Tuesday, June 17, 2014

How To Create The Irresistible Offer . . .It's Not As Hard As You May Think


Howdy friend,

Yea, yea you've read all the hype . . . good advertising copy must have headlines, headlines in everything you write. And what about a call to action, you gotta have this, right? What about weaving a brilliant story about your product or service . . . surly that'll nail it, right? Can I get a witness?? Yes, oh yes you certainly need testimonials.

Just follow the ADIA brick road, follow the ADIA brick road.
Follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow the ADIA brick road, follow the ADIA brick road.

Sorry 'bout that, I had a flash-back to the Great OZ . . .

But seriously, you should be aware of the ADIA copy writing formula.

ADIA is:

Attention
Desire
Interest
Action . . .

And this formula works wonders. You really should try it sometime!

OK, well where was I?

Well . . . and it's a deep well, my friend, yes it's true all good direct response copy needs to have some or all of those elements. But we all may be missing the mark here.

Let me explain.

Many gurus believe the most important part of your marketing is the headline. I hate to burst someone's bubble, but consider this:

Two of the most mailed letters in the history of advertising did NOT have headlines. Whoa there partner . . . say what??

That's right. No headline. But do you what they did have?

Give up yet? OK!

They each contained an offer . . . that's right! Why?

Because your offer is absolute key to the success of your marketing campaign. Bar none!

Before I get into the “how's” of creating killer offers, let me share a quote from one of the best direct response copywriters and straight up marketing geniuses ever-- Gary Halbert.

"Strong copy will not overcome weak offer... but... in many cases, a strong offer will
a succeed in spite of weak copy written by marketing morons! Also, what you have to say is enormously more important than how you say it.” - Gary Halbert

Side Note: Gary passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 8, 2007. Though I never met him in person, I learned tons from him through his books, courses and newsletters. Thankfully, his two sons Bond and Kevin keep his website alive at http://thegaryhalbertletter.com/

There are lots of great offers you can make to your prospects. The key is to make the very best, most irresistible offer you can make.

Here's a few ideas to help you write irresistible offers.

Free Offers. Free is still a power word and should be used when appropriate. When you combine “free” with a kick-ass offer, now you're cooking with peanut oil. Not to rain on your parade, and while I'm a huge fan of free offers, you must remember that your prospect is hit with marketing messages, ringing phones, urgent requests and all sorts of other business during their day. So to really make this FREE offer work, use this formula:

Free+limited time+at least one big benefit the prospect gets by using what is free.

Does this make sense? Prospects buy solutions that fix their problems. So really think about how you can be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Let's sweeten the deal. One of the best ways to sweeten the deal is to offer FREE Bonuses.

Make sure the bonuses are high-perceived value and and appeal to your prospect . . . you know something she wants or something that will fix her problems.

A colleague recently reminded me of the old Ginsu knife infomercials . . . boy how they heap on the bonuses to get you to buy.

But wait, there's more. If you order in the next 30 minutes, I'll not only send you the entire 36-piece set of Ginsu knives, I'll also include a second set absolute free. And you still get the free fisherman's friend fillet know, the free cutting board. . . and . . . etc., . . . etc.

And can you guess why smart marketers do this? Cuz it works . . . and not only does it work. . . it works like crazy!

Make Your Offers Believable

Powerful offers are great, but make them believable. Just take a look at nearly any and every ad you see or hear today. Most of the ads fail miserly because they are filled with hype, make no offer of any kind and do not ask for action. You be different. Tell your prospects why you're make such a great offer and see your sales soar. You know how skeptical folks are . . . after all we've all been 'bit' before. The best way to overcome our natural skepticism is to tell why you are you offering such a huge price cut. . . maybe you are coming out with a new model, or you order too many widgets or the video covers are botched up and you are not able to sell them at full price, etc.

Here's a short letter written by Joe Karbo that illustrates this concept perfectly. Note the misspelling of “Cadillac” as you read this example. This give a humanizing touch, making the letter seem even more real. . .

Dear Friend,

I have a new Caddilac that I got to sell because I'm leaving for the Service next week. It cost me $14,000 and has only 732 miles on it. Rather than sell it to some thief of a car dealer or going to the trouble of advertising, I'll let you have it for $7,000.

If you don't have the cash, don't worry about it because I only owe the $7,000 and you can take over payment which are about $275 a month.

You know I drive careful, but I'd feel better if you'd have your mechanic check it out before you buy. In fact if you'd like to drive it for a couple of days, I'll be glad to deliver it to you with a full tank of gas. And if you don't like the car, I'll take it back and you've had a free ride. No obligation.

One thing—it's an awful green color (but you could have it painted).

If you're interested, call me at (714) 826-1313 between 7 and 9 tonight.

Your friend,


Roger Atbury


Here's you homework assignment.

Study the above letter. Think about how you could adapt it to your product or service and see results multiply. What's the very best offer you can offer your prospects and clients.

Ok, this it for this edition. Until next time, may your profits rise and your loses be few.

Warmly,

Emette Massey



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