If your ideal customer has a problem that needs to be fixed (whether he knows it or not), this may be helpful for you.
It’s the tale of two dentists.
You see, I’ve always had crooked teeth and a slight underbite.
(You can see the crookedness in this selfie I took with my queen, who is perfect in every way.)
When I was a child, our family dentist suggested that he could fix that… by breaking my jaw and resetting it “properly.”
It was a fool-proof solution, apparently.
But he couldn’t sell it.
Most mothers don’t jump at the chance to break their children’s bones.
So I went through my childhood and adolescence feeling self-conscious when I smiled or laughed. Took a long time get over it.
Fast forward to 2019. I’m perfectly happy with my flawed smile.
But every time I go in for a checkup, my new dentist finds a new cavity and has to use a bazooka to knock the tartar from between my teeth.
After a few appointments, she told me:
“Based on what I’ve been seeing, it’s going to be impossible to get ahead of this. No matter how faithfully you brush and floss, you will develop gum disease and your teeth will eventually fall out of your face.
“It’s not your fault. It’s just the way your teeth grew in.”
She sold me Invisaligns in a single conversation.
What’s the difference between the two dentists? And…
The first dentist wanted to break a child’s jaw to fix a few imperfect teeth. The fix required too much work, too much discomfort.
Talking with “problem aware” prospects isn’t enough.
My parents could clearly see an issue, but they weren’t compelled to do anything about it.
People live with their unresolved problems all the time. That’s the default for many of us. If you want to sell, you have to figure out how to shake them up to make them dissatisfied enough to change.
Fear is a legit selling tool, but there must be evidence.
The second dentist would never have been able to sell me $4,000 Invisaligns to fix my smile. She couldn’t have sold them to me if they were FREE. Because I was fine with my smile.
But I was NOT about to let my teeth rot out.
Sometimes you gotta go negative in your messaging. (SORRY!)
I wouldn’t try to scare a prospect about something they don’t know about. Rather, help them appreciate the real severity of the problem they already see.
“Sell” the diagnosis before you sell the solution.
When your should-be buyer believes that you really understand what he is going through, he’s more likely to convince himself to see things your way.
Subject lines are the sexy part of email marketing.
Everyone wants to know the secret… the specific sequence of words that works every time.
Such secrets do exist.
But in reality, word choice is just one part of the magic of great emails.
Let me illustrate with a real-world example from this week.
Check out this screengrab. It’s showing the performance of a promotional email we sent out Wednesday.
The stats are ridiculous.
If you can’t read the pic, it’s showing an 84.5% open rate and 45% click rate. That means more than half of the openers also clicked through to the order form.
(More importantly, nearly half of the people who saw the order form also made a purchase.)
When someone sees those numbers, you already know what the first question will be 9 times out of 10:
And yes, the subject line was perfect… and the preheader text was brilliant (I’ll reveal them in a minute)…
But we had a lot more going for us than just that:
You may have noticed this email went to 197 people. This is a very targeted segment of the much bigger list.
The “guru” has built great rapport and a ton of trust with subscribers. Becoming known as THE expert your subscribers look forward to hearing from is probably the greatest secret to email success.
There’s been a bunch of engagement with this segment recently to drum up anticipation.
Those factors will help you get opens. And they’ll definitely impact clicks.
But how did we get clickthrough rate so high?
(By the way, the last time this same offer was made to this same segment – before I started working with the client – the best CTR was less than 13%. As you recall, we got 45% this time.)
Focus on exclusivity
Social proof
Emphasis on emotional benefits over product features
Subtle validation of the reader’s self-worth
Obviously these results are specific to this effort. The point is… subject lines ARE important, but you need more than just tight subject lines to maximize the impact of and revenue from your emails.
Alright, I’ll finally reveal what the subject line and preheader text were.
Subject line: [First Name], here’s your private invitation
Preheader text: Congratulations! (shhh… it’s a secret)
The combination of personalization, an anticipated invitation, “congratulations” and a secret helped this achieve a spectacular open rate.
Again, the biggest win here is the insanely high clickthrough rate and the conversion rate on the sales page.
In a way, open rates have always been overrated. Just because someone appears to have opened your message doesn’t mean they actually read it. And if they didn’t take any action, how good was the email, really?
Clickthrough rate is a much better measure of engagement. And sales is the ultimate metric, of course.
Speaking of open rates, have you heard about how the coming update to iOS 15 will make it basically impossible to track open rates for Apple users?
