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I’ve been following John Chow at JohnChow.com for a couple of years now. I remember back in the early days of his Make Money Online blog experiment when he was only pulling in a couple grand a month (yeah, I know only a couple grand!). I got to the point where every month I started [...]
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Psychological triggers are a very powerful marketing tool.
Psychological triggers are the mechanisms of thought by which people make a decision to view your ad instead of others, or convert from tire kicker to buyer.
Let’s take a look at twelve common psychological triggers that you can weave into your ad copy and landing pages.
People love to feel a sense of engagement.
Offline, people engage by picking up the item they are thinking of buying and manipulating it. Touch is a powerful form of engagement. If people are buying services off someone, they’ll want to look them in the eye.
The alternative – disconnection – is a barrier to the sales process. Given the remote nature of the online experience, disconnection can be a real problem. Look for ways you can create engagement.
For example, consider the “will it blend” approach. They take an item the buyer is already engaged with, and probably has direct experience of, and blend it. The visitor is also engaged by the fun of it. It’s something the visitor would probably like to do themselves, and the video immerses her in that experience. It feels tactile.
Engagement isn’t a real-time chat widget. Engagement is making the visitor feel a connection with what you’re selling. Put the visitor in the scene. Think about their existing experiences and link your product to them.
Make it tactile.
Greed is a pejorative term, but it is a human reality. We’re all a little greedy, just some are much more so than others. Your buyers are a little greedy, too.
Greed is a very powerful motivator. How many things have you bought that you don’t need simply because they were a bargain? It could be said that internet commerce is driven largely by price. People perceive the internet as the place to shop around for bargains, and will forsake the safety of a store purchase if the “internet price” is low enough.
Think about ways you can convince people they can get more for less by shopping with you.
“Largest”. “Biggest” “Best” “Specialist”. All appeals to authority.
If you’re going to buy something, and prices are the same from various suppliers, you want to buy it off the seller who conveys a sense of authority. Do they look like they know what they’re doing? It’s a form of reassurance and especially important on the web where people can’t look behind the curtain.
Authority is easiest to spot when it is absent. What to you think about pages written in pigeon English? Pages that contain spelling mistakes and grammatical errors? Pages that look like they’ve been designed by a child?
This is the classic “money back if not satisfied” guarantee.
In case-study after case-study, offering money-back is a sure fire way of increasing conversion rates. Buyers do not want to make mistakes. If you can reassure them it’s not possible to make a mistake at the point of sale, then this removes a major barrier to purchase.
The beauty of it is that you aren’t giving them anything to which they aren’t already entitled by law. If a person really isn’t satisfied with a product or service, and they’re angry about it, they can reverse charge their credit card. Consumer law in many countries allows for a cooling-off period for buyers, particularly on items that are delivered by mail.
Right time, wrong place? Wrong place, right time?
The success of many products and services comes down to timing. Is the market ready for what you’ve got? Has the market moved on, and you’re too late?
It’s important to frame things as being “of now”. Many companies release yearly versions of products i.e. “updated for 2011!” in order to sound contemporary.
Another way of doing it is to relate your product to an event. For example, if hurricanes feature a lot in the news, then, say, relating your building products to hurricane preparedness is a good idea.
Take something the user already does, or knows about, and associate your product with it.
For example, email is a killer app partly because it can be explained in terms of something a person already does – writes letters. That’s why it’s called “mail”. Social networks are popular because they take something the user already does – chats with her friends – and puts it in an online context.
Your copy needs to be consist, honest and show integrity.
If just one statement you make doesn’t ring true, then it compromises the integrity of everything else you do. Avoid making outlandish claims unless you can demonstrate them to be true.
There’s another element to consistency, and that is consistency in buying behavior. Note how Amazon suggests other books you might like during and after you make a purchase. I’m sure they sell a lot more books this way.
They are making offers consistent with the original purchase. The pitch has integrity because it’s related to the original purchase. It’s also a great point to provide extra value to the visitor, as Amazon often bundles offers together at a discount price.
We all want to belong.
Think about ways you can show this in your copy and in your sales process. Tried-and-tested ways include testimonials, reviews, and revealing other buyers activity i.e. 20 people bought this today!. It may be irrational, but it feels safer to go where others have gone before.
Use the terms “we” and “you” frequently. Be inclusive. Show images of real people – in groups. Avoid stock-images of plastic-looking people (see consistency, honesty and integrity above). Frame your product in a social context. See how Apple does it.
Arouse curiosity.
This is especially important to get the click-thru. The ad has to be relevant, of course, but if you can manage to work in a curiosity angle, too, it becomes that much more powerful. Once the visitor has clicked thru to your landing page, continue to arouse curiosity to keep them reading.
Common techniques include posing a question and not answering it immediately, telling a story, adding an element of mystery, and sharing a secret.
Use a sense of urgency to get over the common buyer resistance point: “I’ll think about it”
Give reasons why the buyer should buy now rather than later. Careful not to be dishonest about it. Many sites mistakenly create a notion of scarcity that is false i.e. only ten copies of the e-book available! If this claim doesn’t ring true, then people will back off.
Fear of missing out. Fear of being left behind. Fear of the consequences if you don’t act. Fear of the unknown.Fear of losing control.
It’s said that all consumerism is driven by fear. Like it or not, it’s a fundamental truth about the way marketing works in modern society. Look for insecurities and supply the visitor with symbolic substitutes to address those insecurities. The entire make-up industry runs on this concept.
Everyone likes to feel special. A cut above the rest.
