Are you satisfied with the results you currently get from your sales pages?
The effectiveness of any sales page can be increased by as much as 20% by simply reworking its beginning to accomplish these four important tasks.
The 4 things your lead must do to get results
1. Introduce a “story-worthy” problem.
The test your prospect uses to decide whether or not to read your promotion is “What’s in it for me?” So you must promise something that he wants or needs: solve a problem, provide useful information, or fill a desire.
It helps to think of it as solving a problem because no business can stay in business without this mindset. The “problem” you solve must be big enough that your target audience wants to read about it and spend money on a solution.
2. Convince your reader that you have a unique solution to his problem.
You only have about 3 seconds to get his interest and convince him that you’re for real. If you offer some copy-cat solution or me-too marketing, you won’t stand out as someone with a credible offer.
The success of your promotion depends on your ability to create a unique selling proposition, something that creates value that you alone provide. Even when you sell a generic product, if you position it as one-of-a-kind in some way, you can still stand out from the crowd.
3. Build rapport with your reader.
To keep your prospect reading, you must provide that you understand his problem and that your solution will work for him. But here’s the thing:
- 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know, and only 70% trust opinions of unknown users. (Econsultancy, July 2009)
- 95% of consumers don’t trust advertising and 92% don’t trust what a company says about itself. (Alterian, 2010)
Relationship is one of the most persuasive tools you can use. That’s why relationship marketing has become such a force in the new marketing arena. Your reader is looking for solutions that have worked for people who are just like him. If you can prove that you’re like him, you earn instant points as a source of guidance.
How do you do that? Psychologists call it mirroring. If you were talking to a person face-to-face, you’d create a subtle bond with your prospect by standing the way he stands, using the same kind of language, even matching his speech patterns and speed. On the written page, this is harder to do, but not impossible.
Start by doing an in-depth prospect analysis. What are his favorite magazines and websites? What’s his educational level? Where does he live? Use this information to understand how he speaks, the issues he’s interested in and the slang that’s most familiar to him.
Write in the same style as his favorite magazine, using his own language. Without even realizing it, he’ll instantly identify you as someone who’s “like him.” You’ll forge a connection that will make him much more likely to trust your advice about how to solve his problem.
After reading the first few paragraphs of your promotion, the reader should be nodding his head and calling a friend over to read it with him, saying, “Listen to this! I couldn’t have said it better myself.” By the end of your lead, you should be seen as a trusted friend who can be counted on to give good advice.
4. Forecast the ending.
Together with the headline, your lead establishes that your reader has a problem and you have a solution. In many cases, you’ll clearly state what that solution is. In every case you’ll make a promise — whether stated or implied — that will hopefully intrigue your reader enough to keep him reading.
Do your best to hook him without giving away the whole kit and caboodle. Hold back some valuable information. Suggest that more information is available if the reader will only stay with you to the end. Build tension and drama into your lead, and you’ll start the sales process to perfection.
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Need help creating a sales page that pulls? I can help. Contact me today with the details of your project, and let’s talk.
photo credit: Ken Wilcox.
