How Much Courtship
Is Enough?
In this special interview issue:
- Ask for the sale too soon and the answer will be “No”! Here are seven “timing” rules of thumb …
- Four proven ways to initiate the multi-step sales process online, and the pros and cons of each …
- Sage advice from the Masters Of Copywriting for getting it right …
- And more!
Dear Web Business Builder,
One of the most fundamental questions when you’re putting together a campaign is: “Should I go for the sale in a single step, or break it apart into two or more discreet steps?”
In all honesty, this is almost always worth a test. There is no hard and fast rule. But here are a few guidelines …
Higher priced items… items that are very new to the market… items that require a significant adoption curve… and items that demand a significant change in behavior on the part of the prospect… are generally good candidates for the multiple step campaign.
On the web, there are essentially four proven methods of initiating it.
1. The Squeeze Page
2. The Entry Pop-Up.
3. The On Page Form.
4. The Exit Pop-Up, or Pop-Under.
Here are the pros and cons of each as I see them.
The Squeeze Page – This is simply a web page with a single mission: to get the visitors contact information.
With a squeeze page, you have to realize that every prospect you fail to convert into a lead is a prospect that won’t see your sales page or be exposed to your offer. For this reason, you need a very high conversion rate to have a breakeven lead generation campaign with this strategy.
On the other hand, you will grow your opt in list much faster this way, and my tests also show that when using a squeeze page, you will usually see your sales page conversion go up relative to sending traffic straight to the sales page.
I don’t know definitively why this is, but my guess is that if someone is unwilling to give up their e-mail address on your squeeze page, they are also less likely to buy when exposed to your sales page.
If you know your lifetime customer value, a squeeze page campaign can be particularly attractive.
The Entry Pop – With the entry pop strategy, you have another problem altogether. Here you run the risk of reducing your sales conversion by presenting the opt-in offer over top of the sales page.
Generally I don’t go with this approach too often for this reason. From my experience, it’s almost always better to run your marketing objectives in a series rather than in parallel. There are exceptions to every rule, however.
Be sure to test sales conversion with, and without the pop-up. Another draw back of pop-ups, of course, is the fact that it’s a constant battle staying one step ahead of the pop-up blockers.
The On Page Form – With the on page form, you have some flexibility. You can place the form anywhere on the page. Generally, the higher you place it, the higher the opt-in rate.
However, with the form prominently displayed above the fold you may run into the same problem you have with the entry pop. There is a chance you will lower your sales conversion, so the same caveats apply.
The Exit Pop – And finally, you have the exit pop. This is a form that pops up when people abandon your site. This and the squeeze page are my preferences, because they keep the prospect focused on one thing at a time.
Of course with all of these multi-step campaigns, you are following up with an autoresponder series of canned messages. These autoresponder messages are generally most effective when they offer some type of value added material that further demonstrates the credibility of the seller and the product, followed by a gentle nudge back to the sales page or order device with each touch.
Offering an excerpt or sample of the actual product for sale positively impacts both the opt-in rate and the follow on sales conversion rate as the autoresponder messages kick in.
Now that you’ve got my position on multi-step and hybrid campaigns, I thought it might be fun to get some other expert views …
Sage advice from the
Masters Of Copywriting Faculty …
Dan Kennedy – “I rarely encourage clients to sell via one-step, because leads; people who’ve raised their hands can have so much value worked well over time. I have clients I work with who feed on leads as much as 16 months old, from first inquiry. But if selling in one step I would never undercut that sale by simultaneously offering free information as an option.
Having said that, I must also say: be careful of stepping in anybody’s dogma, even mine. Direct marketing answers are situational, and the best, most lucrative business models are complex, and worked out through very careful testing…”
Timothy Warnock – “There are several factors to keep in mind, but the ultimate answer is to test.
A question I ask when helping a client to decide on which strategy to use is: What is the potential lifetime value of the visitor?
The higher the value, the more sense it makes to go for the lead generation solution as the primary initial goal. It’s easy to “tease” the visitor into signing up if there is a good quality special report, or something of value to trade for this action. It’s common to get as much as 20% CR (sometimes even much more)
Another factor is knowing where the traffic is currently coming from, and how much trust is developed before the visitor even sees the sales page.
For example, if the traffic is arriving strictly through JV’s (joint ventures), or affiliates, then this traffic is usually very targeted and more likely to immediately convert to sales.
