‘How Much Courtship Is Enough?’ – Daniel Levis’ Latest Article

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Read Daniel Levis’ latest article titled “How Much Courtship Is Enough?”. [Article Reprint]

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How Much Courtship Is Enough?

In this special interview issue:

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Dear Web Business Builder,

One of the most fundamental questions when you’re putting together a campaign
is: “Should I go for the sale in a single step, or break it apart into two or
more discreet steps?”

In all honesty, this is almost always worth a test. There is no hard and fast
rule. But here are a few guidelines …

Higher priced items… items that are very new to the market… items that require
a significant adoption curve… and items that demand a significant change in
behavior on the part of the prospect… are generally good candidates for the
multiple step campaign.

On the web, there are essentially four proven methods of initiating it.

1. The Squeeze Page
2. The Entry Pop-Up.
3. The On Page Form.
4. The Exit Pop-Up, or Pop-Under.

Here are the pros and cons of each as I see them.

The Squeeze Page ““ This is simply a web page with
a single mission: to get the visitors contact information.

With a squeeze page, you have to realize that every prospect you fail to
convert into a lead is a prospect that won’t see your sales page or be exposed
to your offer. For this reason, you need a very high conversion rate to have a
breakeven lead generation campaign with this strategy.

On the other hand, you will grow your opt in list much faster this way, and my
tests also show that when using a squeeze page, you will usually see your
sales page conversion go up relative to sending traffic straight to the sales
page.

I don’t know definitively why this is, but my guess is that if someone is
unwilling to give up their e-mail address on your squeeze page, they are also
less likely to buy when exposed to your sales page.

If you know your lifetime customer value, a squeeze page campaign can be
particularly attractive.

The Entry Pop ““ With the entry pop strategy, you
have another problem altogether. Here you run the risk of reducing your sales
conversion by presenting the opt-in offer over top of the sales page.

Generally I don’t go with this approach too often for this reason. From my
experience, it’s almost always better to run your marketing objectives in a
series rather than in parallel. There are exceptions to every rule, however.

Be sure to test sales conversion with, and without the pop-up. Another draw
back of pop-ups, of course, is the fact that it’s a constant battle staying
one step ahead of the pop-up blockers.

The On Page Form ““ With the on page form, you
have some flexibility. You can place the form anywhere on the page. Generally,
the higher you place it, the higher the opt-in rate.

However, with the form prominently displayed above the fold you may run into
the same problem you have with the entry pop. There is a chance you will lower
your sales conversion, so the same caveats apply.

The Exit Pop ““ And finally, you have the exit
pop. This is a form that pops up when people abandon your site. This and the
squeeze page are my preferences, because they keep the prospect focused on one
thing at a time.

Of course with all of these multi-step campaigns, you are following up with an
autoresponder series of canned messages. These autoresponder messages are
generally most effective when they offer some type of value added material
that further demonstrates the credibility of the seller and the product,
followed by a gentle nudge back to the sales page or order device with each
touch.

Offering an excerpt or sample of the actual product for sale positively
impacts both the opt-in rate and the follow on sales conversion rate as the
autoresponder messages kick in.

Now that you’ve got my position on multi-step and hybrid campaigns, I thought
it might be fun to get some other expert views …

Sage advice from the
Masters Of Copywriting Faculty …

Dan Kennedy ““ “I rarely encourage clients to sell via
one-step, because leads; people who’ve raised their hands can have so much
value worked well over time. I have clients I work with who feed on leads as
much as 16 months old, from first inquiry. But if selling in one step I would
never undercut that sale by simultaneously offering free information as an
option.

Having said that, I must also say: be careful of stepping in anybody’s dogma,
even mine. Direct marketing answers are situational, and the best, most
lucrative business models are complex, and worked out through very careful
testing…”

Timothy Warnock ““ “There are several factors to keep in mind,
but the ultimate answer is to test.

A question I ask when helping a client to decide on which strategy to use is:
What is the potential lifetime value of the visitor?

The higher the value, the more sense it makes to go for the lead generation
solution as the primary initial goal. It’s easy to “tease” the visitor into
signing up if there is a good quality special report, or something of value to
trade for this action. It’s common to get as much as 20% CR (sometimes even
much more)

Another factor is knowing where the traffic is currently coming from, and how
much trust is developed before the visitor even sees the sales page.

For example, if the traffic is arriving strictly through JV’s (joint
ventures), or affiliates, then this traffic is usually very targeted and more
likely to immediately convert to sales.

If the offer is limited, or scarce, then you probably want to go for a direct
sale…”

Harlan Kilstein ““ “I’m a big believer in doing two-step
advertising if the client has the patience to do the follow through.

I’ll call in and order all the free videos and reports I hear advertised on
the radio. I want to see the follow through. Most people never follow through.
They spend all this money on lead generation and don’t follow through on
conversion.

