Back to newsletter listDate:
Mon, February 25, 2008 10:10:54 PMFrom:
Simon Grabowski
Subject:
Cliford, Here's Lesson #6 of 'Power Up Your Email' Course!
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How to be Profitably Persistent
Were you ever late in paying your bills? If so, you may have received at some point those nice reminders collection agencies love to send. For example, at first you get a letter in the mail with a typical request to pay your bill (or debt) immediately, and to "govern yourself accordingly." If you don't respond, a second letter in the form of a reminder is then mailed to you a few weeks later, perhaps with a "we're concerned" feel to it. And finally, if you happen to be as persistent as the agency, you then get a third letter with that big, red "Final Notice!" stamped in the corner. Why do they do this? Because it works! Sequential direct mail has been as profitable an endeavor for direct marketers and entrepreneurs as it has been for collection agencies. Even though I've first heard of this technique from marketer Dan Kennedy, I still didn't believe in it until I actually used it in my own practice. Tested in one of my client's businesses, our first mailing conducted to 7,000 recipients generated a response rate that was less than 1%. It's not much, but it's typical for most one-time direct mail marketing campaigns. Ho-hum. However, the big surprise came when the rate climbed to about 7% following the second mailing and over 3% after the third! Targeted to the same group of people, all three mailings combined totaled an amazing 11%! But here's the kicker. While we tripled our direct mail expenses, the overall response was a tenfold improvement over what could have been a single mailing! Here's what we did. The first letter had a special time-sensitive offer and an invitation to enter a draw to win one of my client's products. The second letter, mailed 15 days later, had a "sorry we missed you" and "we're concerned" feel to it. It offered additional incentives to help nudge unresponsive recipients into action. Thirty days after the initial mailing, a third letter boldly stated, "this is your last chance" and "offer to expire soon," in red, right at the top similar to the collection agent's final warning stamp. The content of the letter reinforced the urgency of the offer and added an extra incentive that was not offered in the previous two mailings. But we didn't stop there... Shortly after the draw, we decided on a fourth mailing to all those who did NOT respond and offered a discount on the same product drawn. It said: "Congratulations! You've won the second prize: a $[X] rebate on [product drawn]." The response rate finally rose to a total of 16%! As you can see, 16% is a far cry from 1%. But if you divide it by four, it means that the campaign yielded an average 400% boost in response! You see, multiple mailings tend to make an offer more valuable. When it's repeated, people have the natural tendency to assume that the offer is important and not a fly-by-night spiel. In fact, repetition not only helps to emphasize the importance of an offer but also aids its comprehension and reinforces its urgency. |
Become Relentless Like a Collection Agent!
After a prospect asks for more information on your offer via your autoresponder, it can automatically deliver your series of pre-written follow-up email messages in preset intervals.
By creating a sense of urgency (such as by making your offer time-sensitive), your follow-ups can help reinforce that urgency in subsequent mailings and add weight to your offer!
Your follow-ups can nudge prospects into action!
Plus, by adding an extra incentive with each mailing, your offer becomes more valuable and more difficult to ignore.
These additional bonuses can simply be comprised of special reports, articles, ebooks, freeware, reviews or even courses delivered incrementally via GetResponse autoresponders.
(However, don't forget to remove them from the system once they become clients. With GetResponse PRO, however, a feature allows you to do all that automatically!)
Write Effective, Sales-Generating Emails
Writing an effective, response-generating email ad, whether it's a small, six-line ad or a full-length "solo" ad, is not as hard as it seems. It really needs to follow six simple steps:
- Create an attention-grabbing headline,
- State a problem (and present a solution)
- Increase desire with ego-driven benefits
- Use power words (like the word "FREE")
- Call for some kind of action
- And reinforce a sense of urgency.
Let's take a look at these steps in a little more detail. Here's an example of an ezine ad I recently used...
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"UNLOCK THE MOST POWERFUL SECRET TO DOUBLING YOUR SALES!"
That secret is "follow up" -- but the trick is to be fast,
repetitive, personalized and consistent.
New, sophisticated autoresponder does all that for you
... And more!