If the offer is limited, or scarce, then you probably want to go for a direct sale…”
Harlan Kilstein – “I’m a big believer in doing two-step advertising if the client has the patience to do the follow through.
I’ll call in and order all the free videos and reports I hear advertised on the radio. I want to see the follow through. Most people never follow through. They spend all this money on lead generation and don’t follow through on conversion.
It’s even worse online. Typically no one is capturing e-mails and following through with a good autoresponder series…”
John Forde – “Honestly I’ve done mostly one-step advertising. And that suits me just fine. Lead generation work can be great, as long as no one drops the ball. But it’s so easy for those leads to be neglected or mishandled.
But of course, I know that mastery of the two-step sale is key to a top copywriter’s repertoire. A funny thing has happened online. Some free e-zines, now, have become the longest running lead-generation ads in history.
Through all kinds of distribution channels, you gain access to people that care about your kinds of products. And through great editorial in the e-zines, and well-placed ads for related products, you’re getting those second step customers. It’s my own interpretation, I guess. But I think that’s the most interesting thing going on in lead generation direct response these days…”
Clayton Makepeace – “There are two parts to this answer. The first part is a marketing answer. The second part is a creative answer. They have to work together.
The marketing answer is: A two-step program makes sense when you have a product with a high enough margin to justify the cost of multiple steps, or when you have a medium that costs so little that the number of steps doesn’t matter.
From the creative side, I use multiple step programs in two ways.
First, when I have a huge but not well-defined mailing list, or e-mail list, or other media, I use a first step to call out my customers, and a second step to sell them.
And second: when I have a very inexpensive media and a captive audience…”
David Garfinkel – “I’ll cover my hindquarter by saying ‘test everything.’
Now that that’s out of the way I’ll tell you what I really think:
If you have a very specific and unique product for a niche that is already familiar with the current alternatives available in the market — or even better, familiar with you and/or the company doing the advertising — then a one-step can work great.
If you have a general product for a general market that instantly recognizes and understands the product, and you have great credibility devices that you can use in your copy (testimonials, media mentions, well known awards won) a one-step can work for you very well there, too.
Otherwise, use a two-step. And I’ve often found that multiple steps work better than going for broke and putting all of your chances on a single piece of copy…”
Scott Haines – “Generally, you can single-step low-ticket, front-end items. And you usually have to two-step more expensive — say above $50 — items.
Typically, the higher the cost of the product or service, the more intricate your sales process has to be. A free report/sample will get you the most leads… which… may or may not be best for your situation. It’s a numbers thing each company/person has to figure out in their own situation and market through well-crafted tests.
I don’t think there are any circumstances where it makes sense to try and go for a sale and a lead in the same piece of copy. You are just watering down your results for both objectives. Pick one or the other, and then do everything you can to get them to take that one action. Remember; sell one thing, to one person, at one time. Learned that from Halbert. It’s sage (and profitable) advice …”
Richard Armstrong – “This is actually not a question about creative strategy, it’s a question of financial strategy. If you can afford to buy a full-page ad in the National Enquirer with an allowable cost per order, then by all means sell it off the page with a one-step ad.
But if you find it’s more cost-effective to take out a classified ad in the Enquirer offering “free details” about the watch, then follow up with a direct mail letter to the people who raise their hands and say they’re interested, then do it that way.
It’ll often come down to the cost of the product and the homogeneity (is that a word?) of the advertising medium. If you’re selling your watch in “Watch Aficionado Magazine” the one-step full page ad will probably work best.
If you’re selling it in a general-interest publication, you’re probably going to need the two-step in order to get your target to ‘self select’ by responding to an ad for more information …”
Isn’t it interesting to hear how different experts approach the same question? Personally, I find having a variety of different people’s perspectives on the most fundamental copywriting and marketing questions incredibly valuable.
Imagine having 44 of the “top money” marketing minds of all time at your beck and call… ready to answer your most pressing marketing and copywriting questions.
Click here to download the web’s most extensive searchable archive of copywriting answers to your most pressing copywriting questions.
Until next time, Good Selling!
Daniel Levis
Editor, The Web Marketing Advisor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE
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Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto, Canada and publisher of the world famous copywriting anthology “Masters of Copywriting” featuring the selling wisdom of 44 of the “Top Money” marketing minds of all time, including Clayton Makepeace, Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman, John Carlton, Joe Vitale, Michel Fortin, Richard Armstrong and dozens more! For a FREE excerpt visit http://www.Sellingtohumannature.com
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