Some marketers are worried this will cause a disaster.
I shared this video training in the Email Copywriting Corner, but it makes sense to put it here, too…
Especially if making more money with email marketing is one of your new year’s resolutions.
You may be particularly interested in the 7 types of stories you should be sending to your email list:
Genesis stories: people want to know the story behind why you started something Idealist stories: illustrate your personal & business values/philosophies with a story Iron Fist stories: Tales of battle, struggle and victory (or lessons from losses) — either of yours or your customers’ Catalyst stories: Moments, decisions, interventions that caused critical change Journalist stories: commentary on trending topics or news or little-known truth behind well-known stories Adventurous stories: Crazy, funny stuff going on in your life Status stories: Elevate your authority with big name clients, famous friends, recognition, accomplishments.
You’ll have to forgive me. I was really trying to be clever with this bootleg rhyming thing.
Until recently, this training was only available to Inbox X-Factor members. I’m giving you access now to help you kick 2021’s b.u.t.t.
This is the most powerful copy principle I can share with you.
It’s shockingly simple to understand. Once you get it, it can change everything for you.
And in my humble opinion, it’s significantly more powerful (and easier to use) than Blair Warren’s famed One Sentence Persuasion.
I call it the “Red Bull” copy secret…
… and its the foundation of everything you need to know to sell more of your product or service.
Really.
This video gives you a quick overview (less than 4 minutes) along with the story behind the secret.
Now, if you don’t want to watch the video, let me give you the formula in one sentence:
Sell the transformation your buyer wants… using what he already has… with just a little help from you.
That’s how Red Bull works.
Buyers want alertness without having to change their sleeping habits. They want energy without changing their diet or exercise routines.
They buy the magical potion to fix things for them.
Here’s an example of what this might look like in sales copy:
Notice that you don’t have to start a new workout. You just have to get this report that shows you a smarter way of doing what you’re already doing.
This is more than just simplicity or ease — although that’s a part of it.
In general, people don’t want to change their lifestyle, habits or decisions.
(They may SAY they want to change, but that’s a lie.)
If your copy reassures the reader that he can achieve his stated goal… using the things in his life he’s already comfortable, familiar and even happy with…
You win the game.
Of course, you have to be honest. If you sell bottled water and energy-boosting meal plans, your copy can’t promise Red Bull.
That said, if you can make your products so they relieve the buyer of effort, responsibility and change, the more you’re likely to sell.
Make sense?
Let me point out one more thing.
In the beginning of this email, I said that once you understand this principle, “it can change everything for you.”
I told you that you don’t have to change. This secret changes your results FOR YOU.
This stuff works.
Now it’s time to make it work for you.
P.S. I am a big fan of Warren’s One Sentence Persuasion. It’s a powerful framework for crafting compelling messages and being a persuasive person.
Despite all the craziness, 2020 has been a phenomenal year for my clients.
Or maybe more accurately, 2020 has been a screaming success because of all the craziness.
Last week, I revealed 3 simple “secrets” behind that success in my first room on Clubhouse.
Specifically, how we’ve generated $17 million from email year-to-date.
You may not have been part of that Clubhouse conversation (it was a small audience)… and those conversations aren’t recorded…
So I’ll quickly tell you what I shared.
“Secret” #1: Be consistent and persistent
My clients email daily. And they make offers in every single email.
You can probably send more emails than you do. (That goes for me, too.)
One of the main points I made was that unsubscribes go up when you email LESS.
You let people forget who you are and why they were excited to hear from you.
Depending on your business and your capabilities, I recommend no fewer than 1 email per week. Most businesses can send 3 or more — and the only difference you’ll see is more money in the bank.
“Secret” #2: Curiosity
Don’t give away the punchline in every email.
Tease a juicy benefit… tantalizing opportunity… or potentially imminent danger…
And make the reader click a link to find out exactly what you’re talking about.
Create emotional tension that can only be resolved by clicking… and give your sales pitch on the other side of the click.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this.
You can get more insight into how curiosity works — and the right and wrong ways to use it in your email — in this video.
“Secret” 3: Easy on the education
I’ve discovered that a lot of entrepreneurs believe they have to educate prospects into buying from them.
Education can be helpful. But the truth is, information isn’t what sells.
You know that people buy on emotion. In a way, they’re buying the emotion itself.