Is there an exclusive aspect to your products? It may seem counter-intuitive to limit availability, but it can serve to drive up the price and make your product even more appealing.
Once you’ve identified people who buy on this psychological trigger, you can make them further exclusive offers on other products you sell.
Psychological triggers are a very powerful marketing tool.
Psychological triggers are the mechanisms of thought by which people make a decision to view your ad instead of others, or convert from tire kicker to buyer.
Let’s take a look at twelve common psychological triggers that you can weave into your ad copy and landing pages.
People love to feel a sense of engagement.
Offline, people engage by picking up the item they are thinking of buying and manipulating it. Touch is a powerful form of engagement. If people are buying services off someone, they’ll want to look them in the eye.
The alternative – disconnection – is a barrier to the sales process. Given the remote nature of the online experience, disconnection can be a real problem. Look for ways you can create engagement.
For example, consider the “will it blend” approach. They take an item the buyer is already engaged with, and probably has direct experience of, and blend it. The visitor is also engaged by the fun of it. It’s something the visitor would probably like to do themselves, and the video immerses her in that experience. It feels tactile.
Engagement isn’t a real-time chat widget. Engagement is making the visitor feel a connection with what you’re selling. Put the visitor in the scene. Think about their existing experiences and link your product to them.
Make it tactile.
Greed is a pejorative term, but it is a human reality. We’re all a little greedy, just some are much more so than others. Your buyers are a little greedy, too.
Greed is a very powerful motivator. How many things have you bought that you don’t need simply because they were a bargain? It could be said that internet commerce is driven largely by price. People perceive the internet as the place to shop around for bargains, and will forsake the safety of a store purchase if the “internet price” is low enough.
Think about ways you can convince people they can get more for less by shopping with you.
“Largest”. “Biggest” “Best” “Specialist”. All appeals to authority.
If you’re going to buy something, and prices are the same from various suppliers, you want to buy it off the seller who conveys a sense of authority. Do they look like they know what they’re doing? It’s a form of reassurance and especially important on the web where people can’t look behind the curtain.
Authority is easiest to spot when it is absent. What to you think about pages written in pigeon English? Pages that contain spelling mistakes and grammatical errors? Pages that look like they’ve been designed by a child?
This is the classic “money back if not satisfied” guarantee.
In case-study after case-study, offering money-back is a sure fire way of increasing conversion rates. Buyers do not want to make mistakes. If you can reassure them it’s not possible to make a mistake at the point of sale, then this removes a major barrier to purchase.
The beauty of it is that you aren’t giving them anything to which they aren’t already entitled by law. If a person really isn’t satisfied with a product or service, and they’re angry about it, they can reverse charge their credit card. Consumer law in many countries allows for a cooling-off period for buyers, particularly on items that are delivered by mail.
Right time, wrong place? Wrong place, right time?
The success of many products and services comes down to timing. Is the market ready for what you’ve got? Has the market moved on, and you’re too late?
It’s important to frame things as being “of now”. Many companies release yearly versions of products i.e. “updated for 2011!” in order to sound contemporary.
Another way of doing it is to relate your product to an event. For example, if hurricanes feature a lot in the news, then, say, relating your building products to hurricane preparedness is a good idea.
Take something the user already does, or knows about, and associate your product with it.
For example, email is a killer app partly because it can be explained in terms of something a person already does – writes letters. That’s why it’s called “mail”. Social networks are popular because they take something the user already does – chats with her friends – and puts it in an online context.
Your copy needs to be consist, honest and show integrity.
If just one statement you make doesn’t ring true, then it compromises the integrity of everything else you do. Avoid making outlandish claims unless you can demonstrate them to be true.
There’s another element to consistency, and that is consistency in buying behavior. Note how Amazon suggests other books you might like during and after you make a purchase. I’m sure they sell a lot more books this way.
They are making offers consistent with the original purchase. The pitch has integrity because it’s related to the original purchase. It’s also a great point to provide extra value to the visitor, as Amazon often bundles offers together at a discount price.
We all want to belong.
Think about ways you can show this in your copy and in your sales process. Tried-and-tested ways include testimonials, reviews, and revealing other buyers activity i.e. 20 people bought this today!. It may be irrational, but it feels safer to go where others have gone before.
Use the terms “we” and “you” frequently. Be inclusive. Show images of real people – in groups. Avoid stock-images of plastic-looking people (see consistency, honesty and integrity above). Frame your product in a social context. See how Apple does it.
Arouse curiosity.
This is especially important to get the click-thru. The ad has to be relevant, of course, but if you can manage to work in a curiosity angle, too, it becomes that much more powerful. Once the visitor has clicked thru to your landing page, continue to arouse curiosity to keep them reading.
Common techniques include posing a question and not answering it immediately, telling a story, adding an element of mystery, and sharing a secret.
Use a sense of urgency to get over the common buyer resistance point: “I’ll think about it”
Give reasons why the buyer should buy now rather than later. Careful not to be dishonest about it. Many sites mistakenly create a notion of scarcity that is false i.e. only ten copies of the e-book available! If this claim doesn’t ring true, then people will back off.
Fear of missing out. Fear of being left behind. Fear of the consequences if you don’t act. Fear of the unknown.Fear of losing control.
It’s said that all consumerism is driven by fear. Like it or not, it’s a fundamental truth about the way marketing works in modern society. Look for insecurities and supply the visitor with symbolic substitutes to address those insecurities. The entire make-up industry runs on this concept.
Everyone likes to feel special. A cut above the rest.
Is there an exclusive aspect to your products? It may seem counter-intuitive to limit availability, but it can serve to drive up the price and make your product even more appealing.
