Archive for May, 2010

12 Pyschological Triggers

6 Comments Written on May 28th, 2010 by Giovanna
Categories: Marketing

you

Psychological triggers are a very powerful marketing tool.

Psychological triggers are the mechanisms of thought by which people make a decision to view your ad instead of others, or convert from tire kicker to buyer.

Let’s take a look at twelve common psychological triggers that you can weave into your ad copy and landing pages.

1. Engagement

People love to feel a sense of engagement.

Offline, people engage by picking up the item they are thinking of buying and manipulating it. Touch is a powerful form of engagement. If people are buying services off someone, they’ll want to look them in the eye.

The alternative – disconnection – is a barrier to the sales process. Given the remote nature of the online experience, disconnection can be a real problem. Look for ways you can create engagement.

For example, consider the “will it blend” approach. They take an item the buyer is already engaged with, and probably has direct experience of, and blend it. The visitor is also engaged by the fun of it. It’s something the visitor would probably like to do themselves, and the video immerses her in that experience. It feels tactile.

Engagement isn’t a real-time chat widget. Engagement is making the visitor feel a connection with what you’re selling. Put the visitor in the scene. Think about their existing experiences and link your product to them.

Make it tactile.

2. Greed

Greed is a pejorative term, but it is a human reality. We’re all a little greedy, just some are much more so than others. Your buyers are a little greedy, too.

Greed is a very powerful motivator. How many things have you bought that you don’t need simply because they were a bargain? It could be said that internet commerce is driven largely by price. People perceive the internet as the place to shop around for bargains, and will forsake the safety of a store purchase if the “internet price” is low enough.

Think about ways you can convince people they can get more for less by shopping with you.

3. Demonstrate Authority

“Largest”. “Biggest” “Best” “Specialist”. All appeals to authority.

If you’re going to buy something, and prices are the same from various suppliers, you want to buy it off the seller who conveys a sense of authority. Do they look like they know what they’re doing? It’s a form of reassurance and especially important on the web where people can’t look behind the curtain.

Authority is easiest to spot when it is absent. What to you think about pages written in pigeon English? Pages that contain spelling mistakes and grammatical errors? Pages that look like they’ve been designed by a child?

4. Demonstrate Satisfaction

This is the classic “money back if not satisfied” guarantee.

In case-study after case-study, offering money-back is a sure fire way of increasing conversion rates. Buyers do not want to make mistakes. If you can reassure them it’s not possible to make a mistake at the point of sale, then this removes a major barrier to purchase.

The beauty of it is that you aren’t giving them anything to which they aren’t already entitled by law. If a person really isn’t satisfied with a product or service, and they’re angry about it, they can reverse charge their credit card. Consumer law in many countries allows for a cooling-off period for buyers, particularly on items that are delivered by mail.

5. Timing

Right time, wrong place? Wrong place, right time?

The success of many products and services comes down to timing. Is the market ready for what you’ve got? Has the market moved on, and you’re too late?

It’s important to frame things as being “of now”. Many companies release yearly versions of products i.e. “updated for 2011!” in order to sound contemporary.

Another way of doing it is to relate your product to an event. For example, if hurricanes feature a lot in the news, then, say, relating your building products to hurricane preparedness is a good idea.

6. Association

Take something the user already does, or knows about, and associate your product with it.

For example, email is a killer app partly because it can be explained in terms of something a person already does – writes letters. That’s why it’s called “mail”. Social networks are popular because they take something the user already does – chats with her friends – and puts it in an online context.

7. Consistency, Honesty And Integrity

Your copy needs to be consist, honest and show integrity.

If just one statement you make doesn’t ring true, then it compromises the integrity of everything else you do. Avoid making outlandish claims unless you can demonstrate them to be true.

There’s another element to consistency, and that is consistency in buying behavior. Note how Amazon suggests other books you might like during and after you make a purchase. I’m sure they sell a lot more books this way.

They are making offers consistent with the original purchase. The pitch has integrity because it’s related to the original purchase. It’s also a great point to provide extra value to the visitor, as Amazon often bundles offers together at a discount price.

8. Feeling Part Of Something Bigger

We all want to belong.

Think about ways you can show this in your copy and in your sales process. Tried-and-tested ways include testimonials, reviews, and revealing other buyers activity i.e. 20 people bought this today!. It may be irrational, but it feels safer to go where others have gone before.

Use the terms “we” and “you” frequently. Be inclusive. Show images of real people – in groups. Avoid stock-images of plastic-looking people (see consistency, honesty and integrity above). Frame your product in a social context. See how Apple does it.

9. Curiosity

Arouse curiosity.