(That’s one of the reasons people don’t do anything with the stuff they buy. Making the purchase provided the emotional payoff.)
Your copy’s job is to stimulate the emotions — hope, desire, guilt, fear, etc. — that make your prospects take action.
There’s no shortage of information.
But your prospects are dying for emotional MOTIVATION.
So be careful how you educate.
Each fact you present should be designed to inflame desire… not to make the reader smarter.
That sounds cynical, I know.
But when you’re going for maximum profits, it’s an approach likely to serve you well.
Having read this far, you’ve figured out why I put “secrets” in quotations.
They’re not unknown concepts. They’re just underutilized.
If your email marketing efforts are coming up short, these 3 ideas could be helpful.
What was your initial reaction to the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma — or even just discussions about it?
(I’m assuming you’ve had at least one discussion about it. Seems like everyone was talking about it a few weeks ago.)
Here’s a review I saw that captures a snippet of the conversations I had after the film was released:
“This exposes truths about big data, manipulation, & warnings from the people who designed Facebook, Google, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Everyone should definitely watch this to understand how these social media platforms are using us and how Humanity will be destroyed by Technology in the near future.”
A lot of people are “mad” at the social media companies, which Netflix should be counted amongst.
As a marketer, what was YOUR reaction?
The proper response should have been inspiration.
Because the film is practically a field guide illustrating how to build an army of happy little addicts…
And we marketers should be taking notes.
Do you want your own army of happy addicts?
You can start taking notes right here, right now.
(BTW, I’m curious to know what your reaction to THAT statement was. Leave a comment and let me know.)
I’ll just briefly hit on a few points that are especially important.
What’s Wrong with an Echo Chamber?
One of the big criticisms leveled by the producers of The Social Dilemma is that Facebook and others feed you more and more stories to reinforce a particular opinion… one that you hold already.
News flash: humans already do this automatically. It’s called confirmation bias.
People enjoy the feeling of being right, smart, and on the right side. The crave it.
You should harness that reality.
When planning out your messaging, you must use your ideal customer’s view of reality as the starting point.
Don’t fight your prospect’s brain.
Stake Your Claim
To a certain extent, you have to own real estate in your prospect’s mind.
How do you do that? Through regular, consistent, engaging communication.
Our brains are biased towards information we’ve heard recently and repeatedly.
You’ve heard that a lie told often enough is believed. But it’s not about the lie. It’s about the repetition.
A few things you can do to claim more real estate between your prospect’s ears:
Frequent communication via email, YouTube, social channels. You don’t have to use them all, but the more you use, the more you can dominate your prospect’s time and the more opportunities you’ll have to reinforce your ideas.
If possible, be present in the physical environment. Get a book, a t-shirt, a printed checklist, something physical into homes or offices. When you can do that, you’re in a rare group — and as a result, people convince themselves you’re more important.
Studies also show there’s a stronger and longer-lasting neurological response to physical marketing (e.g. direct mail) over digital version of the same ads.
Impact ONE THING that’s part of your prospect’s daily routine. Now you own part of his day.
A recent poll found that 80% of people check their phones before doing anything else in the morning. It’s a routine set by social media (and email).
What part of the day can you own?
By the Power Vested in Me
A huge reason The Social Dilemma is so hard-hitting is that it’s filled with admissions from THE experts on this topic: the people who designed these addictive apps.
People are eager to defer to authorities and experts, sometimes without even realizing it.
I’ve talked about authority several times in the past, so I’ll just mention one important point.
Your personal story — how you came to experience and understand the idea you’re trying to share — is likely to carry more weight than scientific studies (which make fantastic supporting arguments).
Your story makes you an authority, whether or not you have credentials or position.
Now listen…
This topic can make some people squeamish. I get it. Most people don’t want to feel manipulative.
We have a tendency to make copywriting (and persuasion in general) more complicated than it needs to be.
A lot of the blame can be placed on the countless “experts” who make it seem complicated…
I fear I’ve fallen into that category at times.
Today, we’re going to simplify things.
At it’s core, copywriting is helping someone make a decision that will improve his life in a specific way.
Humans make most of their decisions — not counting habitual “autopilot” programs we run for so many parts of our lives — based on emotion.
You already knew that.
One of the most effective ways to make another human feel emotion is to feel it yourself.
Emotions are contagious like a virus — and symptoms start showing up FAST.
When you sit down to write, start out by feeling the feeling you want you reader to experience.