Once you’ve identified people who buy on this psychological trigger, you can make them further exclusive offers on other products you sell.
As a presenter on our recent technology-focused web clinic, I had the pleasure of learning about an experiment devised by my colleague, Jon Powell, that illustrates why we must never assume that we test in a vacuum devoid of any external factors that can skew data in our tests (and even looking at external factors that we can create ourselves).
If you’d like to learn most about this experiment in its entirety, you can hear it firsthand from Jon on the web clinic replay. SPOILER ALERT: If you choose to keep reading, be warned that I am now giving away the ending.
According to the testing platform Jon was using, the aggregate results came up inconclusive. None of the treatments outperformed the control with any significance difference. However, what was interesting is the data indicated a pretty large difference in performance with a couple of the treatments.
So after reanalyzing the data and adjusting the test duration to exclude the results from when an unintended (by our researchers at least) promotional email had been sent out, Jon saw that each of the treatments significantly outperformed the control with conclusive validity.
In other words, if Jon had blindly trusted his testing tool, he would have missed a 31% gain. Even worse, this gain was at the beginning of a six-month-long testing-optimization cycle. If Jon had assumed he had learned something based on inaccurate data that he really hadn’t, this conclusion more than likely would have sent Jon down a path of optimizing under false findings and assumptions.
In other words, to create a simple pre-GPS era analogy, if you make a wrong turn at the beginning of a 600-mile road trip and keep heading in the wrong direction, you will be much farther off the mark than taking the wrong road when you’re just a mile away. However, in our cases with many businesses, wrong turns and mis-directions can cost from thousands to millions of dollars in lost time and revenue.
Worst of all, this email came from the Research Partner itself. As we run into many times, they unwittingly sabotaged their own tests. With the Internet being a dynamic place, it is next to impossible to avoid every external validity threat to your test, but at the very least we need to make sure that we are not introducing threats with internal campaigns to the same audience.
This is not to say we stop those campaigns, but just be aware of the potential effects on testing. That awareness, at least until computers become sentient beings, requires human involvement. Of course, that’s just one area where a little human curiosity is essential…
Do not let testing tools overshadow the human element of creativity.
Sure, many tools are now evolving to the point they will create “treatments” for you based on combinations, uploading content etc. But what this can create is a “perfect” sub-standard general design. These tools are limited to the inputs we give them so the optimization that can occur is constrained, where a human could take findings and radically change an entire process.
Begin by taking a step back, putting yourself in your customers’ shoes, and taking a human look at the big picture. Ask, “Is this even the proper overall design?” rather than taking the easy shortcut of testing a randomly generated combination of calls to action or headlines.
Multivariate testing (MVT) has its place. In fact, here at MarketingExperiments we use it frequently. But as with any tool, the result is only as good as the craftsman. So, when using MVT, make sure you have not ignored the big picture of what your users want by using the same sub-standard message presentation you’re trying to optimize in the first place as the base that you build your tests off of.
So how do we trust our tests? Here are steps for better setup.
At MarketingExperiments, we try to stick to a 95% statistical significance as much as possible. However, there are times where we have to accept a lower mark.
But remember, statistical significance from a piece of software cannot alert you to data that is inherently wrong or warn you that something else has influenced (and perhaps invalidated) a test, it only tells you that the results were unlikely to happen by chance. Omniture (interesting alert for segmented data) and Google Analytics (GA intelligence) have been dabbling in this area, but still require human interaction and do not cover all aspects.
So make sure that you perform your due diligence with tool setup, test design, and data analysis – because it is very easy to gain confidence in the wrong decision with bad data from a tool that says it is 95% confident. Again, it is so important for us to invest greatly in people along with tools. As Avinash Kaushik says, you should invest 10% in tools and 90% in people.
Technology options/features that can trip you up.
For a five-point testing technology checklist, and to learn more about other technology blind posts and how to address them, view the replay of our latest webclinic.
Related Resources
Online Marketing Optimization Technology: We have ways of making technology talk, Mr. Bond
Optimizing Site Design: How to increase conversion by reducing the technology barrier
Essential Metrics for Online Marketers
It was the best 45 minutes of my life. I just didn’t know it.
“Here’s a box for your things. HR will mail you some paperwork in a few days and security will escort you out of the building.”
Uh, what just happened? Was I fired?
Not exactly.
Did I do bad work?
Not according to the past 13 years of reviews.
So why am I standing on the curb outside an office building holding a cardboard box with 13 years worth of my life in it, waiting for my carpool buddy to pick me up and drive me home early?
Simple. I let someone else control my life.
In every fantasy or Sci-Fi novel I ever read (and I’ve probably read far too many), the hero never accepted being controlled, shackled or imprisoned. They always fight, despite the other slaves, despite the menacing overlord, despite the creepy thing with waaaaay too many teeth currently trying to chomp his backside.
My heroes fight for the right to choose life on their own terms. Fight for the ability to be master of their own destiny. Fight for freedom.
Fortunately, I’ve was set free and I didn’t even have to fight. Hell, I was looking forward to grabbing up a raygun and zapping a few Daleks. But there was no bang, no revolution, and now I can choose where I want my life to go.
Here’s the good news for you.
You don’t actually need to be kicked to the curb to start your own revolution. You have just as many ideas rolling around in your head as I do.
Start your own business now. Start on the side, start small, start however you wish, but please start living on your own terms.
Don’t wait until you’re on a curb wondering what the hell just happened.
Slay your dragon and get the girl (or guy) and live happily ever after now, not “some day”.
It’s your story. Be the one who tells it.
