Monthly Archives: March 2009

Five Ways to Increase Web Response Rates

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1. People Will Click Everywhere

Web visitors are like Chicago voters, they click early and often. People will click on buttons, graphics, logos, anything that might be a button. Give them lots of places to click, and track the clicks you get so you can tell which ones are the “hot” spots.

2. Ask for the Sale Repeatedly

Make it as easy to order as possible. You’ll probably get the most clicks from the top few buttons, but add more (especially if you’re using long copy that requires readers to scroll down several times to read all of it). People may be ready to buy 1/4 of the way down, or 3/4 of the way down the page. Don’t make them work to find an order button.

3. Test the Wording on Your Buttons

Submit or Subscribe sound too impersonal and machine-like. Instead, try something that more clearly tells readers what they’re getting: Get Your Marketing Tips.

4. Keep Your Forms Short

Only ask for the information you absolutely need. It should be clear why you need it (such as an e-mail address and a name to send a newsletter, or a shipping address for a product). If you need to qualify leads to pass on to your sales staff, ask questions they’ll need to know. You don’t want them wasting time following up leads that aren’t worth the trouble.

5. Use Big Buttons

Don’t hide the order form or the product photo. Make them clear and obvious. A white paper or newsletter offer in tiny 9 point type won’t get clicked on.

Photo: cheesepicklescheese

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Why Paper is Better Than E-mail

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Chris Brogan recently pointed out a marketing tool that will make your customers smile. He bought a book and inside was a card thanking him for his purchase, telling him what other kinds of books the publisher produced, and inviting him to get updates on future titles as they are published.

As Chris pointed out, it’s a thank you, gives helpful information about the publisher, and includes a call to action.

Since it’s in your new book, you’re likely to look at it and read it. Asking for his email address might have seemed intrusive (a way to send more marketing material). However, a card (or better yet, a bookmark) is an extra gift. People delete unwanted emails without thinking twice. Paper seems more important and personal, and people tend to save it. You can only see email, but you can see, touch, and sometimes (if it’s fresh from the printer) smell paper and ink.

Old cataloger’s trick: make your catalog slightly smaller than your competitors’. People tend to keep them, and stack them. Guess which goes on top?

Photo:shaun

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Are You Networking or Spamming?

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I got an email from LinkedIn Requests yesterday. Thinking someone wanted to connect with me, or wanted advice, I opened it. Turned out to be essentially a commercial. Someone I didn’t know, and had no contact with, sent me three paragraphs describing his business, how wonderful it was, and telling me to contact him. He went on and on about his shipping and logistics company – telling me how I could save money and all about his innovative ideas.

Trouble is, I rarely ship packages, particularly large ones. Nearly everything I do is electronic: web copy, brochures, letters are all uploaded via FTP or emailed. No shipping.

The email was impersonal, irrelevant, and unanticipated. I have no need for this person’s services, and frankly, I was annoyed.

So, before you hit send on LinkedIn or “friend” someone, think about it from their point of view. Is this for me? Or for the other person? Who gets helped by this?

Photo: the fang monster

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How to Start Your Sales Letter With a Bang

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If you’re writing a marketing letter (or an email) the most important thing is to get the reader to open the envelope or the email.

But how do you start your sales letter? What do you do to make sure your headline grabs attention and your letter gets read, instead of being tossed in the trash?

Read on to find out.

Speak directly to your readers

Words like “you” and “your” send the message that you’re addressing the reader’s problems and concerns, rather than talking at them. It creates the feeling that you’re having a conversation, unlike “I” (which is more like a speech).

Keep the sentences and paragraphs short, so they’re easy to read and digest. Use that first sentence to introduce the conversation you’d like to have, and explain why the reader should keep reading.

Ignite curiosity

20 Ways to Market Your Business For Free

Sometimes, the best headline or opener is buried in the second or third paragraph. Read through the letter again and see if re-arranging it makes it better.

Ask a question that you know your reader will agree with

Are you tired of spending money on IT support that leaves your wallet empty and your computer full of viruses?

Start with “because”

Because you’ve been a cardmember for 10 years, we’d like to reward you with a free gift.

Address skepticism about your product

Take it on immediately, agree with it, then discuss (in the next sentence) why your solution is different.

Email marketing is just junk and a waste of time.  The truth is, I agree with you. The problem with most marketing is……What makes this different is…..

Use memories and imagination

Conjure up a picture in the reader’s mind and tell a story:

Do you remember how much you enjoyed recess as a child?

It was 1945, the war was over and my dad, Ed Cushman, had just opened a small store and fruit packaging plant here in West Palm Beach. One night (a night never to be forgotten by anyone in our family), everyone was waiting for a truck load of grapefruit. When it finally arrived, my dad took one look and said, “What the devil is this?

[They were Honeybell oranges; and when I tasted my first one, I said pretty much the same thing...what was that??!. It was sweet, juicy, and unlike any other orange I ever ate!].

Photo:mandj98

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40 Emotional Triggers That Will Boost Your Sales

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Selling to businesses has some differences than selling to consumers. Usually, the lead time is longer, more people are involved in the decision-making, and generally (except for a house or a car) the investment is lower.

However, business customers are still people. And, people will respond to the same cues regardless of whether they are deciding to buy a software package or a lawnmower.

Victor Schwab (“Mail Order Strategy”) compiled the following list of 40 emotional triggers that influence decisions. It was written in 1956, but it’s still relevant.

Here’s the list of emotional triggers:

People want to gain:

  1. Health
  2. Popularity
  3. Praise from others
  4. Pride of accomplishment
  5. Self-confidence
  6. Time
  7. Improved appearance
  8. Comfort
  9. Advancement: social-business
  10. Money
  11. Security in old age
  12. Leisure
  13. Increased enjoyment
  14. Personal prestige

They want to save:

  1. Time
  2. Discomfort
  3. Risks
  4. Money
  5. Worry
  6. Embarrassment
  7. Work
  8. Doubts

They want to be:

  1. Good parents
  2. Creative
  3. Efficient
  4. Recognized authorities
  5. Up-to-date
  6. Gregarious
  7. “First” in things
  8. Sociable, hospitable
  9. Proud of their possessions
  10. Influential over others

They want to do:

  1. Express their personalities
  2. Satisfy their curiosity
  3. Appreciate beauty
  4. Win others’ affection
  5. Resist domination by others
  6. Emulate the admirable
  7. Acquire or collect things
  8. Improve themselves generally

Tapping into the right emotion (greed, fear, want) can take your message from just OK to truly gripping, and make a world of difference in the results you get.

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