200-Proof Marketing

I recently got the first question in my Ask Chad section from Aaron Smith and decided to write about it here.

You can view the question by looking at the “Ask Chad” page.

The question was based on the fact that stats for most Niche sites show that 90% or more of the visitors who land at the websites leave immediately (or Bounce).

The question goes on to ask whether it would be better to try to convert more of the visitors who stay or to try to get more people to stay.

First I need to say that the web stat that shows 90% of visitors leaving immediately is not accurate.

I use Google Analytics for these kind of stats and there’s a good chance that Aaron uses it also. Or at least another Web Stats service that suffers from the same problem. (more…)

I’m sure you know about John Reese’s Traffic Secrets and how he sold over 1000 copies for $997 in one day. That $997 price tag was a huge part of his strategy.

Because it cost $997, affiliates were begging for a chance to promote it. A $500 dollar commission is a powerful incentive to promote someone’s product, despite the content.

But that’s not the only advantage the price gave him. The price also set the perceived value of his product.

Naturally, people perceive a $997 product as being more valuable than a $97 product.

Having the highest price among your competitors is actually a good thing when the customer is looking for the best available product.

High Price Advantages:

1. Higher Perceived Value
2. More Attractive to Affiliates
3. You can pay more in advertising for each customer

Obviously, a high price demands a quality product. But the price it’s self often makes the product appear more valuable.

If you pay $7 for a Marketing Course, you are less likely to use the information given and thus get less value from it.

If you pay $997 for a Marketing Course, you will most likely try to get everything you can from the product and apply more of it to get your moneys worth.

In many cases, its the price that sets the value of the product. Not the other way around.

This is a crucial part of marketing strategy. Price is often the deciding factor in whether a product succeeds or fails.

Many of my recent tests have had to do with building trust which I’ve found is an absolutely critical part of making sales.

After thinking about it more I realized that it’s not so much about Trust as it is about Comfort.

They are similar, but I believe Comfort describes whats going on better.

By making your visitors feel comfortable about their purchase, you can increase your conversion rate to utterly insane levels.

So from this day forward I declare AIDA obsolete. Taking it’s place is AIDCA…

We all know AIDA stands for:

• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Action

The new C stands for Comfort.

• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Comfort
• Action

While Comfort building seems to fit best between Desire and Action, it should not be confined there.

You should be building comfort from beginning to end. With everything you write you should ask your self: “Will this make the reader more or less comfortable about buying from me?”

Here are some ways you can Build Comfort:

1. Give them what they want for free in your copy. Not everything but enough to show them you know what you’re talking about and can help them.
2. Write your copy so it looks more like a helpful article than a traditional sales letter.
3. Provide as many testimonials as possible. The more the better.
4. Add audio or video to your testimonials.
5. Link to and reference supporting work you’ve done (such as other books in the same market).
6. Say how many people have bought your product if it’s a large number. People will feel more comfortable buying after many others already have.
7. Test adding a picture of your self.
8. Let them know you will be there to help them if they need it.
9. Make it easy for them to contact you if they need help.
10. Assure them their order will be secure.
11. Portray to your visitors that you care for them and care about what happens to them.
12. Expose vulnerabilities. Show them you have weaknesses. Example: “I couldn’t count my fingers without a calculator.” or “As a child I was horribly over weight, even my parents made fun of me. (for a weight loss product)”

Test some of those and let me know what happens. My guess is that most of them will increase your conversion rate.

My multivariate test is still on going but one section has quickly reached statistical validity.

That section is the Contact Information. A little line at the bottom of my copy that says something like:

“If you have any questions please email me at: email@address.com”

The test was to see what effect removing it would have.

Why did this one section become statistically valid so much quicker than all the others?

Because removing it had such a huge effect on my conversion rate.

How much?

Removing the contact information reduced sales by over 300%!

I knew it would hurt sales, but I had no idea it hurt them that much.

You may be thinking “why would he test something he knew would hurt his sales?”

Because I wanted to quickly find out how important this part of my copy was.

Now that I know this is a very important part of my copy, I will test a much more helpful, visible, and easy to use version.

I believe this is an important part of building trust and my past experience tells me that trust is huge.

