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Home | Writing & Speaking | Copywriting Well, completely unknown to the ad agency, they had almost stumbled onto a breakthrough marketing concept. Telling people the reason why you are doing something is one of the most powerful influencers of human behavior. Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. in his book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" talks about an experiment by Harvard social psychologist, Ellen Langer, that concluded people like to have a reason for what they do. Her experiment consisted of people waiting in line to use a library copy machine and then having experimenters ask to get ahead in line. The first excuse used was "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I'm in a rush?" This request coupled with a reason was successful 94% of the time. However when the experimenter made a request only: "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?" this request was only granted 60% of the time. A significant drop! Okay now for the shocker. It may seem like the difference between those two requests was the additional information of "because I'm in a rush." That's not the case. Because in a third experimenter, the experimenter asks "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?" There's no reason mentioned or new information presented, just the words "because." This time a full 93% of the people said yes simply due to the word 'BECAUSE'! And it didn't even matter that there was no reason given. Just the word because triggered a magic response. More psychological 'triggers' that can massively increase your sales letter success, whether you’re writing online sales copy or direct mail copy. Max Sackheim, famous for the long-running ad "Do You Make These Mistakes In English" and originator of the book-of-the-month concept, says "Whenever you make a claim or special offer in your advertising, come up with an honest reason why, and then state it sincerely. You'll sell many more products this way." Here are two examples:
And this powerful sales letter and ad copy strategy works just as well today. Using this secret weapon, I helped a medical equipment company produce a massive 1,073% return on investment simply using "reason-why" copy. The premise was how we can sell a product for the incredibly low price of only $477. Regularly this product sells for about $695 - $895. Then the ad explained that the price was so low was because the manufacturer wanted to gain market share and get more nurses and doctors accustomed to using their product. It was a huge winner and a big moneymaker for the client. Here’s how can you apply emotional, psychological triggers to your sales letter copy: Let's say you have a slow time of year and you want to increase your business during this period. Write a simple sales letter to your customers making a special offer, only good during your slow period. Maybe you'll throw in extra free bonuses, extra services, or special discounts simply because it is your "slow time" and you need to pay your staff anyway. Let people in "behind the scenes" at your company...
Whatever the reason is, tell your prospects the truth. For some reason everyone wants to be mysterious about their business. If you're lowering the price nobody thinks you're doing it just because you're "such a nice guy". So let people know the reason why. I know this probably goes against every grain of business sense, but I promise if you give people a good, believable reason why they'll respond with an open minds and more importantly, an open wallet. (c) Surefire Marketing, Inc. Article Source: http://www.articlewheel.com
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