.

Here’s how price anchoring works

Price anchoring is where an initial, high price is attached to a product or service. This becomes the anchor price. Then, a subsequent and much lower price is given as the actual price. Having focused on the $20 price Musk originally announced, the actual $8 price, in contrast, looked more attractive.

As is often the case, the late Steve Jobs provides us with a perfect example.

Jobs used price anchoring when he launched the first Apple iPad. As he gave his presentation, he said that the pundits suggested a retail price of $999. Jobs went on to say that his team had managed to produce it for a retail price of just $499. The rest is history. Note: You can watch the price anchor segment of Jobs’ presentation here. It runs for just over a minute and a half and is a masterful example.

Just about any product or service can be marketed using this tactic. The key is to determine your anchor price correctly. It needs to be high enough to seem realistically expensive. That’s what makes your actual price feel like such amazing value in comparison.

Price anchoring works equally well for products or services, and it’s equally effective when used in marketing or as part of a sales presentation. If you’re not currently using this tactic as part of your marketing / sales mix, I recommend giving it a try. It can significantly improve your sales conversion rates and increase the profitability of each new sale you make.

Make more sales, boost your profits and grow an amazing business. How? This has already helped hundreds of small business owners → Click here

Creative Marketing Tips

Get my best ideas delivered direct to your inbox. Just add your email below.

You can unsubscribe at any time. I respect your privacy.

Jim Connolly

Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I use creative marketing to help small business owners increase sales, boost profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

Featured by

marketing advice, marketing help

Categories

  • AI (9)
  • Blogging (407)
  • Business development (496)
  • Copywriting (308)
  • Creative Marketing (1,669)
  • Email marketing & mail shots (187)
  • Professional development (547)
  • Social media marketing (358)

Hosting provider

20i hosting

Search

Recent posts

  • 6 Success habits for 2027 November 12, 2026
  • Marketing now! Your prospects really need you today November 4, 2026
  • Write tight November 1, 2026
  • Within seconds October 6, 2026
  • The difference is huge. No. Bigger than that September 25, 2026
  • Keeping it real September 10, 2026
  • Lessons from highly successful business owners September 2, 2026
  • Sign your work. Grow your business August 17, 2026
  • Get creative: Let others market your business for free! August 7, 2026
  • Traditional marketing is dead July 27, 2026
  • The stupid game July 13, 2026
  • Hey! Not so fast! July 6, 2026
  • How to get your fees right June 23, 2026
  • A 3 shot espresso for your business June 17, 2026
  • Unproductive? You’re probably just bored June 12, 2026
  • Make AI grow your business June 8, 2026
  • It motivates people to take action, now June 4, 2026
  • Is your business one of the 50% that prospects now avoid? Probably! May 30, 2026
  • Give your best ideas away for free. Here’s why May 12, 2026
  • AI is wiping out your competitors. Now take their market share May 5, 2026

Creative Thinking?

My Creative Thinking Website
  • Home
  • About
  • Let’s Grow Your Business

Copyright © 2026 Jim Connolly