This is especially important to get the click-thru. The ad has to be relevant, of course, but if you can manage to work in a curiosity angle, too, it becomes that much more powerful. Once the visitor has clicked thru to your landing page, continue to arouse curiosity to keep them reading.

Common techniques include posing a question and not answering it immediately, telling a story, adding an element of mystery, and sharing a secret.

10. Urgency

Use a sense of urgency to get over the common buyer resistance point: “I’ll think about it”

Give reasons why the buyer should buy now rather than later. Careful not to be dishonest about it. Many sites mistakenly create a notion of scarcity that is false i.e. only ten copies of the e-book available! If this claim doesn’t ring true, then people will back off.

11. Fear

Fear of missing out. Fear of being left behind. Fear of the consequences if you don’t act. Fear of the unknown.Fear of losing control.

It’s said that all consumerism is driven by fear. Like it or not, it’s a fundamental truth about the way marketing works in modern society. Look for insecurities and supply the visitor with symbolic substitutes to address those insecurities. The entire make-up industry runs on this concept.

12. Exclusivity

Everyone likes to feel special. A cut above the rest.

Is there an exclusive aspect to your products? It may seem counter-intuitive to limit availability, but it can serve to drive up the price and make your product even more appealing.

Once you’ve identified people who buy on this psychological trigger, you can make them further exclusive offers on other products you sell.

Posted in Marketing

15 Steps To Improve Your Copywriting

6 Comments Written on May 25th, 2010 by Giovanna
Categories: Copywriting

words

Good copywriting isn’t just about writing.

Good copywriting is the process of convincing someone to take action.

Good copywriters convince a person to exchange their cash for a good or service. A poorly written landing page, however, can earn a back-click. In PPC, there is no click more expensive than the back-click.

Could your landing pages convert at a higher rate with a simple rewrite of your copy?

Let’s look at the proven tricks and techniques great copywriters use to achieve high conversion rates.

1. Become A Product Expert

You probably already have a considerable advantage over a generalist copywriter. You are a product expert.

Product expertise is essential for good copywriting. It is difficult for a copywriter to convey meaning if they don’t truly understand the product they’re selling. If you don’t know your product, take time to learn it thoroughly.

2. Figure Out The Essence Of Your Product

Once you know your product, isolate the essence of the product.

The essence of a product is the reason people should respect and love your product. If people love and respect a product, they are more likely to buy it.

What do you think of when you hear the word “iphone”? Is an iphone a plastic, high-priced pocket-sized PDA made by Apple? That’s a product description, and it is technically accurate, but it isn’t essence of the iphone.

The essence of an iphone is that it is a social tool. It is a membership to a club. It’s a reflection of a set of values to do with simplicity, design and desirability. Oh, and it’s also a phone!

The essence of the product informs the way you write about the product. In the case of Apple, it would grate if they talked about the iPhone in technical terms. Instead, they talk about the iphone in social terms. They use the word “you” a lot. They relate the phone to social and personal situations and applications.

That’s the essence of the product.

3. If You Can’t Get Love, At Least Earn Respect

Getting “Love” is ok for Apple, especially from the fanboys, but what if you’re selling something mundane, like life insurance?

You might not get people to “love” your product, but they should, at very least, respect it. Use testimonials and examples of social proof i.e. images of other people using the product, positive branding, positive news reports, reviews, and other validations that give people a reason to respect your product.

If you can’t convince people to either love or respect your product, there is little chance they’ll pay for it.

4. Know Your Customer

This is an obvious point, and no doubt you’ve heard it a thousand times before, yet it’s surprising how many advertisers answer this question with “people who want to buy my product x”.

Can you visualize your customer? Who are they? How old are they? Where do they live? How much money do they earn? Why are they buying online? Male? Female? Who is a typical customer?

It’s important to know, specifically who your customer is so you can speak their language and set the appropriate scene for selling.

5. Speak The Customers Language

In social situations, we often change our speech depending on our audience. The way we speak to our friends is different than the way we speak to people whom we don’t know. We should pitch our speech to our specific audience on our landing pages, too.

For example, would you trust a Doctor who used the term “Dude” to finish every sentence? It wouldn’t signal authority, which is needed if you’re to trust the doctor!

Consider different market segments have very different value systems and ways of talking. If your customers are baby-boomers, it is more likely than not they will be responsive to appeals to authority i.e. reviews from qualified, professional people and organizations. If your customer is young, chances are they want the talk to be about them and the message to come from someone who is likely to be in their peer group. They are less enamored by authority than those in the baby boomer demographic. If you customer is in the trade, industry jargon will make your site sound more credible. If your customer is not in the trade, industry jargon is likely to confuse them.

