Posted by: Daniel Levis
May 30, 2007
Issue #138

The Amazing 5R Formula
That Plugs Profit Leaks
In Your Online Copy
& Supercharges Your Sales!
Part 1

In this issue:

• How to engineer 'message to market match'…
• 17 crucial questions to ask yourself about your target market, and where to look for the answers…
• What to say to your ideal prospects to get them to whip out their plastic and buy now…
• Plus more!

Dear Web Business Builder,

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Online marketing is really pretty simple. You just need the right person, communicating the right message, to the right audience, at the right time, and in the right way. I call these the 5Rs.

Any significant sales objective requires careful attention to these 5 areas.

My proven formula for multiplying the sales effectiveness of my client's online campaigns is nothing more than a method of zeroing in on weaknesses in each one of them and eliminating those weaknesses, or reframing them as strengths.

Anybody can improve the conversion on their existing sales pages relatively easily, if they follow the same formula. It's no big secret…

Here's how, in five simple steps.

Step 1 – Select The Right Audience: All successful marketing begins with the audience and proceeds from there, so that's where you start. The very best audience to target is one with a proven propensity to buy similar products to those you happen to be selling. Very often, you can make sales to these folks in large numbers in a single step, which is nice.

But regardless of whether you're doing single-step marketing to proven buyers, or multi-step marketing to more marginal leads that you'll have to warm up before closing, one thing remains consistent: The more educated you can become about the prospects who comprise your audience, the more success you're going to have selling to them. And that's what this first step is all about.

Look at your traffic sources to determine, “Who am I really communicating with here?” You do this for two very important reasons:

1. To verify these people are indeed the right audience for the product you're selling.
   
2. To give yourself the raw material you'll need for the remaining steps in the process.

Most people are too lazy to do this, but if you take the time, it will make the rest of the job much easier. I promise.

You gain empathy for your audience by thinking deeply about what you already know about them… from taking the time to survey and talk to them… from analyzing the content they're interacting with on referring sites… from scouring through the comments they make on related blogs and forums… and from experiencing the same books, magazines, and movies they do.

Surveying your prospects at the point of interaction has actually never been easier. You can survey them when they arrive at your web site by putting an extra field on your opt in form that says something to the effect of “What's your biggest question, problem, or goal about x?”

You can survey them when they leave your website without buying by using an exit pop-up that says, “Why didn't you buy?”

And you can just pick up the phone and call a few of them the moment they buy, and ask them, “Why did you buy?”

There's really no excuse for not knowing your audience like the back of your hand. And in the process of doing so, a funny thing happens. They end up practically writing your copy for you…

17 Key Questions

Beyond the obvious demographic assumptions about average age, predominant sex, income etc., which may or may not be relevant to what you're selling, here are 17 crucial questions about your audience you're going to document your answers to in this first step.

It goes without saying there are no absolute answers to any of these questions. What you are aiming for is an aggregate snap shot of the dominant desires, feelings, and beliefs of your target market. At some point, you're going to personalize this composite ideal “prospect”, but for now, let's think of them as a group.

Go ahead and grab yourself a pad and pen, or a fresh Word doc, and see if you're ready to write down your answers to the following questions:

• What questions does this audience have about products like mine?
  
• What are their top three immediate goals my product can help them achieve?
  
• What are the top three problems that are standing between them and their goals?
  
• What objections might they have to purchasing a product like mine?
  
• What other options do they have to solve their problems?
  
• What do they believe now about products like mine?
  
• What do they need to believe about my product in order to buy now?
  
• What do they believe now about the problem they're trying to solve?
  
• What do they need to believe about the problem they're trying to solve in order to buy my product now?
  
• What do they believe now about themselves as it relates to the goals my product can help them achieve?
  
• What do they need to believe about themselves as it relates to the goals my product can help them to achieve, in order to buy now?
  
• What three common situations are they likely to be in with respect to the goal they're looking to achieve?
  
• What are their dreams for the future?
  
• What are their fears with respect to going for their dreams?
  
• What are their past failings that have thus far prevented them from realizing their dreams?
  
• What are their suspicions about the people they must deal with to solve their problems, achieve their goals, get their questions answered, and pursue their dreams?
  
• Who are their enemies?

As you work your way through these questions, you may discover you've been marketing to an audience that's less than ideal. If so, then it's time to look for a new one. You'd be amazed how often this is the case.

