Anatomy of a great sales offer

As a copywriter myself, I'll like you to believe that
copywriting is all there is to making more sales. But that just
wouldn't be true.

The first thing I look at before I take on a new client is what
they are really selling--their primary offer. If I cannot sense the
value of the offer then I decline their project.

Nothing can be more distressing to a copywriter than trying to
sell a product that he or she knows is not worth what the
business owner may think it is worth. Selling the proverbial ice
to Eskimos is an ordeal akin to sitting in a dentist chair for a
root canal without Novocain.

It is often said that bad copy can sell a great product but great
copy cannot sell a bad product. There is some wisdom in this
saying but it's not totally correct.

You see, great copy CAN sell a bad product but the temporary
success will eventually backfire. You'll get a ton of refund
requests and you can damage the image of your business in the
marketplace.

(As a side note, if your refund rate is close to zero percent
this means that your product or service is under-priced or your
sales message isn't strong enough.)

Second only to great sales copy is the actual OFFER you are
making--the value you are offering to the customer in return for
their monetary investment. Some products literally sell
themselves because you know that they satisfy a genuine need in
the marketplace. And there are others that require used-car
salesmanship to get them in customers' hands.

An effective offer is made up of essentially five critical
elements:

1. A primary product that is new in some respect: the product or
service itself, the price or even a version. You may often see
companies try to present an old product in a new light by using
the terms "new" and then eventually "new and improved".

2. A bonus for responding to the offer. Some people question the
effectiveness of using bonuses but they work. There are customers
who will buy the main product just to get the bonuses. Any
marketer who thinks that customers will see through this
technique and so don't use bonuses is leaving a lot of money on
the table.

3. A free gift just for responding to the offer. This is
different from the actual bonus itself and is given just for
taking the time to even inquire further about the offer. It may
be a free report of a pen with your company name but it's given
just for showing interest - such as visiting your website.

4. A discount on the price. This is the same as offering a sale
but discount that lasts forever is NOT really a sale. What makes
the discount special is the limited time it will be available.
Some marketers use a script to update the expiration date to be
always midnight the next day, but this can erode their
credibility. No one likes to know that they were "pushed" into
making a buying decision when the same offer is made to ‘late
comers'.

5. A time limit or number limit on the offer. People are
typically procrastinators and will always want to make the
purchase tomorrow. If you place a time limit or quantity limit on
your offer you'll see the increase in sales. You will be
providing a strong incentive to act now and not later.

Now the BEST offers will have all five of these elements at the
same time. You may choose to use most of them but why not get the
synergistic effect by using all.

I see so many offers made by businesses that would do so much
better if they offered bonuses or set a limit on quantity sold or
made some effort to ‘fatten' the offer for the prospect. You can
always brainstorm and find a way to increase the perceived value
of your product or service, and small additions can produce big
results.

You may want to take another look at your offer--not just the
sales message--to see what may be missing. A reworked offer may
just take your business over the top.

Marketing To Sinners

Marketing To Sinners
What people say can often be miles apart from what people do. We are hypocrites in one way or the other. There is the ‘ideal’ and there is the practiced and never the twain shall meet in this life.
So who is you marketing targeted to? Do you really know your target market? Are you picturing them how you want them to be? How you wished them to be? Or how they really are?
Let me explain.
I often wish that people would know anything that is worth getting is worth exerting some effort to gain. But often what sells is the “get rich quick by doing nothing” products.
I wish that people would want to buy integrity but no they prefer success.
I wish that people would be more self-disciplined but they are more self-indulgent instead.
I wish that people were more self-reliant but no they prefer dependence.
You see, all the ‘ideals’ I may have in my head about my target can be very far from the truth. You’d be surprised to know that surveys show that while people SAY they will prefer to hear more positive stories on the news rather than all the disaster, crime, war and economic downturn, ratings are higher for the ‘bad’ news than the ‘good’ news.
I told you what people say don’t generally match what they do!
I once read how the audience of the Howard Stern show, known for its un-sacredness, consists of twice as many listeners who HATE the show as who love the show. When asked why they listen if they hated the show these people commented that they didn’t want to miss the outrageous thing Howard would say next!
Perhaps you’ll be surprised to know of the millions of ‘closet readers’ of the gossip and tabloid magazines—there’s just no other way to explain their wide circulation. Most people who read the tabloids would want people to THINK that they read the ‘respectable’ magazines instead.
As the copywriter and marketer if you don’t consider these trends when you are framing your appeal then you are missing the boat.
I’ve often read many complaints from product owners who are simply frustrated that their products are not selling when their products “do A,B,C,D”. They know their products provide value to their markets but they are not selling to prospects but to themselves. Read that again. As a product owner you can end up selling the product to yourself because you are not considering the REAL prospect but how you want the prospect to be—just like you!
How much are you really in touch with ‘people”? I mean real breathing, living people because these are the people who would buy your products and services. Do you have an ideal picture that is far removed from reality?
Although you may not want to admit it, people are lazy, want easy success, ostentatious, lack integrity, make quick decisions, dependent, restless and ostentatious. This may not be the way you WANT them to be, but this is the reality you have to deal with.
Discuss ‘people’ and most people would not want to be classed as such but it’s the human story, and the quicker you learn this fact as a marketer the better it will be for you.
Often I have seen products of lesser value than mines being sold for higher prices and I’m often left dumbfounded. But when I investigated the matter further I realize that I have too high a view of people. My wife often complain that I am too naïve and people will easily walk over me. But my nature is to see the best in every man. I often see people as I want them to be, instead of what they are. This may be a great trait to have in another field, but in marketing it lead to your demise.
Because the quicker you can understand human nature for what it IS instead of what you WANT it to be, the quicker you’ll be able to reach people. It’s simple: in order to take people where you want them to go you must understand the journey they are already on.
Why do people always fall for SCAMS and conmen? Because these thieves sell to human nature and not what they idealize their victims to be. These scumbags understand human nature and sell to human nature, not to sinless angels.
So, what about you? Are you marketing to sinners or to saints?