There are countless examples of the characteristics of different market segments, but how do you learn your customers language?

Once you’ve identified who your customer is, go to places where your customer hangs out. Amazon reviews, forums, Facebook groups, Twitter. Go to stores. Go to industry seminars. Read consumer reviews. Buy the same newspapers and magazines. Pay careful attention to the use of language. Is it authoritative? Personal? Is the language uneducated? Or specialist? Is the language informal or formal?

6. Identify The Burning Need

People buy something because it solves a problem for them. They have a need. The stronger the need, the more likely you are to sell them your product.

What problem does your product solve? What need, as determined by the customer, does you product fulfill? Speak often about the problem, the solution, the need, and how you address that need.

7. Set The Scene

If you walk into a car sales room, what do you see? Gleaming cars. Bright lights. Reflective chrome. It’s like a giant-sized, glittering jewelry box. This is scene setting. It makes you feel like buying, more so than if you walked into a dim, messy basement with cars covered in dust. The scene matches your expectations.

Keep the same thing in mind when crafting a landing page. If you sell based on discounted price, then your page should look like a discount flyer. Highlight prices, prices crossed out – typically in red – and the new bargain price featured prominently. If you sell based on high value and desirability, you page should be more sober. Clinical. Less circus, less shouty, sedate. Price is seldom mentioned. If you’re selling something for a million bucks, your pages should look a million bucks.

People will get an immediate feel for the scene. If the scene is dissonant i.e. you use a sober, high value approach when the visitor is expecting a discount i.e. your Adword text might have indicated low pricing, then you may lose a click. A dusty, messy car showroom would feel dissonant because the scene setting is not what the audience expects.

8 Notice I Haven’t Talked About The Mechanics Of Copy Writing Yet?

9. Only Once You Understand The Product, The Market, The Customer, And The Need Should You Start Writing

Write the first draft quickly.

Typically when we write, we have two competing voices in our head. One is the creative voice imagining what words to write next. The other is the editing voice, the voice that worries if the sentence reads well. Combining writing and editing is a slow cumbersome process and can make your copy sound stilted.

It’s better to separate those two functions out.

Write as fast as possible without editing, even if what you’re writing is gibberish. When you’ve finished your page, take a break, and then edit. It’s much easier to reduce than to produce.

Tip: When you edit, try removing the first paragraph. Make your second paragraph your first paragraph. I’ll bet your page reads a lot better.

10. All Page Elements Have One Function

Headings, sub-headings, pictures, diagrams, copy, logos, buttons and layout. What function do they all have in common?

The common function is to get the visitor to read the first sentence of the copy.

The first sentence is the place we are all conditioned to start. The first sentence is the gateway to everything else on the page, so it needs to be compelling. What’s the best way to make it compelling? Keep it short. Short sentences suck people in. They are easy to digest.

So what’s the purpose of the first sentence?

To get visitors to the second sentence.

And the function of the second sentence?

To get people to the third.

And so on.

Traditional copy writing manuals tend to say that the purpose of each sentence is get you to read the next sentence, which is true, however we need to be careful when translating this idea into an online environment.

Online, people don’t tend to read linearly, at least not for long. They scan. For this reason, paragraph headings become even more important than in print. If people don’t find what they’re after in the first two or three sentences, they tend to scan to a point that does interest them.

Compare a print magazine page to a web page. Notice how dense the print layout looks. Ensure your landing pages are less dense than a magazine page. Break up your copy into headings, bullet points, images, video and other elements that are easy to scan.

11. Create Harmony

This is an old sales technique, but still works a treat. The aim is to get people to agree with you regarding a series of minor, obvious points. This puts people into an agreeable frame of mind leading up to the point where you ask for an order.

When writing, aim for that same reaction.

Make sure you first paragraph includes a couple of points that are generally true and therefore easy to agree with. People will be a lot more responsive to your sales message if they agree with it.

Be honest. If something you say is factually wrong, you run a high risk of losing people. Speak essential truths your audience will deem to be self-evident.

Your voice should be consistent. Don’t jump around between the personal and impersonal voice, or the formal and informal. It doesn’t ring true. When you read the copy aloud, does it sound like you? If it doesn’t, rework it until it does.

It will sound “true-er”

12. Fall Towards Desired Action

Everything you write must progress the reader to desired action.

The reader should be able to read and scan down to a desired action. Nothing should be superflous or confusing or get in the way of this graceful, downwards momentum. Each concept must build on the next.

Use curiosity to advance people through the copy.

13. Curiosity?

Want to see a copy of all the pager messages that were intercepted in New York on the morning of 9/11?