Toff Ward
OpenSourceMarketer.com
Learn how to build and market your business online using a blog.
OK marketer, put yourself in these shoes (they’re more like boots actually). Your state government is facing massive budget shortfalls. Teachers are being laid off. Draconian cuts to vital public services are being announced left and right. And amid this tumult, you are the one tasked with using your marketing prowess to stave off disaster itself.
The above paragraph probably makes you feel better about your own challenges, but think for a second…given the above situation…and very little resources…what would you do?
Social media marketing for a social cause
At the end of May 2009, the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) found itself in this very position after learning about massive cuts in state funding that threatened to close 220 California state parks.
In response, this nonprofit organization quickly launched a multichannel effort with its agency, Adams Hussey & Associates, that included direct mail, telemarketing, email, and social networking. I want to focus on that last part for this blog post. Because what amazed (and impressed) me the most was that CSPF used Facebook to shape the larger conversation about this topic.
Before I get to that, let’s look at how CSPF used Facebook. They optimized their existing Facebook fan page to promote awareness, discussion, and (hopefully) attract new activists and members. “Find us on Facebook” language and graphics were featured in every email and all over the site.
The “Friend Get a Friend” campaign launched on Tuesday, May 26, on Facebook via an update to 517 fans – “This year’s cuts are ten times as bad, so we need ten times the fans on Facebook.” The update explained to recipients the imminent threat parks were facing and set a deadline and a goal – 5,000 fans by Friday (May 29).
The second Facebook update was sent on Monday, June 1 at 12:12 p.m. PST, stressing a 24-hour deadline and asking for fans and petition signatures. The California budget committee was scheduled to meet on June 2, so media coverage was at its height.
The Facebook factor shapes the conversation
“The California State Parks Foundation, the lead public organization advocating keeping the parks open, had its fan base on Facebook increase from 500 to 33,000 in the past two weeks, reports Jerry Emory of the Foundation.”
– Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, June 21, 2009
Now this next part is truly impressive. With just two updates on Facebook (and in all fairness very smart cross-promotion through other channels), CSPF created a proof point for keeping the parks open, helping them meet their “promote awareness” goal.
That’s right, the Facebook campaign itself actually entered the public debate. The massive growth of this fan page caught the media’s attention and was mentioned on several TV news spots and in national news articles. They took advantage of a timely and newsworthy story (the California budget cuts were all over the news on- and offline) and created a talking point to meet their communications goals (several news oulets mentioned the Facebook growth as evidence of a grassroots swell).
As mentioned in the beginning of this post, raising awareness wasn’t their only goal. So let’s take a look at some of the other success metrics. Those two simple Facebook updates (aided by the cross-channel campaign) have helped raise several hundred thousand dollars in nonmember, one-time gifts.
In addition, CSPF more than tripled the size of its email list and acquired many new activists that are being converted to donors online and via the telephone.
CSPF is routinely using social media now. A subsequent Facebook and Twitter promotion gained 285 new members in four days, and their Facebook page has now grown to 54,000 fans.
Other success metrics were a little harder to meet. While California’s budget that was passed at the end of July 2009 did not close the originally proposed 220 parks, budget cuts forced nearly 150 to partially close or reduce services.
What you can learn from this case study
Nonprofit organizations are a natural fit for social media campaigns. People (who believe in your cause) want to help, often don’t want to expend much time or money, and want to look good to their friends, family, and social network. A social media campaign lies at the nexus of these three motivations. And, most importantly, it gives your fans an easy way to act.
Of course, the benefit isn’t limited to for-profit corporations. To wit, the Pepsi Refresh Project uses social media to leverage those same motivations. And this isn’t just a side project for Pepsi. They made a strategic decision to use a social media activism campaign as their main 2010 marketing push…instead of the Super Bowl. This is the first time in 23 years that Pepsi has not advertising during the Super Bowl.
So what can you learn from CSPF? When creating a social media campaign, keep a few important principles in mind:
Mapping an effective media strategy
I found this case study while perusing an early draft of an upcoming book from MarketingSherpa. To read the entire case study, along with ten other case studies from leading companies and 27 real-world examples of what works, order your copy of the soon-to-be released Social Marketing ROAD Map Handbook: A method for mapping an effective social media strategy. If you do so by May 28th, you’ll save $100 and get a free bonus gift.
I want to thank Lead Author Sergio Balegno for letting me take an early look at his research, even though he was still editing it as I poked around. And full disclosure: While Sergio and I are not related, MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa are sister companies.
Related Resources
The MarketingExperiments Quarterly Research Journal, Q1 2010 (Social Media Marketing begins on page 51)
Social Media Marketing in Four Steps
Facebook and Omniture: A welcome step in social media measurement
Please Be My Friend: Taking the first step beyond just being on Facebook
Develop Your Social Marketing ROAD Map Strategy
OK marketer, put yourself in these shoes (they’re more like boots actually). Your state government is facing massive budget shortfalls. Teachers are being laid off. Draconian cuts to vital public services are being announced left and right. And amid this tumult, you are the one tasked with using your marketing prowess to stave off disaster itself.
The above paragraph probably makes you feel better about your own challenges, but think for a second…given the above situation…and very little resources…what would you do?
Social media marketing for a social cause
At the end of May 2009, the California State Parks Foundation (CSPF) found itself in this very position after learning about massive cuts in state funding that threatened to close 220 California state parks.
In response, this nonprofit organization quickly launched a multichannel effort with its agency, Adams Hussey & Associates, that included direct mail, telemarketing, email, and social networking. I want to focus on that last part for this blog post. Because what amazed (and impressed) me the most was that CSPF used Facebook to shape the larger conversation about this topic.
