The Presentation of the "Offer"

[Matt MacPherson]

How do you ladies and gents like to present your offer to the customer? I've been testing this lately with no statistically significant results. Specifically, when to *introduce* the product within the copy itself and your thoughts on building value.

I'd be honored and appreciate your feedback on this matter.

Regards,
Matt

[Loren Woirhaye]

Problem - agitation - solution.

Problem - don't you hate it when...?

Agitation - the effect of not solving the problem - worst-case scenario,
etc..

Solution - present your product - introduce it and lead into benefits
quickly showing in exciting terms how it solves the problem.

[Justin Mandel]

Just what Loren said.

You need to show them how much pain they have then offer the solution to rid them of their pain.

Originally Posted by Loren Woirhaye

Problem - agitation - solution.

Problem - don't you hate it when...?

Agitation - the effect of not solving the problem - worst-case scenario,
etc..

Solution - present your product - introduce it and lead into benefits
quickly showing in exciting terms how it solves the problem.

[Matt MacPherson]

Thanks for the responses. That's Pretty much exactly the "formula", for lack of a better word, that I use. Attention, Pain, Solution, Urgency, Action.

I've got a lot of original, related bonuses - should I include them all at once, or sprinkle them after I introduce the main offer.

Regards,
Matt

[Loren Woirhaye]

Shoot for a logical progression. When you have your prospect
nodding "Yes" but he doesn't know the price yet show him
the bonuses.

Another way to do it is to look at the way infomercials do it...
"But Wait!... There's More! Look at all you get when you
order right now!"

People sometimes will get the thing just to get the bonuses -
and bonuses also serve to lengthen the copy, which people
will associate with proof of value... so in many cases if you
can legitimately add more non-boring copy by piling on
many bonuses it's a good idea to do so.

[Collette]

I've had some pretty good results with problem, agitate, introduce the solution, build the value of the solution, reveal the price of the offer, add value with relevant bonuses, repeat the total value of the offer, and ask for the sale.

An excellent model for this is infomercials. After you watch a few of the top-performing ones, you'll notice that they NEVER reveal the price until at least 15 minutes in - plenty of time to do problem/agitate/hint at solution.

[elsvirtual]

To really delve deep into what makes a good offer...I think you've got to use empathy. If the prospect believes you understand where they are coming from, you've got a better chance of closing the deal.

[Kevin Rogers]

Hi Matt,

Don't be afraid to try different approaches. Some marketers have done very well presenting the product early and often (see Chris X). Members of this board often state that they quickly scroll a letter to see the offer just after reading the headline, if you can verify with MV tests that your readers have a similar habit, that's good info and should sway how you structure your sales page.

More importantly than when you present your offer and bonuses is how. And the best way depends on how you are positioning yourself in the market. Whatever market you're in, you want to be the go-to-guy, that comes from knowing your prospect's pain better than anyone else. It all comes down to research. If you have a responsive list you can survey, start there and you're golden.

Good luck.

[Matt MacPherson]

Originally Posted by Kevin Rogers

Hi Matt,

Don't be afraid to try different approaches. Some marketers have done very well presenting the product early and often (see Chris X). Members of this board often state that they quickly scroll a letter to see the offer just after reading the headline, if you can verify with MV tests that your readers have a similar habit, that's good info and should sway how you structure your sales page.

More importantly than when you present your offer and bonuses is how. And the best way depends on how you are positioning yourself in the market. Whatever market you're in, you want to be the go-to-guy, that comes from knowing your prospect's pain better than anyone else. It all comes down to research. If you have a responsive list you can survey, start there and you're golden.

Good luck.

I'm not particularly familiar with Chris X. I tend not to take other Internet Marketers browsing/buying habits into account when selling to a non-IM crowd though.

It seems as though whenever I do (and split test) they always lose. :/

The product I currently have has been on the market and converting very well for over a year now. Being the guy that I am though, I want to continually improve upon my copy, forever. I'm just getting around to split testing the offer, hence this post.

In it's current form, after I introduce the solution I list the main book, with a long list of the most important benefits under it (bullet form). I then introduce two custom bonuses (that actually have value) in the same way and then move into eliciting a feeling of urgency and eventually ask for the sale.

Regards,
Matt

[Michael G Perry]

Matt,

I read through the thread and liked the feedback..

Loren was right on the money with logical progression.

As for The Presentation of the "Offer" ... it's important to think about SOCIAL proof first at the very top of the copy (or content that' imbedded into the image) Some imagery as the very, very beginning must show a brand, themed message or something that substantiates what coming..

Also, as Kevin said, you need to try different approaches.. One day you will hit the Copy that pulls ... when it does, don't change it .... stick with it.. Also, do no over look analytical tools that show page views.. Sometimes (without objective measurements) you will make changes to copy when you really didn't have too...

Finally, when you do make your sales.. do hesitate to ask the buyers WHY THEY BOUGHT FROM YOU..

Again, great comments for everyone.... Continued success.

[Nick Doyle]

Really simple:

1 - Describe Problem
2 - Share personal life story of your struggle with that problem
3 - Show a little proof of what happened once you LEARNED the "Secret"
4 - Offer to SHARE that Secret including some EXTRA stuff that will let your prospects achieve the SAME Results or even better.

Voila

[Michael G Perry]

Nick pretty much summed it up there... To add to that ... will all of the crap that is out there... the facts speak for themselves... SOCIAL PROOF and Renifoced SOCIAL proof along with an Incredible Money Back Guarantee ... are very important in this day and age..

[Paul Hancox]

Hey Matt

I always try and make introducing the product as natural as possible in my copy, ie. the reasons for me eventually developing the product (which coincidentally happen to be the problems that the visitor will be having).

Then I talk about the reasons why I settled on my eventual price.

Raw, condensed, simplified version:

Someone suggested I should price this at $297 because it was better than Product X, but I didn't want to exclude [you poor folks]. So I decided to price it at $97.

(Disclaimer: The above is not copy, it's a very,very simplified outline of how I introduce the price.)

However, the price isn't really the offer (at least, not in this instance).

I define an offer as something that makes the customer feel they are getting even more value for money than usual.

(Actually, come to think about it, I'm going to start a thread on the main forum to ask people what they think an offer is. I think there will be lots of different answers!)

As you say, the trick is to "build value", so that the offer appears in the best possible light.

I use several different techniques, such as...

(a) Price conditioning.

I think you already have my 10% Conversion report, so you know how that works, i.e. condition people as early as possible to anticipate a high price/value (not silly stuff like, "it's worth $997, but you can have it for $2.50").

(b) Put the price into perspective.

In the 1st sales letters I wrote on the videos in my copywriting course, it was for a hypothetical "quit smoking" product, where I had my friend Sally calculate how much she saved from quitting her $7 a day habit... turned out to be over $2,500 a year... or more than $76,000 over 30 years!

Those figures put the $47 price point into perspective.

(c) Use comparisons.

"This simple tip saved me $750 an pay-per-click expenses."

Find some things that cost you $X until you discovered Y, and can save the reader $X.

(d) Emphasize the true costs of things.

Generally speaking, people don't know how to value things properly, so help them out.

How much did it cost to research, to put the product together, etc?

What about the time and effort?

We use money because we can exchange it for things that have value to us.

Help your potential customers to see that they're trading their $47 (or whatever) for your many, many hours of time and effort (and money) that YOU spent putting what they want and need together into one convenient package.

...

To me, the "offer" is the clincher; what pushes them to BUY NOW, rather than think about it.

So I usually have it near the end...

... after their desire has been peaked, they've been price conditioned, and the price has been fully justified.