Applying Psychology to Internet Marketing
By Terry Dean
The best advertising writers
are those who have some knowledge of psychology. We are not dealing with
"new" people online. We are dealing with the same people who
have the same desires they have always had.
The style changes a little
online, but the same approaches that worked one hundred years ago will
also work today. Don't forget that.
Advertising mediums change.
Effective advertising does not, because effective advertising is based
on a knowledge of human nature.
Remember the first principle
of advertising. Your prospects are inherently selfish. They will ask one
question of everything your web site does, "What's In it for Me?"
That is the first question
you have to answer with your web site. It has to tell and show your visitors
what's in it for them. What would they get out of ordering from your site
that isn't available anywhere else?
Below are four aspects to the
human make-up which you can and should use throughout your Internet advertising.
1. Curiosity is a powerful
motivation.
Just about every information
product you see advertised has the word "Secrets" in the ad
somewhere. People are afraid to miss out on something. They are curious
to find out just what those secrets may be.
Use this to your advantage.
With information products, I love to write the sales letters so that they
hit on the curiosity hot button. You can take advantage of this factor
of human nature by providing some of the results which were achieved through
your information system, but not actually revealing what the system specifically
is.
You will notice that I do this
a lot in the bullets that I create to go in the sales letter. They will
tell you that there are 3 insider secrets to ______, but they won't tell
you what the 3 secrets are.
The purpose of this is the
pull on the curiosity of the reader...and cause them to order.
2. Extravagance at a bargain
price.
People want to keep up with
the Jones'. They want the absolute best, but they want to feel like they
got it at a bargain price. No one wants to feel that they paid too much
for anything. So, you need to give them an impressive value at a bargain
price.
In many products and cases,
this simply boils down to explaining the exact process it took to create
the product. For example, with an information product, it may have taken
you 5 years of research and $20,000 in testing to come up with the information
in this product. If so, tell them about it.
When your company builds a
widget, it might search the country for the best wood available. Half
of the wood in the factory is rejected. You have over 60 people who actually
work on the wood to create the product you sell (in the ad itself you
would tell people what many of them do), and you may have 5 people who
put it through a strict 13 step test to assure it's quality.
Even if all of your competitor's
go through the exact process you do to create the product, it will still
be effective for you to tell the story to your customers. This is called
preemptive advertising. The person who first tells the story is the one
who garners the trade. Anyone else who seeks to follow them ends up looking
only as a copycat, not the originator of the system.
Once the customer understood
the value involved in the product, they were glad to be able to purchase
it at such a bargain price.
What process does your product
go through that will add a value to it in your customer's eyes?
3. Fear of Failure and of
Making the Wrong Decision
This is the biggest barrier
that we have to overcome throughout the selling process. People are afraid
they are going to make a bad decision in buying your product. They are
afraid you are going to rip them off and not provide them with the product
they are expecting.
Everything that you say as
an advertiser is immediately looked at with a grain of salt. People have
been lied to before when it comes to advertising, so they look at your
ads wondering if you are any different. Unless you find a way to overcome
this fear of "being taken" in your prospect's eyes, you are
not going to close a majority of sales.
There are basically two aspects
to overcoming this resistance. The first way is by presenting and adding
credibility to your ads. Credibility is produced through your "proof"
and through the testimonials which you provide.
It is often said that salespeople
without testimonials have skinny children. It is next to impossible to
build the credibility you need in the eyes of your prospects without testimonials.
The second way to overcome
this resistance is by giving a risk free guarantee or a better than risk
free guarantee. Let your prospects know that they can return then package
for any reason.
Plus, give them several bonuses
in the package which they can keep even if they return the package for
a full refund.
An even better method of overcoming
this buyer's resistance is by allowing them to try out the package for
free, and having them pay for it at the end of the trial period. Which
one you rather buy from? Would you rather buy from the person who gives
you the horse to try out for a week and allows you to pay later...or the
person who requires up-front payment?
Think about ways where you
can overcome the buyer's resistance by offering a more risk free proposition
than all of our competitors.
4. Exclusivity
People like to get a "special"
deal which is made just for them. They like to be told that they are special.
They like to have their names mentioned. They like to have their names
engraved on the objects that they purchase.
I have learned how to apply
this factor to my own sales. I run a subscriber only special to my 30,000
ezine subscribers now once a month...People love it. They are getting
something for a special price or with a special bonus that isn't available
to the general public. They are getting it just because they are one of
my newsletter subscribers.
All successful Joint Ventures
are also based on this element of exclusivity. A special deal was created
with the list owners partner ONLY for their customers. No outsider can
participate. The list owner cares so much about their list members that
they negotiated to get them this special price or special deal. These
endorsed types of mailings have been known to produce sales rates as high
as 10% - 20%...which is completely unheard of in any other venture.
"FREE" without an
understanding of the value is actually dangerous.
Along the same lines, the word
"FREE" is actually being overdone online. To some people it
appears that everything is free online. Using the word "Free"
without explaining the actual value involved does not profit you according
to final sales figures.
When you are giving away a
freebie from your site, it isn't your goal to just attract visitors I
hope. You are not after freebie seekers. Your final goal should be to
sell more of your products and services to your visitors. This is not
accomplished through just handing out the most freebies.
This is accomplished through
explaining the value of your products and services...then offering the
freebie. Claude Hopkins recorded that even back in his time you should
never offer a sample to anyone unless you have had the chance to tell
them your product story.
Unless you have actually had
a chance to show them the value of your offering, it could possibly diminish
the value of your actual product.
Tell your prospects the actual
value of the freebie. Then, tell them "why" you are offering
it free. If you just listed the value at $97, but never told them why
it was worth $97 or why you are giving it to them free, then your statement
is worthless. You must both explain why the free product is worth $97
and why you are giving it to them for free. Tell them that you know letting
them use it for free will get them hooked and that they will keep coming
back for more. Tell them why it is free...or don't offer it at all.
This is why there is so much
confusion online concerning giving freebies away at web sites. Some experts
recommend giving away freebies. Some recommend that you don't give anything
away. It is all a matter of understanding and showing the "VALUE"
that you are giving away for free...and if it brings your visitor back
to order from you. The ordering process is what you are after.
Remember the marketing statement,
"Tell me why, and then I'll buy."
Terry Dean, a 27 Year Old Indiana
Farm Boy, Reveals His Secret Formula for Generating New Automatic Streams
of Internet Income For Any Business In 72 Hours Or Less...Free Report:
mailto:formula@bizpromo.com
http://www.bizpromo.com
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