Are you reading this sentence in the hope I’ll show you?

Really?

Ok, here

Arousing curiosity is the most powerful way to pull people down into your copy and keep them reading until they get to the desired action. All landing pages are stories – the reader should always be cusrious about “what happens next”?

This never happens in corporate reports, which is why corporate reports go unread.

14. Test & Retest

The above points have a “truthiness” quality about them, huh. But how do we know they really work?

First of all, this copywriting theory has stood the test of time. If it didn’t work, it wouldn’t still be used.

Secondly, and most importantly, testing is essential to the copy-writing process. If one style of copywriting fails with your audience, then try another. The best copy is arrived at through rigorous testing and iteration.

The online advantage is that testing is easy. Run copy for a few days and look at the results. As you don’t pay for printing costs, it’s easy to tweak, adjust and restest. Copy that doesn’t convert isn’t good copy, no matter how many guidelines we follow.

15. “Steal”

Ok, perhaps not steal. Borrow some ideas

While every project is unique, many of the same conversion and copywriting concepts apply to all projects. Here are some master-class examples of copywriting and landing page conversion in action:

Conversion Rate Optimizer Blog – contains some great case studies of landing page optimization.
Copyblogger – scroll down for landing page makeovers.
Marketing Profs – requires a free login to access some articles, but worthwhile. Take a look in the “Landing Pages” and the “Copywriting” categories.
FutureNow – a collection of white papers on conversion.

Mix and match ideas, test what works, and keep pushing further into doing more of whatever is working well for you.

Posted in Copywriting

How To Charge Top Dollar For Your PPC Services

6 Comments Written on May 11th, 2010 by Giovanna
Categories: Business

market

In a market downturn, there is always pressure to cut your prices. Trouble is, the same pressure applies in an up market, too!

Can you ever win? Either the client won’t pay what you’re worth because of tight budget constraints, or so many competitors enter a flush market that there isn’t enough money to go around.

Here are some ideas on how to achieve premium pricing for your PPC services.

1. Focus On Sales

As we discussed in a previous post, What Is The Key Skill Of The PPC Consultant, apart from search marketing expertise sales is the most important skills an independent PPC consultant can possess. Without sales, nothing else can happen.

How do you generate sales leads? How many leads do you have right now?

If you have few leads, then you need to put a lot more effort into sales, and think about increasing the channels by which you market i.e. PPC, conferences, cold-calling, agency partnerships etc.

You should always strive to generate far more leads than you ever use. This way, you’ll have your choice of clients, and won’t feel under pressure to cut your prices. Of course, this is easier said than done, but the important thing to think about is how much effort and resources you currently devote to the sales side of your business.

If you’re a sole operator, you may not have much time to devote to sales. One way around this problem is to partner with marketing and advertising agencies. Small agencies may not have enough work to be able to hire a dedicated search marketing specialist, but would certainly like to offer such services. If you sign up three of four such agencies, they’ll do much of the selling for you – typically to their existing customer base – and take a commission on your work. This commission usually works out to be way cheaper than hiring dedicated sales staff yourself.

2. Make Your Client Money

If I said to you “For every dollar you spend on my services, you’ll make three“, would you hire me? How about if I said “For every dollar you spend on my services, you’ll save three” would you hire me?

Of course.

ROI – return on investment – is a very powerful sales tool. In your proposal and pitch, demonstrate exactly how you will provide ROI. For example, you might approach businesses who market only on radio and demonstrate how PPC can generate more leads/visitors/responses for the same spend.

No business will turn down a positive ROI proposition, no matter what the state of the economic climate. The economic climate is actually in your favour at the moment – money is moving out of traditional media channels, such as television, newspapers and radio, and onto the web. This is soely due to the positive ROI proposition offering by internet marketing.

3. Carve Your Own Niche

Are there too many generalist PPC consultants?

How about owning a niche, such as travel, construction, clothing, retailing etc?

Look for businesses in niches that predominately use traditional marketing channels to advertise their goods and services and construct proposals that compare the ROI of PPC vs these traditional marketing channels.

The niche needs to be big enough for you to make money, but small enough to have escaped the attention of bigger marketing agencies. Big agencies with high overheads often avoid small niches because they are too small for them to service and still make a profit. Such niches provide rich pickings for the independent consultant who typically has lower overheads and can adapt quickly.

4. Become “The” Guru Of Your Niche

People like dealing with people they perceive as being notable experts. If you’re already known to your potential clients, or can point to independent validation of your guru status, then you have a massive advantage over unknown consultants.

