Time for the Big Reveal…
Well, almost.
Since I spent the last half hour creatively procrastinating by looking up random quotes, my doppelgänger Alf has challenged me to explain this crucial marketing concept using just quotes.
Alf, I see your gauntlet and I accept your challenge.
I hereby swear on the Holy Book of Marketing to use quotes, and nothing but quotes. So help me Google.
Alright, here goes…
Dreamy, your ideal buyer, lands on your opt-in page.
He sees the miracle solution to his most annoying, recurring, nagging problem — the bane of his existence: It-That-Keeps-Us-Awake-At 2-AM-And-Gnaws-At-Our-Soul.
(Good for you, smart business owner. You’ve done your market research.)
As Dreamy scans the page, this is what is going through his head:
"Well, you know how it feels if you begin hoping for something that you want desperately badly; you almost fight against the hope because it is too good to be true; you've been disappointed so often before.” - C.S. Lewis
Dreamy is squirming in his chair now. Reaching out towards the sign up form… pulling back. Reaching out… pulling back.
Because Dreamy, like all of us, lives in the Age of Scepticism. He has been burnt before.
And right about now?
His inner sceptic is blowing out perfect smoke rings from his pipe while admonishing Dreamy in the most kindly condescending manner possible:
"If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” - Emily Rossum
But you, the subject-matter expert, knows that your little Dreamies are capable of so much more. YOU see their potential:
"What your heart desires is not too good to be true. It is good enough to be true.” - Alan Cohen
They just need to Dare to Dream Big.
(Preferably, with capital letters for added panache.)
This is especially a problem for experts like you who are freakishly good at what they do.
You know you can deliver on that big, scary promise because you’ve helped other people get similar results.
In YOUR world, results are NOT atypical:
"They say if it's too good to be true, it usually is..... Unless it's me.” - Behdad Sami
But, at the same time, you don’t want to sound like one of those sleazy internet marketers.
You know.. the guys with the yellow highlighters, the big red fonts and the moonshot claims.
So you sit down to write your marketing copy in that idiosyncratically bipolar state of mind between an ego explosion and tactful timidity:
Because, as the White Queen reminds Alice:
“Sometimes I can believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
The result?
Your offer, born from a confused state of mind, sounds equally confused:
“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” ― Douglas Adams
So that was pitfall #1.
There is a second scenario where otherwise perfectly drool-worthy copy backfires, because it sounds “too good to be true”:
When your target buyers are a sceptical market which is wary of “internet scams”.
In that case, promising more might actually result in fewer leads, because it makes your solution less believable and thereby lowers conversion rates.
The trick to crafting an irresistible offer - whether that be an opt-in offer or a paid offer on a sales page - is this:
A drool-worthy but believable promise.
That’s the seesaw on which you must find balance, lest the offer fall flat and break your sales.
Yes… but how?
I’ll explain more later.
- Alp
PS: Enjoyed this post? Share it with a friend.
PPS: Missed a post in the series because your in-laws invaded your house? Here is a recap of the action so far:
