Did you create an eye-catching
sales page as the home for your info product sales pitch?
Are you wondering why, after all that painstaking attention
to detail, very few people seem willing to cough up the meager
funds that mean getting this gem of yours into their hot little
hands?
While I may not know you and
therefore can't make assumptions about your sales page, some
the following is very possibly the reason for lack of interest
and slumping sales:
1. Your
sales page remains a part of the main navigation of your website.
Why this can crush interest
and drive customers away: it's too easy for readers to get
distracted by all the links and sidebar messages/graphics
that appear in your "everyday" website design. You
were hoping they'd be hanging on to your every word, but instead
they're growing dizzy and clicking away.
Solution:
Redesign your sales page in the design format used
by copywriting masters like Michel Fortin, Dan Kennedy and
the rest of the Big Guns online. This means you want a white
text box against colored background. Logo at the top. Styled
headlines in a color that stands out. (Many web marketers
choose the standard Verdana Red 18 point, but I find this
sooo monotonous. Why be like everybody else (and hurt people's
eyes in the process?) Black body text that's easy on the eyes
(Verdana, 10 point is a good choice, but come up with something
original that fits YOUR graphic presentation).
Add graphics to create a mood
and guide the eye. Buttons that beckon, "Click me now!".
Bullet points to bring out the benefits. And be sure the document
opens in a NEW page (next to the one you were just reading)
when visitors click.
2. Your
sales copy is too self-serving.
Lots of marketers use the unlimited
space of those long sales letter templates to drone on endlessly
about me, my company, my story and my accomplishments. While
it's great to let new faces know who you are, share a personal
victory if it relates back to your reader, a sales page that
brags on endlessly will quickly lose interest.
Solution:
You really need to be reader-focused. Find out what
makes your ideal customer tick. Touch those emotional hot
buttons and make a great case for your product. If you find
it challenging to get inside the mind of someone who isn't
you, hire a well-respected copywriter and let them do the
work on your behalf.
3. You're not finding new and
creative ways to market this sales message.
Think about big box stores
and the tricks they use to sell the same old merchandise over
and over - that same style of lawnmower, capri pants that
never go out of style (why do we need 12 pairs that all look
the same!?). Their product lineup doesn't change much from
year to year (I know because I worked on retail catalogs for
seven years). Each passing month. season or holiday gives
you the opportunity to "dress up" your product pitch.
So take it! The same old headline and copy, issue after issue
in your newsletter, quickly becomes "old hat" to
your subscribers. Think out of the box and drive new clicks
to your sales letter no matter what the occasion. Passing
time is another reason, another season, for selling!
Do this in your blog, your
Facebook profile, the homepage of your website, your postcard
mailings, your guest articles in other people's marketing
vehicles... anywhere you show off your brand.
4. It's time to take another
shot at the creative.
If you're a afraid to ruin
a good thing, then try a split test of your sales letter.
Write an alternative version that's been retooled to a different
target audience. You might even want to play around with the
image branding and graphics to give a look and feel that resonates
with this new reader. Then do another one that fits a third
demographic! Who knows... depending on what you sell, maybe
you can talk to school teachers in one version, athletic coaches
with another, parents in a third... and maybe even kids, each
in their own tidy and tightly-presented package of information.
Define each niche and then practice "talking to"
each one in their own language!
Need extra copywriting and
creative support with your sales letter? Talk to dina@wordfeeder.com.