If it looks like this is the right audience for your product, then it's time to look at your sales message to see if it's the right one for this audience.

That's where the fun begins…

Step 2 – The Right Message: The right message always begins with a simple, easily understood, ultra-compelling promise… goes on to prove that your product or service can deliver on that promise… and ends with a singular, clearly defined, easily measurable call to action. Beyond that, for your copy to pull maximum results, you must be certain that the promises you are making are indeed those that your target audience finds most appealing, and that your proofs are relevant and complete for this particular audience.

Here in this second step, you're going to analyze your sales message to evaluate those promises and proofs, and edit them if necessary, so that they become more aligned with what your target audience needs to hear to take the action you desire.

At this stage, don't worry about how well these changes are worded, or the flow and order of the resulting copy. Just bludgeon them in.

As you work through this checklist, you may even discover your existing copy has left so much out of the selling equation you're better off starting over virtually from scratch. That's OK too. The 5R formula still applies, and will help you to get the job done.

Take out your research, and let's get to work…

• What questions does this audience have about products like mine?

Online, it's critical to anticipate and answer the questions your prospects have, preferably just before they're likely to arise as they're reading your copy. Neglecting to answer a commonly asked question(s) will torpedo your sales, because few people will bother to contact you and ask.

Check your copy to see that you're answering all of the commonly asked questions you've uncovered in step 1 of the process. If not, read the copy, and when you feel the questions coming up, simply address them right then and there. Just rough it in. We're going to come back and edit all of this again later.

• What are their top three immediate goals my product can help them achieve?

Your copy must translate the various features and advantages of your product into the most coveted short-term results the specific target audience is looking for.

If you're selling a diet product, and your product contains the active ingredients of the Hoodia plant, that's a feature. But your audience doesn't give a hoot about Hoodia, until they know Hoodia is the reason why your product may be able to help them lose 25 pounds in the next 30 days without starvation diets, drugs, or surgery. That's the big result you're promising. But is it the right one?

Check your copy to see if the promises you're making in your copy match the three specific goals you identified as being most important to your audience in step 1. If not, work those promised outcomes into the headline area of the copy.

You may want to move one or more of the results you had previously in your headline area into a sub-head, or into the running text somewhere. That's OK. Again, just rough all of this in. Don't worry about making it perfect.

• What are the top three problems that are standing between them and their goals?

Go to the places in your copy where your goal achievement promises appear, and check to see if you've also addressed the three biggest problems that are holding your audience back from achieving them. If not, address these problems in that section of the copy. Show how your product solves them.

There are several ways you can do this, which we'll be covering in a later step. One way is to build desire with some discussion of the outcomes your target audience wants in the opening few paragraphs of running copy and then transition with a phrase like “Trouble is…” and then go on to magnify the specific problems they face before presenting your solution. We'll discuss other ways of handling the goal/problem dynamic in step 5. For now, just make sure you've identified them in your copy.

• What objections might they have to purchasing a product like mine?

Look at your copy, and determine if you've adequately addressed the objections you've identified in step 1. If not, address these objections where you feel them arising. Keep in mind there are several universal objections almost every seller faces. Here they are, along with some quick tips for countering them.

The price is too high.

• Translate benefits into dollars and cents. If your solution saves time, how much time does it save? If it saves 20 hours a week, how much money could your prospect make if he were to reclaim that time? If your solution allows your prospect to make more money, how much more? Trivialize the price by comparing it to the return on your prospect's investment.
• Compare your product to other more expensive items that promise similar results.
• If you're selling a subscription, break the price down in time and compare that amount to something frivolous and far less useful. $500 a year is just $1.37 a day. Less than a lousy cup of coffee.

It's too good to be true.

• Show endorsements from recognized authority figures.
• Quote specific facts, figures, and details when making claims.
• Explain the mechanism behind the magic.
• Cite independent studies that validate the mechanism.

It won't work for me.

• Include case studies, success stories, and testimonials from people who are just like the target audience.
• Use an outcome-defined guarantee. Don't just say satisfaction guaranteed. Say, if you don't achieve x, and y, and z results within a specified time period, you can get every penny you paid back.

For that kind of money, I can live with my problem.

