Posted by Kyle "MoneyVac" Howard on Monday, November 24, 2008 at 11:33 pm
There is a single word that increases sales letter conversions like crazy. It is so important, that without this word (or perhaps a synonym of it) all marketing you try will result in failure! It is a word that you probably barely notice, that you see all the time and never realize the power of.
Do you know what the word is?
The word is “because.”
“Because” is so powerful because people need a reason to do anything in life. If you want someone to purchase your product, you had better tell them why. Don’t worry, the reason doesn’t have to be a great one, but you must give a reason!
There is a well-known experiment be behavioral scientist Ellen Langer that demonstrated the power of “because.” In the experiment, a researcher approached a person in line to ask if he could cut to the front. They ran three trials to test the results.
- First trial: The researcher asked “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copier because I am in a rush?” Almost everyone ( 94% ) allowed the researcher to cut.
- Second trial: This time NO reason was given: “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copier?” This time only 60% of people allowed the researcher to cut in line.
- Third trial: Now this is the most interesting part of the experiment. For the third trial, the research gave a completely NONSENSE reason for the request to cut. “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copier because I need to make some copies?” So how many people do you think allowed the cut this time? 93% ! Almost the same amount as with a logical reason.
So the moral of this little story is, give reasons for everything (even if it’s not a very good one). If you tell someone that the should by your product tell them exactly how it will affect them. “Click now to go to the order page, because its time for you to stop spinning your wheels and start making money!”
Also, a common feature of a sales letter is to tell the reader the “value” of the product, then sell it for much less. (often this involves several prices with X’s through them followed by a much lower price.) But if you tell someone a product is worth $395 but you are selling it for $39.99, then that doesn’t really make sense! Why would you sell a product for 90% less than it’s value? Well, you just have to give a reason. Tell the reader that your brother bet you that you couldn’t sell 200 copies in a week, or that you are trying to get reviews, or that it is a Christmas sale, etc. Give them some kind of reason why you are selling the product for less than the supposed value.
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Category: Copy Writing, Marketing, affiliate marketing
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