SAVE time and money.
GRAB YOUR FREE VERSION NOW!
Marketers grab a FREE report:
"How to Double Your Sales With a Proper Email Strategy"!
Don't wait, go now:
http://GetResponse.com/
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1. The Headline
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"UNLOCK THE MOST POWERFUL SECRET TO DOUBLING YOUR SALES!"
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For starters, this ad has a headline that sucks you in to the ad and makes you want to read more. I mean, let's face it: who wouldn't want to know how to double his or her sales?
The headline entices you with a powerful benefit and makes you curious. In fact, an attention-grabbing headline is proven to result in as much as a 1,700% boost in response rate!
2. Problem/Solution
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That secret is "follow up" -- but the trick is to be fast,
repetitive, personalized and consistent.
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The body of the ad then gets straight to the point and tells you what the secret is right away. But it then pushes "hot buttons" by stating a problem and offering a solution...
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New, sophisticated autoresponder does all that for you
... And more!
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3. Benefits
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SAVE time and money.
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The problem is solved but only if the prospect takes your solution... And it may not be enough. So, the trick, here, is to increase desire by conveying more benefits of your offer.
4. Power Words
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GET YOUR FREE VERSION NOW!
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Words that help increase interest, curiosity and desire are those that help to paint vivid pictures in the mind, and offer some kind of direct incentive or reward to the reader.
For example, some words are proven to "pull" more, such as: "discount," "guarantee" and "free." But obviously, no incentive can be more direct than one with the word "free" in it!
While we offer a free version of our autoresponder, you may offer a free report, a free ebook or a free ezine, then use it in your email ad for your autoresponder. Here's how I do it:
---------------------------------------------------------
Marketers grab a FREE report:
"How to Double Your Sales With a Proper Email Strategy"!
---------------------------------------------------------
5. Call-to-Action
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Don't wait, go now:
http://GetResponse.com/.
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Don't be shy. Tell them what to do. It's the most vital step to follow! This can be as simple as telling the reader to visit your website right now or to email an autoresponder address.
6. Sense of Urgency
Finally, try to create scarcity with your ad or add a sense of urgency. Make the offer time-sensitive or quantity-bound. The more you do, the more responses you will get!
Urgency is Where It's At!
Let's say you've purchased space for a solo ad in an ezine and wanted to expand the above ad. The easiest way to do this would be to add more benefits and a few testimonials.
But another effective way is to also add scarcity into your ad in order to give the reader several reasons to respond NOW! For example, you might add the following note to the ad...
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Please note: this special price is only available for
the readers of [ezine] until [future date].
After that date, however, we will be raising it to
the ordinary price and may never repeat this offer again!
So, please act today.
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Of course, this will only work if you're honestly raising prices. But you may be offering, say, the extra bonuses for a limited time, or perhaps there are only 17 of your products left.
A final addition to your solo ad should definitely be a "P.S." at the end. A "P.S." is usually the second most read part of your letter (after the headline, of course).
Use one (or more) to not only highlight the main benefits or even a guarantee, but also to remind readers of a deadline or to reinforce the urgency maybe with an added bonus.
Here's how you could use one if you were selling an ebook...
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P.S.: As an added incentive, you get 30 extra days
to review this information.
If it's not everything you've hoped for and more,
I urge you to contact us right away and we'll refund you
on the spot and let you keep the free gifts!
However, this additional incentive is offered only for
the first 500 visitors.
So, you must hurry and act now!
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Follow these six simple steps and you'll be able to create a powerful email ad to advertise your autoresponder in... One that will generate tons of visitors and sales every time!
Lesson #7 on its Way in Three Days!
I hope this lesson has been informative for you. Don't forget... More lessons are on on their way. Plus, there are tons of free resources at your disposal if you ever need any help!
Cliford, we're here to help! Thanks again for visiting GetResponse.com. I look forward to serving you soon.
Sincerely,
Simon Grabowski CEO, GetResponse.com
P.S. If you know of anyone who might benefit from these lessons, please forward it. Or, they can get their own copy by sending a blank email to popuptip@getresponse.com.
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