• Magnify the problem by demonstrating its full implications. Left unchecked Mr. Customer, one thing leads to another. Before you know it, a little problem turns into a BIG problem! Flesh out the horrifying alternatives that await them if they fail to act, and back it up with case histories.

I can wait.

• Quantify what your prospects stand to lose by not acting immediately.

It's too much work

• Show them how quick and easy it is by presenting your solution as a series of simple “connect the dots” steps, including a defined time-line to the expected reward.
• Use word choices that are consistent with quick and easy throughout.

If you have not covered these universal objections in your copy, rough in your rebuttals in the most appropriate sections now.

• What other options do they have to solve their problem?

Look over your copy and determine if you've done anything to limit the choices your target audience has. If not, add a section that demonstrates your superiority over the options you've identified as being readily available to your target audience in step 1. Think of this as your Unique Selling Proposition.

To help you zero in on your USP, keep in mind there are generally three ways your product or service differentiates itself. 1) By what it does. 2) By whom it does it for. And 3) By how it does what it does.

• What do they believe now about products like mine?

What you were digging for with this question is the dominant headspace of the target audience. They are somewhere on a continuum between being clueless about your particular approach to solving their problem, or already quite knowledgeable about it.

Look at what you've written down about their beliefs in this area, and infer on a scale of 1 to 10 their level of awareness and sophistication. If the number is low, use a direct benefit headline and straightforward approach in your copy. If the number is high, use an indirect, implied benefit headline, and an advertorial approach in your copy.

Probably the best way to understand this concept is to think of your headline in positive or negative terms. A positive promise headline, almost always betrays a commercial message. A negative headline, even though it implies a benefit, looks like news, and is much more likely to slide under the radar of an aware, sophisticated audience and inspire readership.

For example, let's say you want to sell a diet. A positive headline might read, “Vaporize Ugly Love Handles And Get Into Your Best Bod In Years!” A negative one would read, “The Truth About Low Carb Diets — What You Don't Know May Be Hurting You!”

• What do they need to believe about my product in order to buy now?

The difference in what you've written down in answer to this question, and what you've written in response to the previous one, is the gap you need get across to your prospect in your sales copy to make the sale.

This is the end conclusion you need to lead your audience to before asking for the order. You get them there by creating a bridge with what they already believe, and gradually extending that belief to where you need it to be.

For example, if the prospect believes all diet products are a fraud, that's where you begin, by pointing to all of the different things that don't work, and gradually working your way over to why yours does.

• What do they believe now about the problem they're trying to solve?

Take your answers to this question, and look for ways to echo the beliefs you've identified in your headline and lead copy. Work statements that display your empathy for the prospect into the copy wherever possible, adding whole paragraphs if need be. The more you can get your prospects nodding their heads in agreement the better.

• What do they need to believe about the problem they're trying to solve in order to buy my product now?

Again, the difference between your answer to this question and the last one is a gap you need to close. For example, if you've discovered your audience believes their problems are less serious than they really are, explore the ripple effects of those problems in order to magnify their perceived severity. Give your audience sound reasons to believe they would be downright foolish to wait another moment before acting on your solution.

Do the same with the benefits your prospects can expect to enjoy once they've eradicated their problems with your solution. Show your audience the full spectrum of satisfaction that awaits them. Don't assume they understand the significance. Connect the dots for them. Tell them what it all means.

Once again, don't worry about the flow of your copy. By now it may be a mess. Just rough these points in wherever they seem like they might fit. We're going to be editing all of this again, and even if you decide to start over from scratch at least you're getting all of the points you're likely to be covering documented.

• What do they believe now about themselves as it relates to the goals my product can help them to achieve?

Your audience may be brimming with self-belief and confidence or full of nagging insecurities and crippling self-doubts.

Whatever the case may be, have you echoed these beliefs anywhere in your copy? If not, rough them in somewhere now. Don't worry if they sound awkward. Just get them down as best you can. We'll be coming back to work on them later.

• What do they need to believe about themselves as it relates to the goals my product can help them to achieve in order to buy now?

Doubtless, your answer to this question goes something like this: They need to believe they have what it takes to achieve x, and y, and z… that they're ready to do so now… and that they're worthy of achieving those goals.

