Does this tactic really work?

I don't quite understand- you unsubscribed because he sent you a working link?

Then you are upset because sales letters have graphics and bonuses?

OK.

short answer: yes. It's been honed by extremely successful direct marketers over decades. Pick up some books on writing sales copy from people like Dan Kennedy - it is well worth the time and money to study.

A certain percentage of people who receive autoresponder emails open them. The subject line often helps increase the open rate.

A certain percentage of people who visit a sales page buy. Another percentage unsubscribe. Just a guess, but I'm betting that he's more interested in those who buy than those who unsubscribe.

Sure, but you're also leaving out a lot of other variables, such as the entire sales process. Are there any One-Time-Offers, discounts, or up or cross sells?

I stopped taking other people's word for things a long time ago and fanatically test things myself. The short-term costs have always outweighed the long-term benefits. Also the psychology in different markets / niches can vary, so what might work in one niche at a certain price point may not work in another.

You might hate long sales copy and "endless" testimonials, but until you test these different things yourself you'll never really know. You've got to test headlines, price points, maybe even the use of certain graphics, colors, fonts, squeeze page versus a sales page or content squeeze page, etc. Darn, use videos instead of long sales copy and see if that converts for you.

Who knows? Maybe the first e-mail never made it to your inbox. That's not unreasonable.

As far as the "garbage bonsues", how would you know there are garbage unless you've actually had them in your possession and implemented the information in them?

I understand what you're asking, but I think you are over-generalizing and making assumptions based on emotion and that's actually going to hold you back. That's my take on it.

RoD

I understand where you're coming from, Ryan, and feel the same way, to a degree. The email subject line said "This link should work". That's all it said, which, if it worked correctly, wasn't stretching the truth or anything, right?

But if he had said he sent you the wrong link earlier when he hadn't, that would be a lie and I would definitely be put off by it. (Of course, he may have sent an earlier email but for any number of reasons it didn't get through.)

Effective marketing requires us to do things to stand out from the crowd, so we get your attention, get you to read our emails. We see the words "URGENT!", "Open By Friday!" and all of that all the time and I ignore it. It's old and boring. Always doing what everyone else is doing is not effective marketing.

Obviously, it does convert, but it will only do so until we become numb to it, just like everything else we've become numb to.

If I could figure out a way for my email subject lines to be delivered in audio instead of print, I'd do that!

But until then I'll stick with subject lines that get clicked on, like this one:

You should've seen it! She had the biggest...

And long copy still works.

Just my opinion.

As was mentioned earlier, it's quite possible the original email never reached you. Or it could be part of a test to see how many people would click the link.

As far as the sales pages you mention, the problem often isn't with the tactic, it's with the execution.

I don't mind long copy, but I hate boring copy. And at this time in my life, I've seen enough over-the-top, formulaic hype that it bores me. On the other hand, if the copy is good, I really don't notice the length - I just keep reading.

The graphics are there to provide some 'thud' to the offer. As long as the seller doesn't mislead people, I have no problem with it.

'Endless' testimonials are another form of 'thud' - trying to provide social proof by the pound. I've developed a kind of "banner blindness" to them, especially in the "make money" niches.

Bonuses go back to the thud factor again. Good bonuses definitely work. In fact, a while back I bought a product I already owned because I wanted the bonus that was offered with it.

Clumsy piles of shopworn ebooks, etc. are another thing entirely. Trying to impress me with "$10,243 worth of bonuses" for a $10 product costs the seller a lot of credibility. I usually assume they're operating under the premise of "if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, bury them with bullshit."

All that said, I'm probably not the target those sellers are aiming at.

Bottom line - it isn't the tactic, it's the execution. Get it right and it can be very effective. Get it wrong, and you're toast. How do you know if you got it right or not? It's like fishing - you never catch any fish on the lure in your tackle box.