It’s even worse online. Typically no one is capturing e-mails and following
through with a good autoresponder series…”

John Forde ““ “Honestly I’ve done mostly one-step advertising.
And that suits me just fine. Lead generation work can be great, as long as no
one drops the ball. But it’s so easy for those leads to be neglected or
mishandled.

But of course, I know that mastery of the two-step sale is key to a top
copywriter’s repertoire. A funny thing has happened online. Some free e-zines,
now, have become the longest running lead-generation ads in history.

Through all kinds of distribution channels, you gain access to people that
care about your kinds of products. And through great editorial in the e-zines,
and well-placed ads for related products, you’re getting those second step
customers. It’s my own interpretation, I guess. But I think that’s the most
interesting thing going on in lead generation direct response these days…”

Clayton Makepeace ““ “There are two parts to this answer. The
first part is a marketing answer. The second part is a creative answer. They
have to work together.

The marketing answer is: A two-step program makes sense when you have a
product with a high enough margin to justify the cost of multiple steps, or
when you have a medium that costs so little that the number of steps doesn’t
matter.

From the creative side, I use multiple step programs in two ways.

First, when I have a huge but not well-defined mailing list, or e-mail list,
or other media, I use a first step to call out my customers, and a second step
to sell them.

And second: when I have a very inexpensive media and a captive audience…”

David Garfinkel ““ “I’ll cover my hindquarter by saying “˜test
everything.’

Now that that’s out of the way I’ll tell you what I really think:

If you have a very specific and unique product for a niche that is already
familiar with the current alternatives available in the market – or even
better, familiar with you and/or the company doing the advertising – then a
one-step can work great.

If you have a general product for a general market that instantly recognizes
and understands the product, and you have great credibility devices that you
can use in your copy (testimonials, media mentions, well known awards won) a
one-step can work for you very well there, too.

Otherwise, use a two-step. And I’ve often found that multiple steps work
better than going for broke and putting all of your chances on a single piece
of copy…”

Scott Haines ““ “Generally, you can single-step low-ticket,
front-end items. And you usually have to two-step more expensive – say above
$50 – items.

Typically, the higher the cost of the product or service, the more intricate
your sales process has to be. A free report/sample will get you the most
leads… which… may or may not be best for your situation. It’s a numbers thing
each company/person has to figure out in their own situation and market
through well-crafted tests.

I don’t think there are any circumstances where it makes sense to try and go
for a sale and a lead in the same piece of copy. You are just watering down
your results for both objectives. Pick one or the other, and then do
everything you can to get them to take that one action. Remember; sell one
thing, to one person, at one time. Learned that from Halbert. It’s sage (and
profitable) advice …”

Richard Armstrong ““ “This is actually not a question about
creative strategy, it’s a question of financial strategy. If you can afford to
buy a full-page ad in the National Enquirer with an allowable cost per order,
then by all means sell it off the page with a one-step ad.

But if you find it’s more cost-effective to take out a classified ad in the
Enquirer offering “free details” about the watch, then follow up with a direct
mail letter to the people who raise their hands and say they’re interested,
then do it that way.

It’ll often come down to the cost of the product and the homogeneity (is that
a word?) of the advertising medium. If you’re selling your watch in “Watch
Aficionado Magazine” the one-step full page ad will probably work best.

If you’re selling it in a general-interest publication, you’re probably going
to need the two-step in order to get your target to “˜self select’ by
responding to an ad for more information …”

Isn’t it interesting to hear how different experts approach the same question?
Personally, I find having a variety of different people’s perspectives on the
most fundamental copywriting and marketing questions incredibly valuable.

Imagine having 44 of the “top money” marketing minds of all time at your beck
and call… ready to answer your most pressing marketing and copywriting
questions.

Click
here to download the web’s most extensive searchable
archive of copywriting answers to your most pressing copywriting questions.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Daniel Levis
Editor,
The Web Marketing Advisorâ„¢
Supplement to The Total Packageâ„¢

P.S. For a limited time, you can now cram your hard drive full of control busting copy at a $100 savings with the Steal These Secrets Swipefile. Stop racking your brain needlessly for creative ideas when you can have a treasure trove of proven winning concepts at your fingertips — guaranteed to open the profit floodgates — or your money back! Check it out!

Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto, Canada and publisher of the world famous copywriting anthology “Masters of Copywriting” featuring the selling wisdom of 44 of the “Top Money” marketing minds of all time, including Clayton Makepeace, Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman, John Carlton, Joe Vitale, Michel Fortin, Richard Armstrong and dozens more! For a FREE excerpt visit http://www.Sellingtohumannature.com

Plus, for a limited time, you can now cram your hard drive full of control busting copy at a $100 savings with the Steal These Secrets Swipefile. Stop racking your brain needlessly for creative ideas when you can have a treasure trove of proven winning concepts at your fingertips — guaranteed to open the profit floodgates — or your money back! Check it out!

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