In this intensely-marketed age, it’s becoming more and more obvious that a real, authentic relationship with your prospects and clients is so essential (and so much easier now, with all of the tools available).
But here’s the thing–what are you going to DO with that relationship?
There’s gotta be a time when you make a play for something deeper (a “sale”/new client engagement). And I see a lot of marketing come across my desk–from clients wanting input, in my mailbox (I am on so many marketing lists, it’s ridiculous–but it’s awesome intel), etc. And STILL, there’s a big problem with much of what I see…which I explain in my Weekly Note.
The One Thing Which Will Boost Marketing Response by 50%+
When writing any kind of marketing piece–no matter the medium–you’ve got to imagine your prospect as having the same cool detachment as the girl in high school that all the guys wanted to date. You remember the type–she knew she could “get” any guy, and she kept her options open.
Well, these days, your prospects are even MORE detached. Subtle, vague, or merely suggestive offers won’t cut it. If you want response, you better make a very direct offer. And it also needs to be irresistible.
Top copywriter John Carlton advises visualizing your prospect as a giant, somnambulant sloth. You are trying to get him into motion. Good luck!
Whether you visualize an overly-wooed woman or a sloth (I prefer thinking of a beautiful woman over a sloth!), you must know that getting a response is not easy. Do not underestimate the difficulty of the task. That’s why your offer needs to be clear and irresistible. There exists a huge gap between lukewarm interest in something and actually picking up the phone or taking action to do something about it.
Elements of a Good Offer
1) Clarity. It makes sense to bold-face the text, use a big font…anything you can do to make the offer stand out. And here’s a little insider tip: Specific dollar amounts work much better than percentages when offering discounts. Prospects don’t know what your fees might be, but they do know what they can buy with an additional $27.00 or $53.00 in their pocket! Go with a dollar amount, even an unusual one (like 27) and you’ll have better response.
2) A Gutsy Guarantee. This one is huge, and I’ve written before about why this is so critical, and why so few people have the moxie to step up to the plate and offer guarantees that make you say “WOW!”
Needless to say, backing up your tax or accounting services with an extraordinary guarantee can be THE difference-maker for creating a truly irresistible offer. Heck, Domino’s Pizza built their international empire on their 30-minute guarantee. Now, the tax business sure isn’t the pizza business, but why not try similar strategies? Rarely do marketing items get in trouble for being too gutsy–usually it’s just the opposite. If they DO make a guarantee, it’s nothing to write home about. What guarantees are you making your customers, and do they leave them drooling?
3) Don’t make too many offers. I often get mailers from car places or other businesses and at the bottom of their thingie, half a dozen coupons for different services are staring at me in the face. Too little time to look at ’em all. To the “Later” pile it goes (and thus into oblivion). We don’t want to end up in that pile. That’s why it’s much better to have one mouth-watering offer than multiple weak ones.
4) Take advantage of your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Once you are clear on that, you will understand how you can leverage what makes YOUR business unique, by including reference to your USP in the body of the offer that you make.
You’ve got to do all these things if you want to create a drool-inducing, cute-girl-getting, giant-somnambulant-sloth-moving, irresistible offer–or else your marketing piece is likely sunk.