Excitement… Fear… Hope…
Let those feelings bleed into your copy.
You already do this in face-to-face conversation — and even more so when it’s someone you care about.
Your emotions are transferred to the audience to some extent.
And when he’s feeling the way you feel, you have the opportunity to lead him where he needs to go to improve his life in the specific way only you can deliver.
Make sense?
Have a heart-to-heart conversation (through your copy) with your readers this week.
Your should-be customer or client has developed a sophisticated system for NOT buying from you.
(The system is deadly effective, even though he was hardly aware that he was building it.)
One of the main components of this system is disbelief. No surprise, right?
But what most marketers don’t consider is that disbelief comes in two flavors:
1. Disbelief about your or your product/service
and
2. Disbelief about his own ability or worthiness to experience the transformation you promise.
In other words…
Your prospect can believe that you help save marriages… and disbelieve you can save HIS marriage.
To neutralize this part of the anti-buying system, you have to
1. Prove that you can deliver a result
and
2. Prove that you can deliver a result FOR HIM.
I want to talk about #2
How do you do it?
Identify the B.S. stories he tells himself… about himself.
A significant percentage of your prospects will never buy from you — not because they don’t want what you’re selling or because they don’t believe you’re good at what you do…
… but because of their limiting (dis)beliefs.
*All figures are estimates
Some generic B.S. stories include
“I’ve failed before, so trying again is pointless”
“I’m not smart/handsome/wealthy enough”
“People who look like me don’t/can’t do that”
“I haven’t paid my dues yet”
“I don’t deserve to be rich/happy because I did XYZ in the past”
You can uncover more specific crippling B.S. stories by talking (or having your team talk) with people in your target audience.
Get on the phone. Send surveys (but take responses with a grain of salt). Spy on them online (social media, Reddit, Amazon reviews, etc.).
You’ll gain fascinating insight you can to overcome objections in your copy.
Showcase People Like Him Who Got the Result
Once you know some of the B.S. stories, find examples about people who contradict those stories.
The more unbelieving prospect see himself reflected in your marketing messages — including his dreams, challenges, and B.S. stories — the more your message will resonate…
And the weaker his disbelief will become.
Leverage A Unique Mechanism
Position your offer as a special, proven approach your prospect has never seen before.
Show him why it’s different — and why other solutions fail.
Your unique solution helps him understand why he may have struggled in the past. And it can give him hope for future success.
Make it Ridiculously Easy to Take the First Step…
Offer a sample. A free or low cost trial. A 7-day challenge.
One of the main reasons people fail is because they never MOVE. Get them to take the first step and you unlock optimism and even confidence by default.
That confidence can force your prospect to re-examine his disbelief — especially if you…
Give Him a Quick Win
Provide information or action steps that will give him some forward momentum.
It only takes a little… and you can deliver it right inside your marketing copy if you like.
This give the prospect more confidence and trust in you. More importantly, it builds confidence and trust in his own ability to reach his goal.
An obviously you’re the person best equipped to help him do it.
Now, there’s something to be said for not convincing anyone who’s not already sure he wants to work with you.
But no matter how you approach your own business growth, it’s helpful to identify the disbelief and B.S. stories that hold your prospects (and customers) back.
You can work that knowledge into your marketing or use it to improve results inside your paid offers.
I hope this helps you grow in one way or the other.
Have a productive day.
P.S. Overcoming a prospect’s disbelief in this way is part of “killing them softly” with their own song.
So an irresistible offer should be driven by “desire stacking.”
Which brings me back the offer I mentioned at the beginning of this email.
One of the most attractive, no-brainer offers I’ve ever seen.
A chance to rent out the mansion from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
You may have seen this. Airbnb posted the link about a week ago, and Will Smith gave a video tour on YouTube on Monday.
When you see this, what’s your instant reaction?
For me — and countless people like me — the response is…
1st: WHERE DO I SIGN UP?
2nd: Please, God. Let me get a spot before they’re sold out.
I did not wonder how much it costs (and I definitely didn’t try to compare price vs. other lodging in the area).
Flying cross-country in a pandemic didn’t dampen my excitement.
If I could have grabbed a spot, nothing would have stopped me from booking a night.
Of course, different people have different responses. But for the right people, this offer is totally irresistible.
And the core reasons the Fresh Prince mansion is a no-brainer… are the same reasons behind most offers that are too sweet to ignore.
Let’s quickly break down 4 of them.