Before I get to that, let’s look at how CSPF used Facebook. They optimized their existing Facebook fan page to promote awareness, discussion, and (hopefully) attract new activists and members. “Find us on Facebook” language and graphics were featured in every email and all over the site.
The “Friend Get a Friend” campaign launched on Tuesday, May 26, on Facebook via an update to 517 fans – “This year’s cuts are ten times as bad, so we need ten times the fans on Facebook.” The update explained to recipients the imminent threat parks were facing and set a deadline and a goal – 5,000 fans by Friday (May 29).
The second Facebook update was sent on Monday, June 1 at 12:12 p.m. PST, stressing a 24-hour deadline and asking for fans and petition signatures. The California budget committee was scheduled to meet on June 2, so media coverage was at its height.
The Facebook factor shapes the conversation
“The California State Parks Foundation, the lead public organization advocating keeping the parks open, had its fan base on Facebook increase from 500 to 33,000 in the past two weeks, reports Jerry Emory of the Foundation.”
– Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, June 21, 2009
Now this next part is truly impressive. With just two updates on Facebook (and in all fairness very smart cross-promotion through other channels), CSPF created a proof point for keeping the parks open, helping them meet their “promote awareness” goal.
That’s right, the Facebook campaign itself actually entered the public debate. The massive growth of this fan page caught the media’s attention and was mentioned on several TV news spots and in national news articles. They took advantage of a timely and newsworthy story (the California budget cuts were all over the news on- and offline) and created a talking point to meet their communications goals (several news oulets mentioned the Facebook growth as evidence of a grassroots swell).
As mentioned in the beginning of this post, raising awareness wasn’t their only goal. So let’s take a look at some of the other success metrics. Those two simple Facebook updates (aided by the cross-channel campaign) have helped raise several hundred thousand dollars in nonmember, one-time gifts.
In addition, CSPF more than tripled the size of its email list and acquired many new activists that are being converted to donors online and via the telephone.
CSPF is routinely using social media now. A subsequent Facebook and Twitter promotion gained 285 new members in four days, and their Facebook page has now grown to 54,000 fans.
Other success metrics were a little harder to meet. While California’s budget that was passed at the end of July 2009 did not close the originally proposed 220 parks, budget cuts forced nearly 150 to partially close or reduce services.
What you can learn from this case study
Nonprofit organizations are a natural fit for social media campaigns. People (who believe in your cause) want to help, often don’t want to expend much time or money, and want to look good to their friends, family, and social network. A social media campaign lies at the nexus of these three motivations. And, most importantly, it gives your fans an easy way to act.
Of course, the benefit isn’t limited to non-profit corporations. To wit, the Pepsi Refresh Project uses social media to leverage those same motivations. And this isn’t just a side project for Pepsi. They made a strategic decision to use a social media activism campaign as their main 2010 marketing push…instead of the Super Bowl. This is the first time in 23 years that Pepsi has not advertising during the Super Bowl.
So what can you learn from CSPF? When creating a social media campaign, keep a few important principles in mind:
Mapping an effective media strategy
I found this case study while perusing an early draft of an upcoming book from MarketingSherpa. To read the entire case study, along with ten other case studies from leading companies and 27 real-world examples of what works, order your copy of the soon-to-be released Social Marketing ROAD Map Handbook: A method for mapping an effective social media strategy. If you do so by May 28th, you’ll save $100 and get a free bonus gift.
I want to thank Lead Author Sergio Balegno for letting me take an early look at his research, even though he was still editing it as I poked around. And full disclosure: While Sergio and I are not related, MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa are sister companies.
Related Resources
The MarketingExperiments Quarterly Research Journal, Q1 2010 (Social Media Marketing begins on page 51)
Social Media Marketing in Four Steps
Facebook and Omniture: A welcome step in social media measurement
Please Be My Friend: Taking the first step beyond just being on Facebook
Develop Your Social Marketing ROAD Map Strategy
It’s all about the story. And Yes, you only remember the good ones. They stick in your brain and refuse to let go. They tug at your heart, your mind, your soul. Hell, even a hooker has a good story to tell.
Your business MUST have a story. A story tells everyone who you really are. It allows them to trust you because you trusted them enough to tell it.
As a general rule, people don’t like to give their money to a business unless the company can appeal to them on a basic level. Passion, Freedom, Success or even Fear of loss. Whatever it is, your story should align and support something within their own story.
It’s all about the money, right?
When you earn Money. You’re earning the freedom to chose. Chose where you live, what you drive, and how you want to spend your time. Money provides that choice. Its not just paper and coins. It’s freedom.
When you sell something, you’re asking someone to give up some of that freedom. As a business, you MUST provide more than a product. You have to sell the story too.
One way to do that is to give the customer something worth believing in. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Whether they admit it or not, everyone wants to feel special.
“Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, “Make me feel important. Never forget this message when working with people.” – Mary Kay Ash
Aligning your business with a charity for social change can be part of the story about the culture of your business. It’s a way for customers to feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves. Even if they aren’t socially active themselves, they can feel that they are supporting someone who is.
Bonuses, Specials and giveaways, will all satisfy logic. They won’t satisfy the heart and soul. A true story about how your business wants to change the world can do that.
Make sure that people have a reason to give you money beyond a simple exchange of goods and you’ll earn a lifelong customer and not just a one time sale.
So…What’s your story?
Chaz & Toff
OpenSourceMarketer.com
Learn how to build and market your business online using a blog.