By making the customer feel like they can get help should they run into any problems, you build trust and make them feel more comfortable about buying.

Take note of these results and start testing different ways to build trust in your copy.

While my current Multivariate test is still on going, I’m seeing some very interesting results so far. Some of which are already statistically valid.

Over the course of many tests, I’ve notice one constant. The more obvious you make it you are trying to sell something the worse your conversion rate will be.

In the past I wrote about Gary Halbert and Claude Hopkins who say the same basic thing:

The more apparent you make it that you are selling the more resistance you run into.

One of the great ideas Gary Halbert came up with was the A Pile - B Pile theory. Which basically said that when people go to their mail box, they immediately sort their mail into two Piles.

The A Pile contains personal letters, bills, bank statements, etc. While, the B Pile is for “junk mail” which will not even be opened.

Anything that looks like an advertisement, usually gets a quick glance and then goes to the B Pile (which ends up in the trash).

He used this theory to make his mailings look like personal letters, even going so far as using normal (more expensive) stamps and “fake” handwriting on the outside of the envelope.

What’s cool is that by looking normal and nonthreatening, his letters got more Attention than others that tried to get Attention by putting red writing all over their envelopes.

This is leading me to make big changes in the way I write copy. I’m quickly turning into a “Sneaky Salesman.”

Here are some interesting things I’ve found:

• Black Headlines consistently beat Red Headlines
• Formating a sales letter to look like a helpful article increases sales
• Simple words sell better than fancy sales type words (Ex: Learn seems better than Discover)
• Trust is huge and people seem to trust “normal” people more than salesmen.

Those are just a few of my findings so far.

One thing’s for sure, the next sales letter I write will be as “sneaky” as possible. I will probably make it look like an article throughout and include helpful information that the customer is looking for (to help build trust).

Then at the end, or possibly even on “page 2″ I will hit them with the Call to Action, and Guarantee.

One thing that’s annoyed me for awhile is how so many people say to use a Red Headline.

My tests tell me this is entirely wrong. Black has always beaten Red in my tests for headline color. I’m currently testing this yet again, and Black and Blue are tied while Red is doing horribly.

Maybe some markets respond better to Red Headlines, but I sell to quite a few markets and not once has Red beaten Black.

I don’t get it… Why are people hanging on to the Red Headline, much less recommending it to others?

Test it for your self and you will see what I’m talking about. If you are currently using a Red Headline, you should immediately test a Black and/or Blue one.

My opinion:

Red screams Ad, while Black looks more like a helpful article. But then how do we explain Blue doing well? That’s a little odd.

I’m testing alot of things right now, and look forward to telling you the conclusive results when I get them. Already, I’m seeing something very interesting that has me excited about what I will test next. I just need to wait for the results to be statistically valid first.

That may sound mean but one of the most common mistakes people make when writing copy is assuming their audience is smarter than they actually are.

It’s important to use the language of your market but don’t over complicate things. Stick to small words and avoid using terms your audience may not understand.

Your copy should be simple enough for a 5th grader to understand it.

The only exception is when you’re writing to an audience that you’re sure will understand certain terms (for example medical terms in copy meant for doctors).

Try to make it fast and easy to read. Keep your paragraphs short (three lines or less) and on target. Avoid long confusing paragraphs at all costs.

When you finish writing, go back and remove any boring parts.

By making it easy and fast to read, you will effectively keep your prospects eyes glued to your copy and increase your sales.

As Ray Edwards said recently on his blog: “Copy should read like conversation; it should flow naturally and be easy to listen to (or read).”

As you may have noticed, I tried to write exactly as I described in this post to give you an example.

I was just reading a post on Ryan Healy’s blog about a “200% Lowest Price Guarantee” a furniture store offers. They guarantee there price is the lowest or they will pay you 200% of the difference in price.

As I was reading, I remembered something Gary Halbert wrote about guarantees and how they could not only increase sales but also reduce refunds. I believe Gary’s example was a 200% money back guarantee for some kind of home business product that was getting hit hard by refunds.

The catch was that if you wanted the 200% refund, you had to provide proof (business license, merchant account records, etc) you actually followed the steps outlined in the product.

