"Email Your Friend" on a sales page:Would it help in Conversion?

[teamnirvana]

The subject says it all.

Hmmm, nice headline uh?

So, masters, I put before you the question Whether placing a "Email Your Friend" or "Send To your friend" icons increase the readership and as well as the conversion rate.

I would like to hear your views.

This was a request from a client.

Thought provoking, yet, I leave the decision to the CW professionals here.

[travlinguy]

There's a lot of debate about putting links and other distractions (like opt-in boxes) on a sales page. My opinion is if you've busted your hump to get someone to a sales page you better take advantage of the opportunity to sell. Anything that draws the reader away from the task at hand, which is getting them to evaluate the offer and click the buy button should be avoided.

If you want to notify visitors of a 'tell a friend' option or anything else outside of the actual pitch, put it on the download or landing page they'll see after completing the sale.

[teamnirvana]

But what is the guy who reads the sales letter in the first place is not the one who required the service TG?

If he/she has got an acquaintance who is desperately looking out for information or a solution for the problem being addressed to?

Do you want the visitor to pickup the phone, or else compose a mail, or send an offline message to the person in need?

I think, moving in accordance with the technology there has to be an option to the reader to choose the channel to "share" the prospect in order to increase the conversions?

Please clarify.

[travlinguy]

A sales page is for selling, not gathering referrals. Of course, you or your client can do whatever you want. Good luck.

[teamnirvana]

you or your client can do whatever you want

Thanks for the way you put it good old Samaritan.

[Loren Woirhaye]

I think it depends on the context. For a salesletter it's usually
better to have it go after one response only - getting the sale.

However, if your client is playing around with having a line-up
of products you might want to try driving traffic to a page
that catalogs the different ones - with a search box and so
on, opt-in, etc. The salesletter should be the end of the
chain. If you want opt-ins try to gather them before the
actual letter.

I won't say it's always going to be a bad idea to put an
opt-in option of some kind on a salespage - it really depends,
imo, on how your business revenue model works and how
you want prospects to perceive the whole of your
business.

[Mtkent]

TG is right. I would never pull my potential customer from your page. Everything else you want to do should take place afterwards.