The word killer and price tags ending in a 7.

[Jake Trainor]

I have a question or three about the word killer and why almost all IM product prices end in a 7. When did this start? Am I wrong thinking that saying the features of your product are killer and putting a 97 dollar price tag on it has no pleasing mental effects on a consumers? Is it just a case of monkey see monkey do, or is there more to it?

[Fred_Acker]

I don't know about the word "killer". But I read somewhere that the #7 was tested some years ago (I have no idea when by who or even why) and it worked like the #9 does offline (i.e. $0.99, $1,99 etc). And it stuck.

But there were a few other numbers that were tested (I think #4 was one of them) and it worked well also.

Man, I can't believe I remember reading that type of info somewhere... lol

Fred

[John A Goodwin]

I personally don't like when a word “killer” is used. I don't know why people use it in their product's sales letters.


Now, about number 7. I have read Jonathan Leger's report called “$7 Dollar Secrets”, you can see it at 7dollarsecrets.com In that report he says that he did some tests, and found out that a product with price tag of $7 converts better that a product that costs $6 or $8. I see that a lot of marketers price their products at $7, $17, $47, $97 etc. I haven't done any tests myself, but it's probably true, that products that have a price tag with number 7 convert better.

[Troy_Phillips]

From my own test I know that the same report sold better for $17 than it did at $12 '

I used the same sales page and the same emails only six weeks apart .

The same report same circumstances only priced at $27 sold within 2% of the $12 one .

This was a couple of years back but all my prices end in 7 still today .

I am thinking of doing a new product and trying for the $77 crowd . Will get back to you on that one .

[Jake Trainor]

Originally Posted by WF-User

I personally don't like when a word “killer” is used. I don't know why people use it in their product's sales letters.

I just started my IM training in July and already I have seen the word killer one too many times. It bugs me a bit. "Works like gangbusters" is another phrase that gets thrown around, but I like the sound of it.

[summer07]

Marketing words have to be considered in the context of their audience. The word "killer" in the "Warrior" Forum doesn't seem so out of place when you think of it that way. I read somewhere once (how's that for a vague reference?) that most people in the IM niche are males between the ages of 18 and 35. That seems to fit if you take a good look around at the majority of posts here. And IMers seem to like and respond to aggressive words like "killer", "crush" and "stomp"...I attribute it to raging testosterone.

In a wedding niche, the word "killer" would probably be way out of line...unless you're marketing wedding products to a prison population or some other market that is comfortable using that term.

Personally, I don't like the word "killer" either, and there have been times that I've decided against opening an email or reading a sales letter because it's just too aggressive. So I'm obviously not in the target demographic for that product.

I also don't make products for that demographic. But I understand that in marketing, the point is not supposed to be about what I personally like. It's about how the market talks and thinks and what they want. You have to set your own personal boundaries regarding what you're willing to tolerate as a consumer and as a marketer.

I can live with some of the raging hormone aggressive language in the IM niche because there's a lot of worthwhile information (not to mention intelligent and generous people as well). For me, its like hanging out with my brothers. Most of the time it's fun and educational. Sometimes it makes me wince and roll my eyes. But when it gets to be too much, I take a break and sip tea and read Jane Austin so I can feel "civilized" for a moment.

Cheers,
Audre

[Steven Carl Kelly]

I've gone completely away from 7 and changed over to 9, increasing every product by $2 each. So far, conversions have been right about the same.

[Matt Maiden]

For many years here at the forum there would be an ongoing debate over the "long copy" vs. the "short" sales letter and some of the best copywriters on the 'net were members here and the arguing would go on into the wee hours.

Marlon Sanders would pop in with his test results and everyone would fly around the web looking for all of his latest sales pages to see what he was doing.

I remember that he was one of, if not the first, to find out that the 7s worked better than the 9s. I believe it was Marlon and Yanik Silver that were the first to start using them.

Look at all of the courses now at $97, and $197.

I think Marlon is using some $79 now.

Matt

[dave147]

Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips

From my own test I know that the same report sold better for $17 than it did at $12 '

I used the same sales page and the same emails only six weeks apart .

The same report same circumstances only priced at $27 sold within 2% of the $12 one .

This was a couple of years back but all my prices end in 7 still today .

I am thinking of doing a new product and trying for the $77 crowd . Will get back to you on that one .

or the $777 crowd and let's not forget the all important $7777 crowd

[mikeyman120]

A ways back I noticed everyone using 7's at the end of their price. I found someone who said it tested better then 9 and I haven't looked back all my products are either $37, $47, $67 or $97 now and have been for years.

Mike

[DavidO]

I've always gone with the consensus and use prices ending in 7. But I've also done well with 5.

I think it's mostly going with the pack rather than any solid data. I heard a good argument a while back that television/infomerical advertisers spend a lot more on research then IMers do and they always go with the $99.99 format. You never see a price ending in 7 on TV.

Does this tell us something? Or do prices work differently in different media?

[Nathan Alexander]

OK, don't laugh, but I got married on 7/7/7 and believe it or not, we did NOT do it for the same reason as everyone else intentionally picking that day.

So, yes, I like 7's too. And wasn't it Cialdini who did some research on this? The prices that is, not me getting married.

[RichyJ]

Originally Posted by blueice

Brits might be persuaded by $1.99 and text saying 25% off.

Brits actually love BOGOF which stands for Buy-One-Get-One-Free. All UK supermarkets use such offers extensively because they've found that they work better than 50% off.