A sales page should be doing a few fundamental things to engage your prospective customer and keep them glued to the computer screen just long enough for them to make the decision to buy.Emotional Triggers
"People don't buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons." -Zig Ziglar When writing your headline and the introductory paragraph of your sales page you need to speak to the heart or pain of your reader.There is a specific reason why a person would be reading your sales page. They are looking for solutions to a problem or seeking pleasure. You must address this front and center to let them know that this product is for them.And there is no shortage of problems in this world. If there were no problems in this world, we would all be unemployed. Therefore your product should be billed as a solution to a problem or answer to a desire.If you introduce your product too early, you are going to turn them off because they weren't looking for a product, they were looking for a solution.Now if you product provides this solution, then we can talk about the exchange of currency.The Ultimate Close You can say that a marriage proposal is the ultimate 'close' because of the emotion that is involved, (especially in public).Imagine this: A romantic dinner sets the mood. The roses make her smile and feel loved. The music reminds her of how much she loves your companionship. You dressed up in your best suit reminds her of how desirable and attractive you are.And if you invited both of your friends and family to witness this, the pressure of having them there adds a bit to the fear and anxiety of saying "NO". You suddenly getting down on one knee with everyone watching, catches her off guard and disorients her. She can't think logically anymore and starts crying, screaming, etc. You're in...Congratulations! :)Backup with Logic Now to show you that we are not just trying to con people by manipulating their emotions, we also want to add logical reasoning to our sales process.You definitely don't want 'buyer's remorse' to come back and haunt the credibility of your business.And usually in a traditional sales process, this part is addressed with a Q & A session between the customer and the sales person. But since we are online, we need to bring it up and explain HOW our product or service will provide the benefits we are claiming.For health and wellness products, it could be a basic explanation of the science involved and possibly even the credible experts who have endorsed the product.For a business opportunity, one could run through the numbers and the compensation to be expected for a certain level of effort.This is probably the easiest part, since our tendency is to write about features anyway.In the case of a marriage proposal, before or after you should have ideally demonstrated to your partner why being with you is most beneficial to him/her, (i.e. you have a good job, live in the suburbs, anatomically functional for having kids, etc.)Features vs. Benefits A mistake many net workers make is talking to much about the features of what they are offering."Our vitamins are organic." "Our company is debt free." "The doctor operating on you was educated at Harvard Med School."I have one answer to these statement: Who cares? What's in it for me?In other words, people are not impressed by the features of what you are offering. What they are really interested in is what it will do for them.So instead of the statements above, stating benefits sounds more like this:"Our organic vitamins will not only nourish your body, but will also protect you from free radicals which overtime are known to contribute to the development of cancer." "Our company is debt free so you can rest assured that our partnership will be a long one and extremely profitable for you."
Do you notice the difference? Knowing this will help you write emotional or logical text in the appropriate sections of your offer.Testimonials - What others are saying...
Regardless of what you say your product or service can do and how it does it, many people are still not likely to believe you. The answer to this?Social Proof/TestimonialsSimply asking your current customers for a brief testimonial on what your product or opportunity did for them will go a long way. Even more effective is adding the picture of your customer, their full name and city of residence will almost certainly give you the credibility you need.Allow your customers to be genuine and honest and under NO circumstance falsify testimonials!People today can smell a con from a mile away.And this goes in line with my next point...Let Your Personality Come ThroughIf you are being honest and sincere, it will be apparent to your reader. On a very subconscious level, how you write and not necessarily what you write will communicate the last missing piece a prospective customer will need to feel good about his or her purchase.Let's be honest, there are people who buy from people solely based on the fact that they like them.Who you are has a lot to do with your success.Don't Be BashfulLike any good proposal, you need to give clear direction as to the next step.Tell your prospect what they need to do next in order to get the solution to their problem. Give them a 'call-to-action'.Make this process as simple as possible and spell it out for them.
- Do they need to call an 800 number within the next 30 minutes?
- Do they need to click on the "order" button before supplies run out?
- Do they need a credit card or can they pay with Pay Pal?
Explain everything in detail. Don't assume they know anything.