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Understanding your clients?

by Darrin Bentley
5 replies
I'm not sure why this was (quickly) moved to the "Copywriting" section because while it certainly does have to do with sales copy, it has more to do with IM mentality and my opinion on relating to perspective customers.


At the core, we know that IM marketing is almost always about selling what someone wants vs needs. Unfortunately, that's human nature and applies to most/all other forms of marketing as well.

With that being said, I have always tried to put myself in the shoes of a client (or, in my case, potential client) and think, "Would I buy this"? It get's to a point where it's no longer about the product but how good the "marketing" of that product is (remember the pet rock?).

For the affiliates that sell...whatever, I have always looked at those ridiculous sales pages (that continue forever, ad nuseum) and have never ONCE purchased ANYTHING from them! I have the luxury of saying this because I'm a newbie but I look at those sales pages and often think, "Are people really stupid enough to order what is being sold (let alone read a STUPID amount of ad copy)?? My first instinct is to IMMEDIATELY click off/close the window.

I would love to hear some feedback on this.
#clients #understanding
  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Darrin,

    IM mentality aside, there is no arguing that the "long sales letter" form of marketing an offer can work well, extremely well. We all may have formed personal preferences about how we like to be sold, but in certain situations the performance of long copy over the years has more than justified its use.

    When product launches generating over a million dollars in one day have happened as the result of long copy it's hard to argue that such a method doesn't have a place in IM.

    Just as an aside, I once copied and pasted a long sales copy offer into MSWord just for fun. The thing ended up being 37 pages. It was almost like reading a book. Maybe part of the psychology of the long letter is to engage the prospect to the point that there is no stone left unturned regarding the product - you have no reason to wonder what it is.

    Steve

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author Darrin Bentley
      Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

      Darrin,

      IM mentality aside, there is no arguing that the "long sales letter" form of marketing an offer can work well, extremely well. We all may have formed personal preferences about how we like to be sold, but in certain situations the performance of long copy over the years has more than justified its use.

      When product launches generating over a million dollars in one day have happened as the result of long copy it's hard to argue that such a method doesn't have a place in IM.

      Just as an aside, I once copied and pasted a long sales copy offer into MSWord just for fun. The thing ended up being 37 pages. It was almost like reading a book. Maybe part of the psychology of the long letter is to engage the prospect to the point that there is no stone left unturned regarding the product - you have no reason to wonder what it is.

      Steve

      Steve
      I understand that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but it just always felt so cheap and "spammy" to me. While the idea of communicating all of a products benefits is important in the world of sales/marketing, I often wondered who would actually READ all that info! I thought the idea of selling a client was to get them to buy without them knowing/feeling they were "sold".

      I'm not trying to make waves especially if something is working. I just want to fully understand the psychology behind some of these offers. It's like selling a product you don't believe in. I look at this and think, "Would I ever buy ANYTHING when offered in this form". I never have.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Darrin, your thread probably got moved to the Copywriting section because they love to argue the long vs. short copy issue any chance they get. And that's primarily what you are talking about.

      You never buy from long form sales letters, therefore they are "stupid" and "ridiculous".

      One of the old time pro copywriters had this argument with a client back in the "Mad Men" days. He bet his fee that he could write a solid newspaper page of dense type, and the client would read every syllable.

      The client took the bet, and challenged the copywriter to produce the page.

      Copywriter said, "I don't have to produce the whole page, just the headline. It's 'Everything on This Page is About [Client Name]'."

      Spoiler alert, he won the bet.

      Some people read 37 page salesletters. Some sit through 90 minute sales videos or webinars. Some don't. Just because you don't respond to those forms doesn't make them "stupid" or "ridiculous".
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      • Profile picture of the author Darrin Bentley
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Darrin, your thread probably got moved to the Copywriting section because they love to argue the long vs. short copy issue any chance they get. And that's primarily what you are talking about.

        You never buy from long form sales letters, therefore they are "stupid" and "ridiculous".

        One of the old time pro copywriters had this argument with a client back in the "Mad Men" days. He bet his fee that he could write a solid newspaper page of dense type, and the client would read every syllable.

        The client took the bet, and challenged the copywriter to produce the page.

        Copywriter said, "I don't have to produce the whole page, just the headline. It's 'Everything on This Page is About [Client Name]'."

        Spoiler alert, he won the bet.

        Some people read 37 page salesletters. Some sit through 90 minute sales videos or webinars. Some don't. Just because you don't respond to those forms doesn't make them "stupid" or "ridiculous".
        I didn't say anything was "stupid", just the amount of info to read through (poor choice of words, sorry). Again, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here, just trying to understand it (and all of its complexities).
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by Darrin Bentley View Post

    For the affiliates that sell...whatever, I have always looked at those ridiculous sales pages (that continue forever, ad nuseum) and have never ONCE purchased ANYTHING from them! I have the luxury of saying this because I'm a newbie but I look at those sales pages and often think, "Are people really stupid enough to order what is being sold (let alone read a STUPID amount of ad copy)?? My first instinct is to IMMEDIATELY click off/close the window.

    I would love to hear some feedback on this.
    I'll go along with poor word choices, but as you see, they are the words you chose.

    To be fair, even the folks who do buy from those long form letters probably don't read every single word. But the copywriter doesn't have the advantage of a conversation with each reader, so they have to attempt to cover everything. And some things will need to be repeated.

    So the average reader looks at the headline, maybe reads the first paragraph. Then, if they are interested, they'll jump to the bottom to see the price. If it's something they can conceivably buy, they'll go back to the top. They skim through the letter, picking out the bits that apply to them and ignoring the rest. For example, I don't bother with testimonials unless the name is one I recognize and respect. Some people rely on testimonials more than their own judgment. Finally, the reader will make a decision.

    It isn't a matter of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", it's more like "different strokes for different folks." Just because you don't respond to long form sales letters doesn't mean good ones don't work.

    And in fairness to you, you said you were a newbie. If your opinion is based on products in the IM/MMO space, I can understand how you came by it. There are a lot of really, really lousy sales letters in the space. They would seem cheap and spammy regardless of length.
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