Good copywriting isn’t just about writing.
Good copywriting is the process of convincing someone to take action.
Good copywriters convince a person to exchange their cash for a good or service. A poorly written landing page, however, can earn a back-click. In PPC, there is no click more expensive than the back-click.
Could your landing pages convert at a higher rate with a simple rewrite of your copy?
Let’s look at the proven tricks and techniques great copywriters use to achieve high conversion rates.
You probably already have a considerable advantage over a generalist copywriter. You are a product expert.
Product expertise is essential for good copywriting. It is difficult for a copywriter to convey meaning if they don’t truly understand the product they’re selling. If you don’t know your product, take time to learn it thoroughly.
Once you know your product, isolate the essence of the product.
The essence of a product is the reason people should respect and love your product. If people love and respect a product, they are more likely to buy it.
What do you think of when you hear the word “iphone”? Is an iphone a plastic, high-priced pocket-sized PDA made by Apple? That’s a product description, and it is technically accurate, but it isn’t essence of the iphone.
The essence of an iphone is that it is a social tool. It is a membership to a club. It’s a reflection of a set of values to do with simplicity, design and desirability. Oh, and it’s also a phone!
The essence of the product informs the way you write about the product. In the case of Apple, it would grate if they talked about the iPhone in technical terms. Instead, they talk about the iphone in social terms. They use the word “you” a lot. They relate the phone to social and personal situations and applications.
That’s the essence of the product.
Getting “Love” is ok for Apple, especially from the fanboys, but what if you’re selling something mundane, like life insurance?
You might not get people to “love” your product, but they should, at very least, respect it. Use testimonials and examples of social proof i.e. images of other people using the product, positive branding, positive news reports, reviews, and other validations that give people a reason to respect your product.
If you can’t convince people to either love or respect your product, there is little chance they’ll pay for it.
This is an obvious point, and no doubt you’ve heard it a thousand times before, yet it’s surprising how many advertisers answer this question with “people who want to buy my product x”.
Can you visualize your customer? Who are they? How old are they? Where do they live? How much money do they earn? Why are they buying online? Male? Female? Who is a typical customer?
It’s important to know, specifically who your customer is so you can speak their language and set the appropriate scene for selling.
In social situations, we often change our speech depending on our audience. The way we speak to our friends is different than the way we speak to people whom we don’t know. We should pitch our speech to our specific audience on our landing pages, too.
For example, would you trust a Doctor who used the term “Dude” to finish every sentence? It wouldn’t signal authority, which is needed if you’re to trust the doctor!
Consider different market segments have very different value systems and ways of talking. If your customers are baby-boomers, it is more likely than not they will be responsive to appeals to authority i.e. reviews from qualified, professional people and organizations. If your customer is young, chances are they want the talk to be about them and the message to come from someone who is likely to be in their peer group. They are less enamored by authority than those in the baby boomer demographic. If you customer is in the trade, industry jargon will make your site sound more credible. If your customer is not in the trade, industry jargon is likely to confuse them.
There are countless examples of the characteristics of different market segments, but how do you learn your customers language?
Once you’ve identified who your customer is, go to places where your customer hangs out. Amazon reviews, forums, Facebook groups, Twitter. Go to stores. Go to industry seminars. Read consumer reviews. Buy the same newspapers and magazines. Pay careful attention to the use of language. Is it authoritative? Personal? Is the language uneducated? Or specialist? Is the language informal or formal?
People buy something because it solves a problem for them. They have a need. The stronger the need, the more likely you are to sell them your product.
What problem does your product solve? What need, as determined by the customer, does you product fulfill? Speak often about the problem, the solution, the need, and how you address that need.
If you walk into a car sales room, what do you see? Gleaming cars. Bright lights. Reflective chrome. It’s like a giant-sized, glittering jewelry box. This is scene setting. It makes you feel like buying, more so than if you walked into a dim, messy basement with cars covered in dust. The scene matches your expectations.
Keep the same thing in mind when crafting a landing page. If you sell based on discounted price, then your page should look like a discount flyer. Highlight prices, prices crossed out – typically in red – and the new bargain price featured prominently. If you sell based on high value and desirability, you page should be more sober. Clinical. Less circus, less shouty, sedate. Price is seldom mentioned. If you’re selling something for a million bucks, your pages should look a million bucks.
People will get an immediate feel for the scene. If the scene is dissonant i.e. you use a sober, high value approach when the visitor is expecting a discount i.e. your Adword text might have indicated low pricing, then you may lose a click. A dusty, messy car showroom would feel dissonant because the scene setting is not what the audience expects.
Write the first draft quickly.
Typically when we write, we have two competing voices in our head. One is the creative voice imagining what words to write next. The other is the editing voice, the voice that worries if the sentence reads well. Combining writing and editing is a slow cumbersome process and can make your copy sound stilted.
It’s better to separate those two functions out.
Write as fast as possible without editing, even if what you’re writing is gibberish. When you’ve finished your page, take a break, and then edit. It’s much easier to reduce than to produce.
Tip: When you edit, try removing the first paragraph. Make your second paragraph your first paragraph. I’ll bet your page reads a lot better.
Headings, sub-headings, pictures, diagrams, copy, logos, buttons and layout. What function do they all have in common?
The common function is to get the visitor to read the first sentence of the copy.
The first sentence is the place we are all conditioned to start. The first sentence is the gateway to everything else on the page, so it needs to be compelling. What’s the best way to make it compelling? Keep it short. Short sentences suck people in. They are easy to digest.
So what’s the purpose of the first sentence?
To get visitors to the second sentence.
