Some interesting split-test results in the biz-opp niche...

4 replies
So, in all of my own businesses, I'm always split testing 2 variations of the sales letter.

Whether it's the headline, subhead, or lead... I'm always testing 2 versions against one another.

In one of my biz-opp products, I noticed the conversion rate simply wasn't nearly where I wanted it to be, at a tad under 1% to facebook traffic.

After spending an afternoon looking through some of clickbank's top performers, and also going through some of my swipes... something about the headline of this sales page really jumped out to me.

I thought that maybe it just seemed too unbelievable. I was talking about making six figures from home.

so, I had a headline that talked about making $102,000 from home, etc... like almost all home biz opp headlines do in a certain way.

The more I looked at it, the more I realized it just seemed to unbelievable for most people.

even though a few of the people who used the product had made that much, it was few and far between. most people didn't make nearly that much.

so I changed the $102,000 in the headline and made it $62,000 which is what one of the recent testimonials i had gotten said they made.

after split testing for a week, the headline with the $62,000 had a conversion rate of over 2% with the same Facebook traffic. the prior version wasn't even getting a 1% conversion.

Nothing else on the page was changed except that one number, and i simply changed it so it would be more believable to most people.

no doubt, in the market i was writing to, it's tough for the prospect to see themselves actually making over $100,000, i guess they don't believe it can happen to them.

but making $62,000 seems much more doable i guess.

so, if you write copy for the biz opp/make money from home niche... try toning it down a bit and see what happens.

I get it, this is one niche that tends to rely heavily on hype and the market tends to eat it up.

but in my test, i found it to be just the opposite.

Remember that most people would LOVE to make $102,000 a year from home, but when it comes down to it, they don't believe they can do it. i guess it's much easier to believe that they can make $62,000 with the product.

the more attainable something seems, the more belief and credibility you'll gather.

so instead of doing what most amateur copywriters do when trying to hype up a biz opp... make your numbers more believable and you'll get a better result.
#bizopp #interesting #niche #results #splittest
  • Profile picture of the author DanteRomero
    I think you'll find the same everywhere if you take that and run with it. Believability is key #1 I've found. Even to the point of deliberately making a product sound lackluster compared to what it is.

    Being true doesn't work. It has to also SEEM true.

    A quicker way of saying it:
    Never let the claim exceed the proof backing it.
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    "Perfection isn't important. Improvement is."

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  • Profile picture of the author Jennie Heckel
    Hi Shawn,

    For me, my sales letter headlines have to pass my "newbie believeablity test".

    What that means is THE BIG PROMISE IN YOUR HEADLINE... Is it really believeable?

    Does what I say in the headline make my visitor believe me?

    Or does it spark distrust?

    Here's my "newbie believability test" formula.

    1. Can the average newbie believe they can make $xx,xxx dollars, and do they believe it is easy enough for them to learn it?

    2. Do they believe they could make that much money?

    3. Do they believe they can do it with the info you are giving them and in the time frame you list?

    I focus on thinking about my headlines I split test like this...

    What if I took a newbie off the street and turned him/her on to this product.

    And with the training/products/coaching provided, (the magic question I need to answer is) -- can they do it?

    And can they believe THAT THEY CAN DO IT?

    Can they make $62,000 in a month? Can they believe they could? Probably not.

    This truth/trust factor is a huge indicator of if they believe the headline or not.

    If NOT you end up with a high bounce rate.

    The bad thing is if they don't believe the headline they won't get to read the rest of your sales letter and you never get a chance to show them your proof, or the value of what you are really trying to sell!

    Remember your average buyer is most likely a newbie.

    If the headline promise seems too far fetched you LOSE their interest right off the bat because they feel you were not truthful with them (or at least their gut feeling is they think you are not.)

    Because they can't BELIEVE THAT $62,000 INCOME PROOF!

    Newbies are getting smarter and more enlightened by the day on how to steer clear of "bright shiny objects".

    So is it fair to tell your visitor they can make $62,000 a month?

    And the point is, what if the average Joe might only be able to make $620 a month?

    You want your headline to hit a chord inside them, so they feel YOUR HEADLINE TALKS TO THEM... You want your headline to be 100% believable.

    Remember the ONLY goal of the headline is to get them interested enough to read the DECK COPY, and then to read the rest of your sales letter.

    As a suggestion:

    Redo your headline drop one of those zeros, and make it $6,200 or even better $620 and watch and see what happens to your conversion rate -- and the average time on site. My bet is the lower figures will boost the time on site and reduce your bounce rates.

    But of course, the only sure way to know is to test.

    Good luck!

    Regards,

    Jennie Heckel
    Sales Letter Copywriter
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    • Profile picture of the author JakeDaly
      Good stuff, Shawn!
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    • Profile picture of the author sethczerepak
      Originally Posted by Jennie Heckel View Post

      Hi Shawn,

      For me, my sales letter headlines have to pass my "newbie believeablity test".

      What that means is THE BIG PROMISE IN YOUR HEADLINE... Is it really believeable?

      Jennie Heckel
      Sales Letter Copywriter
      Well put. And Jenny, don't know about you but I've found the same principle to apply when reaching personal goals. When I have a coaching client that comes in making $30k a year and they have a goal to earn one million, the first thing I advise is to shoot for $50k. Once you get to $50k, set $75k, then $100k. I do this for the same reason a personal trainer takes you from lifting 50lbs to lifting 55, to 60, to 65, to 70 etc...instead of dropping 300lb on their backs just because that's where they eventually want to be.

      Take the stairs one step at a time...that's how the mind develops.

      Ultimately, we're also dealing with a bit of a "Roger Bannister's 4 minutes mile" thing here. Everyone said it was impossible, till Roger did it...then everyone started doing it. First, you have to break them past their PRESENT plateau, and for most people, $50k to $60k a year is the next level.

      That's the conversation in their mind, that's where you need to meet them. If your back end process is worth it's salt, you use THAT to get them from thinking big to thinking huge.
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