Look at the closing passages of your copy to see if you're building your audience up, helping them to have that kind of confidence. If not, add some if/then copy that proves to them they can do it, that they deserve to do it as much as anyone, and that now is as good a time as any. “If you can do x, then you're already ahead of the game. There's no reason in the world you can't be incredibly successful in achieving y with this system, starting today…”

• What three common situations are they likely to be in with respect to the goal they're looking to achieve?

Take one or more of the situations you wrote about in step 1 and see if you can't create stories to convey some of the more delicate points you've been working with.

It's almost impossible to dredge up the fears, doubts and uncertainties that people feel about themselves with any degree of subtlety when writing in the second person. But you can get away with it quite nicely by using a first or third person story.

• What are their dreams for the future?

Up until this point, you've been working with goals. Goals are short-term outcomes that tie in very specifically with what your product will do for your prospect. Dreams on the other hand are bigger. They refer to everything your prospects can have, do, and become, as a result of the immediate goal achievements you're offering them.

Take a look at your copy. Have you projected your prospect into the future to where she can visualize the kind of ultimate benefits you've listed in answer to this question? If you're selling a diet, don't limit your promise to losing 20 pounds in 30 days. Help her to visualize how her life will change as a result of that. Say to her…

"Imagine yourself walking briskly along a hot, sandy, sun drenched beach. An azure haze hangs over the skyline as the warm breeze caresses your bare skin.

As you stride confidently to your favorite spot, your breathing is normal, and your body relaxed. You smile to yourself, knowing you could walk like this for miles without becoming fatigued.

The beach is busy, and as you glance around you catch the eye of someone of the opposite sex. They smile at you, and you smile back.

You walk assuredly into the water, and swim a couple of hundred yards out and back with ease. Lying back on your towel, you can't help but think … Life has never been so good!"

• What are their fears with respect to going for their dreams?

Have you empathized with your audience about the fears you've identified with this question in your copy, and shown them why there is nothing to be afraid of? If not, work this into your copy now. This is another one of those delicate points that are often best dealt with in a first or third person story.

• What are their past failings that have thus far prevented them from realizing their dreams?

There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who think about what they want, and about how they can get it. And those who think about what they don't want, and who's to blame. Sadly, the majority of people fall into the latter category.

Are you leveraging this human failing in your copy? Have you told your audience their failures are not their fault? If not, add a section in your copy that absolves them of all responsibility for not realizing their dreams to this point.

• What are their suspicions about the people they must deal with to solve their problems, achieve their goals, get their questions answered, and pursue their dreams?

Anytime you can confirm a suspicion by providing facts and figures that support it, you instantly build a powerful rapport with your audience. Take the suspicions you've identified in answer to this question, and confirm them somewhere in your opening copy.

• Who are their enemies?

There's an old saying, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, and like most old sayings, it contains a healthy measure of truth. Have you bonded with your prospect against a common enemy?

Can you lay the blame for your audience's failings on people they already dislike and distrust? Go back into the “it's not your fault” section and put these people behind the reasons for your audience's failings. Then show them how they can get even by buying your product.

Vengeance is a powerful motivator. Some of the best common enemies are those people who have ridiculed your audience's dreams. Show them how to rub their detractors' noses in the success you're going to help them achieve.

Phew! That was intense wasn't it?
If your head's throbbing, that means
you were doing it right…

Stay tuned for the remaining steps of the 5R formula for plugging the profit leaks in your online copy… and supercharging your sales! They're coming soon, in part 2 of this Web Marketing Advisor series.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Daniel Levis
Editor, The Web Marketing Advisor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE

P.S. For a limited time, you can now cram your hard drive full of control busting copy at a $100 savings with the Steal These Secrets Swipefile. Stop racking your brain needlessly for creative ideas when you can have a treasure trove of proven winning concepts at your fingertips – guaranteed to open the profit floodgates – or your money back! Check it out!

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 Sellingtohumannature.com

Related posts

• Rookie Copywriter Does Battle with the Mafia … AND WINS!
• Conversation-Starters: How to Create Opening Copy that Sings and Soars
• How I Bagged $5 Million In Internet Sales In 5 Short Weeks
• You Ask I Answer Part One
• TURBOCHARGE Your Sales Copy

---

No Comments »

1. Comment by John — May 31, 2007 @ 1:38 am

   Outstanding, Daniel … I\\\’m still scribbling notes frantically as I type this up!

   I love the step by step approach that spells it out and connects the dots.

   john