And the function of the second sentence?
To get people to the third.
And so on.
Traditional copy writing manuals tend to say that the purpose of each sentence is get you to read the next sentence, which is true, however we need to be careful when translating this idea into an online environment.
Online, people don’t tend to read linearly, at least not for long. They scan. For this reason, paragraph headings become even more important than in print. If people don’t find what they’re after in the first two or three sentences, they tend to scan to a point that does interest them.
Compare a print magazine page to a web page. Notice how dense the print layout looks. Ensure your landing pages are less dense than a magazine page. Break up your copy into headings, bullet points, images, video and other elements that are easy to scan.
This is an old sales technique, but still works a treat. The aim is to get people to agree with you regarding a series of minor, obvious points. This puts people into an agreeable frame of mind leading up to the point where you ask for an order.
When writing, aim for that same reaction.
Make sure you first paragraph includes a couple of points that are generally true and therefore easy to agree with. People will be a lot more responsive to your sales message if they agree with it.
Be honest. If something you say is factually wrong, you run a high risk of losing people. Speak essential truths your audience will deem to be self-evident.
Your voice should be consistent. Don’t jump around between the personal and impersonal voice, or the formal and informal. It doesn’t ring true. When you read the copy aloud, does it sound like you? If it doesn’t, rework it until it does.
It will sound “true-er”
Everything you write must progress the reader to desired action.
The reader should be able to read and scan down to a desired action. Nothing should be superflous or confusing or get in the way of this graceful, downwards momentum. Each concept must build on the next.
Use curiosity to advance people through the copy.
Want to see a copy of all the pager messages that were intercepted in New York on the morning of 9/11?
Are you reading this sentence in the hope I’ll show you?
Really?
Ok, here
Arousing curiosity is the most powerful way to pull people down into your copy and keep them reading until they get to the desired action. All landing pages are stories – the reader should always be cusrious about “what happens next”?
This never happens in corporate reports, which is why corporate reports go unread.
The above points have a “truthiness” quality about them, huh. But how do we know they really work?
First of all, this copywriting theory has stood the test of time. If it didn’t work, it wouldn’t still be used.
Secondly, and most importantly, testing is essential to the copy-writing process. If one style of copywriting fails with your audience, then try another. The best copy is arrived at through rigorous testing and iteration.
The online advantage is that testing is easy. Run copy for a few days and look at the results. As you don’t pay for printing costs, it’s easy to tweak, adjust and restest. Copy that doesn’t convert isn’t good copy, no matter how many guidelines we follow.
Ok, perhaps not steal. Borrow some ideas
While every project is unique, many of the same conversion and copywriting concepts apply to all projects. Here are some master-class examples of copywriting and landing page conversion in action:
Mix and match ideas, test what works, and keep pushing further into doing more of whatever is working well for you. 
Good copywriting isn’t just about writing.
Good copywriting is the process of convincing someone to take action.
Good copywriters convince a person to exchange their cash for a good or service. A poorly written landing page, however, can earn a back-click. In PPC, there is no click more expensive than the back-click.
Could your landing pages convert at a higher rate with a simple rewrite of your copy?
Let’s look at the proven tricks and techniques great copywriters use to achieve high conversion rates.
You probably already have a considerable advantage over a generalist copywriter. You are a product expert.
Product expertise is essential for good copywriting. It is difficult for a copywriter to convey meaning if they don’t truly understand the product they’re selling. If you don’t know your product, take time to learn it thoroughly.
Once you know your product, isolate the essence of the product.
The essence of a product is the reason people should respect and love your product. If people love and respect a product, they are more likely to buy it.
What do you think of when you hear the word “iphone”? Is an iphone a plastic, high-priced pocket-sized PDA made by Apple? That’s a product description, and it is technically accurate, but it isn’t essence of the iphone.
The essence of an iphone is that it is a social tool. It is a membership to a club. It’s a reflection of a set of values to do with simplicity, design and desirability. Oh, and it’s also a phone!
The essence of the product informs the way you write about the product. In the case of Apple, it would grate if they talked about the iPhone in technical terms. Instead, they talk about the iphone in social terms. They use the word “you” a lot. They relate the phone to social and personal situations and applications.
That’s the essence of the product.
Getting “Love” is ok for Apple, especially from the fanboys, but what if you’re selling something mundane, like life insurance?
You might not get people to “love” your product, but they should, at very least, respect it. Use testimonials and examples of social proof i.e. images of other people using the product, positive branding, positive news reports, reviews, and other validations that give people a reason to respect your product.
If you can’t convince people to either love or respect your product, there is little chance they’ll pay for it.
This is an obvious point, and no doubt you’ve heard it a thousand times before, yet it’s surprising how many advertisers answer this question with “people who want to buy my product x”.
Can you visualize your customer? Who are they? How old are they? Where do they live? How much money do they earn? Why are they buying online? Male? Female? Who is a typical customer?
It’s important to know, specifically who your customer is so you can speak their language and set the appropriate scene for selling.
In social situations, we often change our speech depending on our audience. The way we speak to our friends is different than the way we speak to people whom we don’t know. We should pitch our speech to our specific audience on our landing pages, too.
For example, would you trust a Doctor who used the term “Dude” to finish every sentence? It wouldn’t signal authority, which is needed if you’re to trust the doctor!
Consider different market segments have very different value systems and ways of talking. If your customers are baby-boomers, it is more likely than not they will be responsive to appeals to authority i.e. reviews from qualified, professional people and organizations. If your customer is young, chances are they want the talk to be about them and the message to come from someone who is likely to be in their peer group. They are less enamored by authority than those in the baby boomer demographic. If you customer is in the trade, industry jargon will make your site sound more credible. If your customer is not in the trade, industry jargon is likely to confuse them.