By setting the guarantee up that way he reduced the perceived risk and as Ryan said built trust. He also drastically cut the amount of refunds. Evidently most the customers asking for refunds never put the information in the product to use.

So if you’re looking for something to test, why not try testing a bold guarantee.

Which Guarantee do you think is better?

Try my Niche Annihilation System for 30 days. If you aren’t making at least $100 a week by the end of the 30 days, I’ll give you a quick 100% Refund.

OR

Try my Niche Annihilation System for 30 days. If you aren’t making at least $100 a week by the end of the 30 days, send me a link to your Niche’s website and links to the 10 “free ads” described in my system and I’ll not only refund your order, but I’ll send you a $100 dollar check just for trying my system.

No matter what happens you make money!

I don’t know about you but the second guarantee would tempt me a whole lot more than the first…

Take a look at this quote:

“Those who have much, enjoy little. Those who have little, enjoy much.”

What does that mean you ask? Think about it, the more you want or need something the more satisfying it is.

When I was just starting high school I went to football tryouts. The tryouts were tough and the coaches kept us going non-stop for about two hours.

For some cruel reason they refused to give us any water except for a small, almost pathetic sip half way through.

When it was over, I was worn out and dehydrated. Yet, after cleaning up and changing I remember having one of the most satisfying experiences I can remember.

I went to the water fountain just outside the locker room and probably spent 5 minutes sucking up every bit of water I could get.

That was without a doubt the best tasting and most enjoyable water I’ve ever had. If water was that good all the time no one would drink anything else.

What made the water so fantastic? I was very dehydrated after over 2 hours of heavy physical exertion in the hot Florida sun.

The lack of or extreme need for water is what made it so good.

That’s why those who have little enjoy what they get so much more than those who have “much.”

I saw a show on the Discovery Channel a few weeks ago about two guys who were stranded on a desert island for 4 days with no water. When they were rescued it showed them gulping down water and I found my self envying how much they must have enjoyed that water.

Now you’re probably wondering what that has to do with Marketing…

While it is somewhat relevant to Marketing it’s also an important life lesson(and something for me to write about since I can’t think of anything else right now).

When you’re picking a product to sell the first thing you should look for is a Starving Market. A group of people that desperately want something.

You don’t want to sell A/C units in Antarctica, sell heaters instead.

Once you have a starving market, all you have to do is let the market know you have what they’re starving for. From there on it’s easy money.

One of my favorite things to read about on other marketer’s blogs is their test results. Very few ever give them out, yet say they are religious testers.

I too consider my self an insane tester (it can be alot of fun) but sometimes I get lazy and stop testing for a while.

I imagine it’s the same for other marketers but maybe they’re just greedy?

One thing you should always keep in mind is that what works for one market or salesletter may not work for another, so it’s important to test every change you make to your sales page.

Here are some results, (the ones I can remember) that have boosted my conversion rate…

1. Use a blue background just like you see on this website. The color code is #003399 I think. I’ve tested this many times and every time it has beaten a white or light grey background.

2. Make your headline any color but Red (preferably Black, although I’m about to test Dark Blue as an option). Red has always failed against Black in my tests.

4. Make your salespage’s Table Width between 65 and 70 percent. The main Table on this website is about 65% I think.

5. Use a little “Satisfaction 100% Guaranteed” picture in your guarantee. Did I mention you should put your guarantee in a table with a different background color from the rest of the website to make it stand out?

6. Test different PS’s because they are one of the most read parts of a sales letter. Try using it to reinforce a deadline, justify the price, or reiterate your guarantee.

7. Add a fake picture of your Ebook or Software box to your salesletter. My tests have shown this to increase conversions in most cases.

8. Try adding some audio at the beginning of your salesletter. Something as simple as paraphrasing the first few paragraphs of your salesletter can and has boosted conversions by over 200%.

9. Try adding Video near the top of your salesletter. This is still new territory but early results look very promising.

10. Prices ending with 7 tend to out sell others. This isn’t true in all markets and can be tough to figure out, but as a general rule $29.97 will usually outsell $29.95.

OK, there ya go… Ten things you can test right now that will almost certainly increase your conversion rate.

Don’t forget to test them though(individually), because nothing is an absolute in this business. There may be general rules but there are always exceptions.