Archive | February, 2019

Time and time again I see sales copy with one essential element that is completely missing in action. Any guesses as to what that might be?

It’s something that proves what you say is true. It’s the little thing that makes a believer out of a skeptic. Sometimes it’s off to the side, and sometimes it’s featured front and center. And the better it is, the more you need to show it off. It’s crucial for making sales.

Have you guessed it?

It’s PROOF.

Proof that what you claim is true. Proof that your customers get the results you claim they will get. Proof that your product works. Proof that you won’t disappear in the night with your customer’s money.

It’s the difference from almost making a sale to MAKING the sale.

Here are seven different types of proof you can use in your copywriting, regardless of whether it’s an email, blogpost or sales page. Anytime you’re talking about your product, remember to include some proof.

1. Case studies – These are also known as customer success stories, and they tell a brief story about a customer who got results from your product or service.

For example, “Joe Smith uses this software, and in the first 30 days he saw a 22% increase in conversions.”

It’s best to keep your case studies short and concise, focusing on measurable results whenever you can. Remember, numbers are more persuasive than adjectives.

2. Testimonials – These are written statements from your customers or clients, explaining why they like your product or service. They’re typically quotes from people who’ve used your products or services.

The best testimonials don’t just sing your praises, they also explain details of why they customer endorses you or your product. For maximum impact, use testimonials that include numbers or quantitative results.

3. Endorsements – An endorsement is like a testimonial from someone widely recognized by your prospects.

If a well-known blogger or expert in your field endorses your product, by all means add this to your sales copy. People who trust this well-known individual will then trust your product by association.

4. Research studies – If there are any research studies that clearly show the effectiveness of your product or a component of your product, then use this data in your sales copy.

For example, if you sell an herbal supplement that contains 6 different ingredients, and the effectiveness of each ingredient is backed by research studies, you might include each study in your sales letter in the appropriate places.

The key here is to deliver the information concisely and in layman’s terms. Don’t use scientific lingo – you’ll lose your readers.

5. Visual representation of results – An image is truly worth a thousand words, if it’s the right image. You’re familiar with this technique from weight loss products. They use before and after photos of their clients to show the changes in their body sizes and shapes.

If you can use charts, photos, screenshots or other visuals to prove your product or service works, then by all means do it.

Place captions on your visuals. Studies show that captions are read more than almost any other element on a sales page (other than the headlines.)

Make your captions – well, captivating and self-explanatory. For example, a caption that says, “Janet Smith” doesn’t tell the prospect anything about the product. But the caption, “Janet Smith, after losing 42 pounds in 67 days on the XYZ diet” tells the whole story.

6. Press coverage – If you’ve received praise from a media outlet, then let your prospects know about it.

Quotes from well-known sources are best, since your home town paper might not hold much credibility with the rest of the world.

But if a well-known publication or media outlet has good things to say about your product or service, include that in your sales copy.

7. Social Shares – This is useful if you want to show you have a large audience.

For example, if you have a track record of writing blog posts that get thousands of social media shares, you might make the case that you are a trusted source for information in your field.

Next time you write any sort of copy that promotes a product or service, be sure to include at least one powerful element of proof in your copy.

Advanced technique: Use your proof as part of your headline or sub-headline.

For example, “Ex-Beautician Gets Four $100,000 Job Offers thanks to Our Job Getting System.”

I don’t know about you, but if I was in the market for a new job, I would be super excited to read that sales letter!

It used to be that when I went to the doctor, I would find my favorite magazine in the lobby and read it until the doctor was ready to see me. But this last time, I couldn’t find a single issue. I asked the lady at the desk about it, and she explained that the magazine was so popular, patients were taking it home, so the doctor stopped buying it.

Now there’s a business strategy I don’t recommend – find out what your customers want and then don’t give it to them…

Personally, I would have ordered more subscriptions, not less. Because not only do his patients like the magazine; it also keeps them occupied instead of watching the clock when the doctor is running late (and he is always running late.)

Many businesses do this – they find out what customers want and then don’t give it to them.

I used to have a restaurant I really liked, and one of the things I liked best was they would swap one side dish for another. Then one day they told me they couldn’t do it. It was too difficult to swap baked potato for French fries, or broccoli for green beans, even though they had all four in the kitchen.

I figured if they couldn’t swap sides to give me what I wanted, then I couldn’t eat there. And I don’t.

Another restaurant used to cook their ahi tuna all the way through if you asked. Then they got a new chef who insisted that patrons only eat food the way he liked to prepare it. In other words, I could eat raw tuna or I could go elsewhere. Now I go elsewhere.

The trick to a successful business is to truly understand what your customers want and then give it to them, and keep on giving it to them.

It’s not that difficult. Yet so many marketers and business people get this wrong.

And when in doubt, just ask. One time I was going to consolidate all of my courses into one big course and actually ship out a physical product, because I’d heard this was the thing to do.

But first I asked my customers how many thought they would buy it. The answer was, only about 1% would even consider it. Thank goodness I didn’t do it.

One last tip – develop your products or services based on what your customers really want, and not what they should want. Maybe your customers should want to learn how to do an easy task in their business, but they’d rather hand the task over to you to do.

Ok, so your customers have told you about another product they want to buy from you, and you can be obliged to sell it to them!

Giving customers what they actually want may be the greatest business secret of all.

I’m going to try and NOT go on a rant here about how, “These days” no one in marketing is telling the truth, everything is exaggerated or an outright lie, lies of omission are so common they’re expected, and so forth.

Okay, maybe that was my rant.

My point is, there are plenty of marketers out there streeeeeetching the truth until the truth is completely lost. And yes, these marketers often do experience short term success. If a person wanted to make money and run, this is the method they would use.

But they better keep running, because government agencies are getting a lot better at not only monitoring what happens online, but also apprehending and charging people when they out and out lie to customers.

In my opinion, a far better strategy is to look at the long picture and tell the truth.

Marketers and businesses who tell the truth might not make as much money up front, but in the long run their businesses will survive while so many others fail.

They’ll get recommended by their clients to other prospects. They’ll get more repeat business. And their proprietors can sleep at night, too.

“The most powerful element in advertising is the truth.” – William Bernbach, cofounder of international advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), director of many breakthrough ad campaigns.

I don’t know when William said this quote, but I do know he died in 1982. Yes, truth has been scarce in advertising and marketing for a long time – perhaps as long as its been around.

Yet people want the truth. They crave the truth. And when they find someone who will tell them the truth, they will do one of two things: Either look elsewhere for the “quick fix,” and eventually come back to the person who told the truth, or recognize the truth as being what they need in the first place.

Either way, if you’re in it for the long term, the truth is the way to go.

Here’s a classic example: You teach people how to make money online. You tell them it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes work. There is a learning curve. They’ll need to invest both time and money. They’ll make mistakes along the way and get discouraged, and that’s okay, because it’s part of the process. But if they stick with you, and they do the work, in a year’s time they’ll have a very real, viable business that replaces their current income.

Or, you tell them they will make a gazillion dollars by Tuesday with no work… But they don’t make a gazillion dollars, or whatever you promised them. And they’re mad. They want their money back.

Hopefully at that point you’ve pulled up stakes and you’re running (just kidding) or you still have their money and refund it (that’s the right answer.) And when they get their money back from you, where are they going next? To the person who told them this takes time, effort and money. Because that person told them the truth, and they realize that’s exactly what they need.

Look, I understand how tempting it is to stretch the truth, to lie by omission (yes, that is a lie when you don’t tell them something they need to know) or to make things “rosier” than they are. It’s all a part of marketing and advertising.

But should it be? Only you can decide.