There are countless examples of the characteristics of different market segments, but how do you learn your customers language?
Once you’ve identified who your customer is, go to places where your customer hangs out. Amazon reviews, forums, Facebook groups, Twitter. Go to stores. Go to industry seminars. Read consumer reviews. Buy the same newspapers and magazines. Pay careful attention to the use of language. Is it authoritative? Personal? Is the language uneducated? Or specialist? Is the language informal or formal?
People buy something because it solves a problem for them. They have a need. The stronger the need, the more likely you are to sell them your product.
What problem does your product solve? What need, as determined by the customer, does you product fulfill? Speak often about the problem, the solution, the need, and how you address that need.
If you walk into a car sales room, what do you see? Gleaming cars. Bright lights. Reflective chrome. It’s like a giant-sized, glittering jewelry box. This is scene setting. It makes you feel like buying, more so than if you walked into a dim, messy basement with cars covered in dust. The scene matches your expectations.
Keep the same thing in mind when crafting a landing page. If you sell based on discounted price, then your page should look like a discount flyer. Highlight prices, prices crossed out – typically in red – and the new bargain price featured prominently. If you sell based on high value and desirability, you page should be more sober. Clinical. Less circus, less shouty, sedate. Price is seldom mentioned. If you’re selling something for a million bucks, your pages should look a million bucks.
People will get an immediate feel for the scene. If the scene is dissonant i.e. you use a sober, high value approach when the visitor is expecting a discount i.e. your Adword text might have indicated low pricing, then you may lose a click. A dusty, messy car showroom would feel dissonant because the scene setting is not what the audience expects.
Write the first draft quickly.
Typically when we write, we have two competing voices in our head. One is the creative voice imagining what words to write next. The other is the editing voice, the voice that worries if the sentence reads well. Combining writing and editing is a slow cumbersome process and can make your copy sound stilted.
It’s better to separate those two functions out.
Write as fast as possible without editing, even if what you’re writing is gibberish. When you’ve finished your page, take a break, and then edit. It’s much easier to reduce than to produce.
Tip: When you edit, try removing the first paragraph. Make your second paragraph your first paragraph. I’ll bet your page reads a lot better.
Headings, sub-headings, pictures, diagrams, copy, logos, buttons and layout. What function do they all have in common?
The common function is to get the visitor to read the first sentence of the copy.
The first sentence is the place we are all conditioned to start. The first sentence is the gateway to everything else on the page, so it needs to be compelling. What’s the best way to make it compelling? Keep it short. Short sentences suck people in. They are easy to digest.
So what’s the purpose of the first sentence?
To get visitors to the second sentence.
And the function of the second sentence?
To get people to the third.
And so on.
Traditional copy writing manuals tend to say that the purpose of each sentence is get you to read the next sentence, which is true, however we need to be careful when translating this idea into an online environment.
Online, people don’t tend to read linearly, at least not for long. They scan. For this reason, paragraph headings become even more important than in print. If people don’t find what they’re after in the first two or three sentences, they tend to scan to a point that does interest them.
Compare a print magazine page to a web page. Notice how dense the print layout looks. Ensure your landing pages are less dense than a magazine page. Break up your copy into headings, bullet points, images, video and other elements that are easy to scan.
This is an old sales technique, but still works a treat. The aim is to get people to agree with you regarding a series of minor, obvious points. This puts people into an agreeable frame of mind leading up to the point where you ask for an order.
When writing, aim for that same reaction.
Make sure you first paragraph includes a couple of points that are generally true and therefore easy to agree with. People will be a lot more responsive to your sales message if they agree with it.
Be honest. If something you say is factually wrong, you run a high risk of losing people. Speak essential truths your audience will deem to be self-evident.
Your voice should be consistent. Don’t jump around between the personal and impersonal voice, or the formal and informal. It doesn’t ring true. When you read the copy aloud, does it sound like you? If it doesn’t, rework it until it does.
It will sound “true-er”
Everything you write must progress the reader to desired action.
The reader should be able to read and scan down to a desired action. Nothing should be superflous or confusing or get in the way of this graceful, downwards momentum. Each concept must build on the next.
Use curiosity to advance people through the copy.
Want to see a copy of all the pager messages that were intercepted in New York on the morning of 9/11?
Are you reading this sentence in the hope I’ll show you?
Really?
Ok, here
Arousing curiosity is the most powerful way to pull people down into your copy and keep them reading until they get to the desired action. All landing pages are stories – the reader should always be cusrious about “what happens next”?
This never happens in corporate reports, which is why corporate reports go unread.
The above points have a “truthiness” quality about them, huh. But how do we know they really work?
First of all, this copywriting theory has stood the test of time. If it didn’t work, it wouldn’t still be used.
Secondly, and most importantly, testing is essential to the copy-writing process. If one style of copywriting fails with your audience, then try another. The best copy is arrived at through rigorous testing and iteration.
The online advantage is that testing is easy. Run copy for a few days and look at the results. As you don’t pay for printing costs, it’s easy to tweak, adjust and restest. Copy that doesn’t convert isn’t good copy, no matter how many guidelines we follow.
Ok, perhaps not steal. Borrow some ideas
While every project is unique, many of the same conversion and copywriting concepts apply to all projects. Here are some master-class examples of copywriting and landing page conversion in action:
Mix and match ideas, test what works, and keep pushing further into doing more of whatever is working well for you.