1. Status
Your offer should raise your prospect’s status — in his own eyes or the eyes of others.
When he says “yes,” what does he get that instantly makes him feel better about himself… like he’s just jumped to the next level (or at least finally discovered the elevator)?
How will he look to his (future) wife? His kids? His golf buddies. His competitors?
What will he have that others WISH they had?
A few bonus ebooks ain’t gonna get it.
2. Story Factor
Does buying from you give the customer an exciting, envy-inducing story to share at his next dinner party or networking event?
Does it change the story he tells himself about himself?
Or the story his parents tell to brag to their friends about their son?
Does it give him content that will get tons of likes on social media?
You might be shocked how much people will spend or suffer through to have a good story to share.
Think of all the great stories you could tell after staying at the Bel-Air mansion! And unlike a lot of business stories, you can share this one with just about everyone.
3. (Aspirational) Identity
Every conscious decision we make is influenced by the way they see ourselves and our place in the world.
If your offer connects to your should-be buyer’s identity in a unique way…
Helps him express externally how he sees himself internally…
Or moves him closer to being the person he wishes he was, letting Clark Kent be Superman, as it were…
It taps the deep-rooted desire.
How can your offer link your buyer to that identity?
4. Exclusivity
You don’t have to convince anyone there’s a limited amount of nights to book a stay in a mansion.
And you don’t have to convince anyone there’s high demand for the available slots.
But only about 365 people will have the privilege of securing one in the next year — if Airbnb keeps it open that long.
That kind of exclusivity and scarcity amplifies desire that’s hard to replicate in any other way — as long as you’re offering something people want in the first place.
It multiplies the status and story factor. Being part of such a small group boosts the impact to identity.
Leveraging exclusivity makes your offer significantly harder to resist. Use it to your advantage.
So there you have it.
When you’re thinking about how to make your offer as compelling as possible, remember…
Put value on the back burner. It’s all about stacking desire.
***UPDATE***
When I sent this article out as an
I sent my broadcast email newsletter earlier this week, I tested two very different subject lines.
One promises a valuable lesson about a topic I hear a lot of questions about…
The other seems to offer a voyeuristic peek into the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
I have to admit, the split test results surprised me:
If you’ve read my emails before, you may assume the mansion I promise a tour of is my own home.
(That’s kinda deceptive, but not maliciously so).
After the first hour, the voyeuristic subject line was opened TWICE as many times as the benefit subject line. Honestly, I thought the “Anatomy” subject line would win.And I definitely didn’t think either version would double the open rate of the other. There are a few takeaways here:
TEST. You really never know what will work until you get it out to the market
I’ve said it a thousand times, but must have forgot when I sent this test..
Sometimes entertainment is the most valuable benefit you can provide. That subject line brought MTV Cribs to my readers’ inbox.
If you want to keep your open rates from dropping over time, entertainment value is practically nonnegotiable.
People really do want to go behind-the-scenes, especially if your business has a personality component. They’re curious about the non-business stuff going on with you and others in your industry.
One of the top copy rules is that the copy must be about the reader. And while the “mansion” subject line doesn’t seem to be about the reader, it really is. It’s providing something they want: entertainment… escape… scratching the curiosity itch… aspiration… connection.
I’ve had more conversations than I can count with entrepreneurs and marketers who struggle to email their lists as often as they know they should.
Many of them really aren’t sure how to make money with email.
As a result of those conversations, I launched Inbox X-Factor earlier this week.
Inbox X-Factor is designed to
make it as easy as possible for you to send more emails to your list (and spend less time doing it), and…
showcase effective tactics and strategies that are working RIGHT NOW to help you make more money from each email.
In short, Inbox X-Factor gives you access to:
Live email clinics, where we’ll write an email from scratch on video. Watching the process can help you find your own rhythm and gain confidence
Timely email ideas and inspiration, so you never run out of reasons to email your list
Unique subject line templates and examples
In-depth training to help you unlock the money-making power of email. Studies show email produces 40X ROI. These lessons will help you get there.
For THIS WEEK ONLY, you can become one of first members of Inbox X-Factor for $47/month.
On Friday night (July 10), the price goes up to $97/month.
If you have a list and an offer (or clients who have them)…I believe Inbox X-Factor can help you making MORE money with email in LESS time — starting as soon as today. If you’re interested, click the link in the first comment.
>>> Click hereto lock the discounted price of $47/month for Inbox X-Factor.