This is also a reason why focusing on a niche can be such a great strategy for the independent PPC consultant. The world is awash with PPC gurus who have been plying their trade for a long time, speaking at conferences, writing articles for major publications etc. Instead of competing with them directly, choose a niche and become a superstar in that niche. There will be many trade publications that have NEVER had a PPC consultant write an article for them.

Why don’t you become the first?

5. Provide More Value Than The Next Guy

Always be on the lookout for areas where you can add more value than what the client pays you to provide.

For example, say you have an interest in usability. You note that the client has a few usability problems that could be easily solved. Write up a detailed report and give it to the client as a bonus. View the time spent on this report as a marketing cost i.e. you’re trying to forge a deeper relationship that will lead to ongoing business.

Clients will never fail to be impressed by value-added services.

Under promise and over deliver.

Posted in Business

What Is The Key Skill Of The PPC Consultant?

1 Comment » Written on May 10th, 2010 by Giovanna
Categories: Business

salesppc

If you’re great at PPC, then why would you sell those skills to others? Why wouldn’t you become an affiliate marketer, or set up your own site selling goods and services? What’s the point of working for a string of new bosses as an independent PPC consultant?

There are a few reasons why becoming an independent consultant can be a great idea. Lucrative, too.

1. You Get To See Deep Inside Other Businesses

Market research – good market research – can cost a fortune, but the consultant gains an intimate knowledge of their clients market. Not only do you get to see the data, you get to see the marketing and business processes that you can then apply elsewhere. Not so much spying as a valuable apprenticeship and research opportunity, for which you get paid.

2. Flexibility

The independent consultant gets to choose their own hours and projects. Unlike an employee, the independent consultant can choose their “bosses”. Don’t like the boss? “Fire” the client.

You can also choose your hours of work, when to take holidays, and where you work.

3. Focus On Core Skills

Crafting solutions can be a lot more fun than implementing them. Delivering goods or services can be a hassle, and require a lot of back-end processes.

PPC is mostly a high level marketing function, and the responsibility typically ends once the visitor moves to desired action.

The Big Problem With Consultancy

The world is chock full of PPC consultants!

Anyone can call themselves a consultant, so many people do. Assuming the consultant can do the work to a high standard, the most critical skill of the independent consultant – entering a saturated market with no barrier to entry – is the ability to sell.

How do you sell your services?

1. Identify Your Client

Do you want to work with big organisations or small? The approach you take will differ depending on your target market.

Small businesses tend to like dealing with other small businesses, as they appreciate the direct level of contact. Big business have larger budgets, but can be harder for the new consultant to engage – many large firms will work with preferred suppliers, and with established agencies.

Tailor your pitch and approach accordingly.

2. Craft A Point Of Difference

Why would they choose you? You may be great at what you do, but how do you convince others of your worth?

Points of difference can include:

Geographic locality i.e. you can go and see clients in person.
Industry vertical i.e. specialize in one particular industry
Experience – have you got unique experience that you can highlight? Have you worked with people/clients of note?
Awareness – if people have seen you name before, you stand a better chance of landing deals. This is why consultants speak at conferences, write blogs, write op-ed pieces for newspapers and other publications.

3. Demonstrate And Offer More Value Than Your Competitors

What are your competitors doing? More importantly, what are they not doing? Are there areas you can provide more value to clients than your competitors do?

Think about the points of resistance for a client. Put yourself in their shoes. One major point of resistance for the new independent consultant is perceived risk. Without a track record, the risk proposition for the client is high.

One idea for getting around this perceived risk is to give your services away for free.

Huh?

One local consulting agency I know of sold out to a competitor for a a tidy sum. When they started, they decided they needed a client list, so they offered their services, for nothing, to a list of preferred clients. The agency viewed this as a marketing cost. Once they had proved their worth, clients tended to stay on their books, and at very least, provided valuable experience and referrals.

Of course, you can’t work for nothing/discount rates over the long term, but such a strategy works well if you need to get a few good names – preferably industry leader names as opposed to unknown small businesses – under your belt.

4. Say What You’ll Do, Do It, Then Tell Them You’ve Done It

Actors often say you’re only as good as your last movie. In consulting, you’re only as good as your last gig. A bad reputation can be gained easily, and persist for a long time. So when you execute, stay focused on delivery.

The most effective selling method, by far, is good word of mouth. Each new gig gives you a chance to increase good word of mouth.

I hope this article provides you with a few ideas on selling your services.

The techniques you use very much depend on your own skills, history and ability. If you’re new to PPC, in terms of operating as a business, it’s often a good idea to work for a PPC agency before going freelance. This gives you valuable insight into the business of selling search, experience, and the opportunity to build up contacts.